Hard to credit.
Hurling is a tough game, it’s a man’s game.
It takes balls to put your hand up to catch a ball with three or four lads behind you who could just as easily take your hand off with one foul swoop.
It takes bravery and steel to throw your body in front of a sliotar rasping at you at over 100 miles an hour. It takes courage to throw your head in front of a man swinging his 30 something inch stick just as fast as that at the ball in front of you.
And they all do it. Every last one of the hurlers we watch on the television, they go through all of the above in nearly every game they play and undaunted, too. And that’s what they love doing.
Cuala and Liam Mellows was a feisty game in Semple Stadium on Saturday. Both sides were up for it. For God’s sake a place in the All-Ireland final was at stake.
That man again. A serious display from @CualaCLG https://t.co/loOADuTvcF
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 10, 2018
The 30 lads on the pitch were going hard at it. They were doing everything in their power to help their team win and that might have meant getting under the skin of their marker or any member of the opposition but that’s the way it is.
It was fair enough, too, to say there wasn’t a bad, mean stroke pulled in the whole game.
It was hard, but it was fair.
There was a bit of bite between the teams but nothing out of the ordinary.
And when the game’s over, all of that was forgotten about anyway.
Con O’Callaghan was Cuala’s danger man out there. The Galway champions knew that, and it was their intention to curtail his influence.
True to his style, he hit three cracking points in the first 20 minutes, and was already proving the difference between the sides.
Liam Mellows tried to ruffle him up.
Why wouldn’t they?
That’s exactly the hunger, the fire and brimstone, the competitiveness that we encourage in our young players. Lads standing up for themselves, lads not backing down.
And Con responded like the warrior he is. He won a few frees, set up more scores, the fire was alive and it was burning in this man’s belly. That’s one of the attributes that makes him the best young GAA player in the country.
Then, just before half-time, a loose ball broke between the Cuala full forward and a few Mellows men.
With the ball there to be won, Con let fly at it – a textbook, strong pull – It was a bit of that direct ground hurling that we so often crave.
He was hungry for it, he was rearing for action, and he did exactly what he was taught to do when he was younger.
He stood up for himself, he displayed bravery and courage.
Hard, but crucially – fair. This man’s eyes are planted on the ball. It wasn’t ill-intentioned.
He pulls through on the ball.
And then he gets a yellow card for it.
The hurling world was at a pain as to why.
Why a man was booked for doing what he was told to do before the game and is the admired sportsman that he is today for always doing.
Now a free and yellow card for pulling on the ball.
Give me strength— Finbarr Mc Carthy (@FiFinnymac) February 10, 2018
Literally, a free for pulling on the ball on the ground…. We'll be made wear shin guards and use rubber hurls next! @GAA_2018_TG4 @GAA_BEO #cuala
— Shane Dooley (@shanedoole) February 10, 2018
Con O Callaghan gets a yellow card for trying his hand at this new concept currently creeping in to the game….. ground hurling
— John Leamy (@leamy_john) February 10, 2018
Why exactly was that a yellow card for Con O Callaghan?..Shocking decision #GAABeo #TheToughest
— Gerard Dunne (@dunners23) February 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/eoinokelly/status/962363786865860614
Galway Bay FM had a slightly different reaction, however.
Con O'Callaghan picks up a yellow card for a wild pull. Half time in Thurles.
Cuala 0-8 Liam Mellows 0-6— Galway Bay FM Sport (@gbfmsports) February 10, 2018
