The Mick Clifford Podcast: Eamonn Sweeney on his struggles and his love of the GAA
Sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney set out to write a book about the GAA championship but succeeded in tackling a condition that had dogged him for nearly two decades, and largely confined him to his West Cork home.
He talks about his struggles, his love of the GAA and why he felt compelled on various match days to check out the Orthodox religions and dine on exotic foods.
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On a grey afternoon at GAA headquarters, they failed to produce a single shot at the Kilkenny goal in the first half, also going for long passages where they appeared to forget how to score from play at all. READ MORE When Paddy Deegan's long-range point put Kilkenny 13 points up in the 58th minute, 2-19 to 0-12, some of those among the crowd of 37,503 were eying up the exits. Then it all changed dramatically when Galway hit 1-6 within the next eight minutes, starting with a point from play by midfielder Seán Linnane. The excellent Cathal Mannion added another, and replacement Tiernan Killeen promptly chipped in with two more. Up to that point, Galway had been unable to get a clear shot at the Kilkenny goal. In the 63rd minute, Mannion sent a free short to Brian Conconnon, who tore into the Kilkenny defence, and shot cleanly into the top right corner. Two more scores, one from Kevin Cooney and a Mannion free, slimmed the gap to four, and suddenly anything seemed possible. 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Limerick managed to score just 1-8 from their restarts, which was exactly the same total as Cork. Parity in the air gave Cork a platform to compete. Cian Lynch was hounded by the outstanding Ciarán Joyce and a posse of lieutenants. Diarmaid Byrnes was tormented by Séamus Harnedy, just as he was in the game 13 months ago. Eventually, the Limerick wing back was taken off. Darragh Fitzgibbon was the most influential player in the middle third. Cork's Shane Barrett fires to the net past Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Kyle Hayes was magnificent in the opening 20 minutes, but by half-time Shane Barrett had scored 1-3 from play on his watch. For the remainder of the evening, Hayes was just like everybody else, chasing a game that nobody could catch. In a game like this, with both teams going at each other like rutting stags, the referee was bound to be part of the story. 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For Limerick, there is no future in that.
