Losing an All-Ireland final in traumatic circumstances, or at all, is generally assumed to be some sort of motivational springboard to bounce back for redress the following year.
It’s rarely as simple as that. Even at intercounty level it has happened only a handful of times this century but it must feel like the longest road back for those who contest club finals.
Kilmacud Crokes had the experience of conceding a goal at the death of this year’s All-Ireland final when Kilcoo from County Down sprang a goal by Jerome Johnston to win 2-8 to 0-13 after extra time.
The Stillorgan club’s path back into contention for honours had to start with the extreme competitiveness of their county championship, as their victorious captain Shane Cunningham explained after his team had retained their title.
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“Honestly, Dublin championship is so hard won. It’s an absolute minefield. Every day you go out you could get beaten against a team people think you should overcome. So to do back-to-back is a phenomenal achievement. It’s not something we underestimate at all.
“The Kilcoo defeat was absolutely heartbreaking. It took a while to get over, a bit of soul searching. Everyone dealt with it differently but we drew a line in the sand around April and went back for hard blocks of training. We set up our goals again. People had no time to feel sorry for themselves.”
Sunday’s final had been fitful and challengers Na Fianna led by two for much of the second half. When five minutes of injury-time was signalled, it was the champions who held the initiative but by the same treacherous two-points that had failed to insulate them last February.
Cunningham was by then watching from the sideline, stress eating away at him.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking in the last 20 minutes. When you’re watching from the bench – it’s the worst place to be. At least when you’re on the pitch, you can control it. It was really, really tough being off it. All it takes is a long ball into the box and it could have been a goal and a different story.”
As in that All-Ireland final, Kilmacud were missing Paul Mannion their consistent, star turn in attack, as injury had once again sidelined him. The difference – in all senses – was the arrival, not without controversy, of Galway All Star-elect Shane Walsh.
His four points constituted a significant portion of the 0-11 to 0-10 winning margin. Cunningham effectively acknowledged the balance of sentiment when asked about Walsh’s input.
“I’m devastated for Paul. For him, on the personal level, to get injured again was a massive blow to him. But look, Shane Walsh – everyone throughout the country knows he’s a class act. And he certainly proved it there again today.”
Asked about the fuss over the Galway star’s transfer from home club Kilkerrin-Clonberne to suburban giants Kilmacud, the captain said it had passed them by.
“We’re a big south Dublin club. Mud is going to get thrown. Especially if someone like Shane Walsh comes in. We just ignored it. We were just delighted and excited to get Shane Walsh in to play with us.
“Our aim is obviously to win the Dublin championship. Anything that could help that, including Shane Walsh coming in, was always going to be something to be excited about.”
Focus now switches to Leinster and the quarter-final against Naas. Last January when the clubs met in the provincial final, Kilmacud emerged with the trophy on a relatively comfortable margin.
Since then they haven’t done boring finals.
“I don’t think we do boring matches in general. Even some of the group stage games, we were run tight. We don’t seem to ever have a last 10 minutes where we’re comfortable. As long as we keep grinding it out, I’m happy to do it that way.”
