EVEN AMIDST THE pain of defeat, there was an appreciation at being involved in a hurling epic. Seamus Flanagan plainly describes himself as not being ‘a notorious goalscorer’, but on a heady Saturday night in May, he broke loose to bag a hat-trick. It represented a personal milestone, the first time the Limerick attacker had rattled the net three times in a single game in his hurling career.
The misfortune for Flanagan was that feat was overshadowed by the sensational ending as Cork’s late scoring spree rescued their season and condemned Limerick to defeat. The champions regrouped in typical fashion, set to renew acquaintances with Cork next Sunday, and the previous instalment frames the build-up to this Croke Park showdown. “It’s a strange one because obviously there was a small bit of personal celebration.
But to lose...
if we had won that game, we were guaranteed to go through. With the way things panned out, it didn’t really matter but at the time you were going down there to win. “It was a cracker of a game.
I wish there were more Saturday evening games because the atmosphere was off the charts. It was unreal. “When Hoggy got that penalty at the end, you couldn’t hear yourself think.
The crowd was just immense. You can talk about the rumble at Croke Park but there’s something special about those Munster games with the crowds (on a) Saturday evening. “Going back through the years, we played Waterford at home on a Saturday evening as well and it’s sp.
