The heart that never stops beating.
Jesus, you’d have to feel sorry for Waterford. These lads fought to the bitter-end, just like they’d fought all year, and at the end of it all they’ve nothing to show for it.
That’s the cruel reality of sport. There can only be one winner, and sentiment doesn’t play a part in that.
They do have pride, though. This Déise army, from Derek McGrath to Dan Shanahan to the every man on that panel, Jesus they’re admired.
Unity, team-spirit, camaraderie, skill, courage. You name it, these lads have it all.
They’ve one of the most vocal followings of all counties in Ireland, and you can’t be surprised at that when you see the blood, the sweat and the tears these lads shed for their county.
On Sunday, they were defeated by a Galway team, who, similar to them, were driven on by years and years of hurt. A team further up the ladder than them. But that’s no shame, because these lads will be back.
You just know they will, because they have the likes of Tadhg De Búrca, Austin Gleeson, Shane Bennett, Patrick Curran in their ranks.
These lads have their whole careers ahead of them, to bottle this hurt, to use it to their own benefit.
Conor Gleeson was missing on Sunday, but you can be guaranteed that they drew everything out of themselves to do it for him.
Waterford’s midfielder Jamie Barron is the best hurler in Ireland, but after post-game revelations that he hadn’t trained in the last two weeks because of a bug, you’d have even more admiration for him.
Michael Duignan also spoke of Barron’s pre-game struggles on The Sunday Game.
Jamie Barron had been sick and didn't train for ten days up until last Tuesday. Incredible performance considering.Burke and McInerney class
— Shane Stapleton (@ShaneSaint) September 3, 2017
To be out of action for ten days, to be against the head, to give that performance, it just tells you everything about him.
Barron ran himself into bloody oblivion on Sunday, with the ball, without the ball, he did it all.
Eventually, he had to come off, and maybe the missed trainings, the sickness, told, but for the 66 minutes he graced the hallowed turf, he did it with gusto, with fervour, with pride and with bravery.
This man is the best hurler in Ireland, but he’s also one of our best characters.
