​By John Harrington

One of the peculiarities of many gifted sportspeople is the matter of fact way they reflect on their own genius.

Tony Kelly had a profound impact on the emotions of thousands of people in Semple Stadium on Sunday - Clare fans were in ecstasy after his two brilliant injury-time points won the Banner County their first hurling league title since 1978, Waterford supporters were in agony.

His heroism settled an epic contest in the most dramatic way imaginable, yet Kelly himself seemed remarkably unaffected by what he had done. When he spoke to the media after the match, he couldn’t have been more matter of fact or understated.

“It’s different being a player than a supporter, I'd say,” reflected Kelly. “I'd say it's worse to be up in the stand looking down at it. I suppose a lot was made of us maybe losing those games last year by a point or two in the League and the Championship.

“I suppose from the off this year we're looking to finish strong in games and I suppose it was the same last week and the same again this week. Once we went that point or two down with three or four minutes to go, I suppose maybe last year we might have lost that game by two or three points. 

“But I suppose it just goes to show the character that we're building this year. That will give us massive confidence going into the Championship in June. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb really with giving away two bad goals and I suppose, look, we knew if we kept plugging away that eventually we might claw it back and we did get it back to one or two points. But even at that stage there was only one or two minutes left. Look it, I suppose when the chances come you have to take them.

“They got a chance last week and Maurice (Shanahan) stuck it, and we got the chances this week and we took them. So you have to take your chances when the time arises at those crucial moments in games.”

On days like Sunday, the similarities between Tony Kelly and Henry Shefflin are very apparent. Like Shefflin, Kelly talks about his ability to do truly great things on a hurling field with a ‘sure what else would I be doing’ sort of humility. And, also like Shefflin, Kelly has the character as well as skill to bend a contest to his will when the pressure and stakes are highest.

That quality is what has always separated the very good sportsmen from the truly great ones - the ability to make something happen in a clutch moment of a match when others wait for it to happen. Michael Jordan did it in basketball, Roy Keane in football, Brian O’Driscoll in rugby, and Henry Shefflin in hurling.

Kelly can do it too because his incredible natural skill is complemented by an iron will to win and the self-confidence to back himself to make something happen. That’s why when Clare won that injury-time free inside their own half in injury time to level the game up Davy Fitzgerald ordered Tony Kelly to take it even though he wasn’t the team’s designated free-taker.

“I'd have got killed if he didn't score that point from the free because I changed the free-taker myself,” said Fitzgerald afterwards. “I felt he was on fire, I felt that that was one made for him and I asked him to hit it. I don't know would the other selectors have killed me if it went wide. It was a call, he did it, great man for the big occasion and fair play to him.

“They all played their part, like you look at Austin Gleeson and David Fitzgerald out there, I thought the exhibition of fielding out there today was absolutely incredible but David Fitzgerald caught the last one for us that counted and got it off to Tony Kelly, which was immense. Delighted, delighted with our guys. I know Derek (McGrath) can't be disappointed with his because they gave an unreal contribution out there.”

It was certainly a more flamboyant and exciting game of hurling than the drawn match a week previously had been. Not that anyone in either camp cared a whit. Tony Kelly produced a finale of operatic grandeur, but he would have been just as pleased had Clare clung on for a gritty win the first day.

“A lot has been made of it (the drawn match)," said Kelly. "As players, a lot of people look at us as entertainers. But we don’t get up at six o’clock in the morning, go training five or six nights a week, to entertain people. We want to try and win games, win trophies. That’s what it’s all about.

“I suppose a lot was made last week that it wasn’t the most exciting game. As a player you don’t really feel it til you go home and watch it. Today, it was a lot more exciting for the neutral, for the fan up there in the stand. The fifth of June is going to be no different. It’s going to be a different game again. That’s just something for the management team to get their systems and plans in place for that.”

You can be sure that Davy Fitzgerald and Derek McGrath will spend hours upon hours poring over the video of this match because they probably didn’t enjoy the fact that it became such a spectacle. Waterford’s first goal after just 17 seconds served early notice that this would not be as claustrophobic a contest as the drawn game, and thereafter neither team managed to close down the space as effectively as they had that day.

“Yeah, there might have been a bit more space out there,” admitted Fitzgerald. “We won’t go into that right now. You’re playing a great team in Waterford. They’re so well drilled. They want to use the ball. Fair play to them. We were trying to see could we get a bit more space.

“But trust me, the space suits them as well. They can pick off scores from any place. Some of the scores they got out there today…I think they’re going to have a massive say this year, I really believe that. Maybe I’m a bit biased because I was down there for three years and I absolutely loved my time down there. But I think they’re going to be tough.

“June 5…we’ve seen two unreal battles. Jesus, what more is going to come on June 5? Because we know that they probably say to themselves ‘they beat us by a point. They’re not going to beat us the next day.’ We’re going to say to ourselves ‘no matter what, we’re going to have to fight even harder.’ So it’s going to be crazy out there but I’m looking forward to it.”

Fitzgerald was rightly proud of how his team dug out victory in such dramatic circumstances. But when the dust settles on this game he will surely be nagged by the thought that they were fortunate to come out on the right side of the result. Waterford were the better team for most of the game – they were more secure at the back and their transition from defence to attack was more fluent. Clare found a way to win the game in the end, but were they to concede two such relatively soft goals when the teams meet the Championship your money would be on a Waterford win.

“It's hard to describe,” admitted Fitzgerald. “We were in trouble for a lot of that game. We were down three points, four points, five points. It went to six points. It's hard. I felt we were always chasing today. Like, we conceded a goal inside the first minute. We didn't get a chance to get our cover back and they had one buried in the back of the net. We probably made a drastic mistake for the second goal and when you get hit with sucker punches like that, it's tough.

“You're trying to regroup and rebuild the whole time. But, in saying that, I'm extremely proud of all my lads, as I know Derek McGrath is of his. Listen, let's be realistic, it was great for us, we hung in, we got the win but they could equally have got it so what a battle. That augurs unreal. They'll have the bit between their teeth on June 5 and we will too, we're looking forward to it, but if you have two games like that in two days and I heard a lot of stuff during the week about that it wasn't nice to watch. Jesus, there was some great scores out there in my personal view. I thought there was anyhow and fair play to both teams.”

Fitzgerald wasn’t the only one with up and down emotions after the game, Waterford manager Derek McGrath was just as conflicted. He was gutted that his team had been beaten, but proud of their effort. And amidst it all he was able to find perspective in the fact that both camps had suffered bereavement in the run up to the game.

“I thought we played well and that our effort was totally heroic,” said McGrath. “It was a difficult week for Louis Mulqueen (Clare selector), losing his mam, difficult week for Jamie (Barron), losing his grandmother, and Patrick (Curran). I was at a funeral yesterday and Patrick was carrying the coffin of his uncle, and to go out and perform like that…there was a lot of stuff to put it in perspective on whether you win or lose. I am just very proud, believe it or not. I am not angry, I am not annoyed, ironically, I am just very proud. It was tough to take as well so it is a mixture of emotions.”

Seconds before Tony Kelly levelled the game in injury time with that last-gasp free, Waterford might well have had a free of their own when Jamie Barron was tugged back while running at the Clare defence. McGrath believed the decision not to award the free was “a mistake”, but refused to blame referee Diarmuid Kirwan for his team’s defeat.

“Let’s not hang the man out to dry, Diarmuid did his best and contributed to a great game but as I said I thought the last one was a mistake, without speaking in derogatory terms about him,” said McGrath. “We won't be complaining about Diarmuid Kirwan, I thought he had a good game overall, it's just I think he made a mistake at the end, but as I say, we make enough mistakes ourselves on the line.

“Waterford have been long enough complaining about referees and decisions, and we're trying to create a different culture where we're not going to blame anybody only ourselves. On general play I thought we deserved at least a draw, you could argue, but when Clare came like they did it's very hard to react to it. Well done to Davy (Fitzgerald).”

Defeat stung for Waterford, but they can take huge positives out of this game as they look forward to another joust with Clare in four weeks time. Patrick Curran and Tadhg de Búrca in particular were immense, and it is clear that they and others like Austin Gleeson and Shane Bennett have the talent to become some of the best players in the history of Waterford hurling.

Not only did Waterford have more individuals that shone than a Clare team who were very reliant on Kelly and Conor McGrath for inspiration, tactically as a collective they seemed to have Clare’s number for long stretches of the match. They contrived to lose the game in the end, but there’s no reason they should not believe they can turn the tables in the Championship.

“Yeah, I thought we actually played very well today, after getting a great start with the goal and we just looked capable of opening them up,” said McGrath. “That transition that we are struggling for in terms of defence to attack was pretty evident today.

“I’ll also point out that I’m very proud of the lads in terms of the negativity that surrounded the game all week. In terms of the approach from not just ourselves but even those Waterford circles, that they were able to shut that out and just produce the performance that they did.

“That’s very heartening for the future that they were able to stick to their guns, play as they did and show how a counter-attacking system can open up a defence as well. I’m very proud of that as well, that they were able to shut that outside out all week and show that they are very much a collective environment.”