Martin O’Neill told us during the week that Mooncoin would be rocking for weeks if they were to win the All-Ireland junior club hurling title.
He started to shake the place on Saturday. The young Kilkenny hurler put in a display for the ages on club final day that, buck-ended by a monstrous 70 yard sideline cut, will go down in Mooncoin GAA history.
Their hurlers made their own piece of history here but, with eight of their starting team under the age of 21, you get the sense that, for them, there is a hell of a lot more to come. The south Kilkenny men – so far south that many of them go to school in De La Salle in Waterford – will go into the notoriously competitive Kilkenny intermediate grade with confidence next year. They will go in as All-Ireland champions.
That’s for next year though, because really, this is all about the now. John Fitzgerald, Patrick Walsh, Adam Croke and the brilliant young Killian Hogan all rose to the occasion on Jones’ Road but at the heart of it all, leading like he’s been around for years was the inspirational Martin O’Neill.
From centre back the former Kilkenny minor and under-21 hurler dictated this game. He was the brick wall that stopped so many Ballygiblin attacks and, in nailing two long range frees, a momentum-shifting point from play and the sideline from heaven, he was the winning of this game.
“The best hurlers are with us now and better yet to come,” were the words of Christy Ring upon his retirement from the game. As O’Neill’s line ball took off into the Drumcondra skies, coming back down to earth only because of the nets at the back of the goals, it was a quote that quickly came to mind.
"The best hurlers are with us now and better yet to come.” – Christy Ring.
Martin O'Neill's 70 yard sideline cut to bring the All-Ireland junior title to @MooncoinGAA is living proof.
It rose the roof of Croke Park yesterday.pic.twitter.com/2EdEXEaLqF
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 6, 2022
In fairness, Ring’s words have been on the tip of your tongue a minute earlier when, in evading two Cork tacklers before heading down a seemingly blind alley, Adam Croke too scored a point worthy of winning any game.
This will be a sweet one for the young men of Mooncoin. They are a team worth watching.
Buaicphointí ón dara leath!
A leithéad de scór ó Adam Croke sa dara leath! 👀🥳
Great score at a crucial moment!!@MooncoinGAA
@GAA_BEO @officialgaa
#GAABEO | #TheToughest | #GAA pic.twitter.com/pOYsRKcPeY— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) February 5, 2022
