IT'S not often that a player can give a man-of-the-match performance and finish on a well-beaten side.
But that's precisely what Waterford's John Mullane did in Waterford's 2-19 to 1-16 All-Ireland Hurling semi-final Championship defeat to Dublin at Croke Park on Sunday. Some pundits, including the RTE panel, went for Kilkenny's Michael Fennelly as the game's star performer but most observers felt that Mullane deserved the honor.
What more could he have done? He scored 1-6 from play and had it not been for a fine save from Kilkenny goalkeeper David Herity he would have secured a second goal.
That incident had a major bearing on the game as Kilkenny were to go down to the other end of the field and score their second goal through Richie Hogan. Consequently, instead of being within touching distance of their rivals at half time, Waterford found themselves 2-10 to 1-7 behind.
There was no way back. Although Kilkenny tended to play in spurts, and were not at their very best, they always held the upper hand.
But they know better than anyone that it will take more if they are to regain the All-Ireland crown. Everything points to a third epic final encounter against Tipperary, although the title-holders still have to see off Dublin in next Sunday's second semi-final.
No doubt, manager Brian Cody will have Kilkenny primed. He was happy enough with the victory over Waterford, explaining that "semi-finals are for winning."
Cody added: "Our two goals were important, as they came at the right time and gave us a cushion. But we still have an awful lot of work to do."
It may well be that Cody is pleased that his team won without being at their best, and that they were pretty average during the closing quarter. Perfect ammunition to prepare for a battle with Tipperary, if, indeed, it is to be Tipperary in the All-Ireland decider.
But there were some useful individual performances, notably from Fennelly and Richie Hogan who took his two first half goals superbly, while Henry Shefflin rowed in with 0-7, four of which were from frees.
If Waterford were to have any chance they needed a good start to the second half. Instead, it was Kilkenny, helped by a couple of vintage Shefflin points, who moved 10 points clear after 51 minutes.
Match over but, credit to Waterford, they kept going to be within six points of their rivals at the finish. Given what had happened to them against Tipperary in the Munster final, which was an aspect that greatly pleased manager Davy Fitzgerald.
"We put in a massive effort but it wasn't enough," stressed Fitzgerald. "A few decisions went against us but we keep plugging away and pulled it back to five points at one stage late on. It shows how much heart and courage these boys have.
"We had a bad day in the Munster final but came out to beat Galway and we put in another courageous performance against Kilkenny. The lads hadn't another ounce left in them coming off the field," he continued. "Fair play to them because the easiest thing to do when we came under pressure was to throw up the white flag. They could have done it; they didn't do it. That says a lot for them."
The question now is whether Fitzgerald will be around for next season's campaign. The same goes for 38-year-old Tony Browne who continued to defy his years with another useful display in Sunday's semi-final.
Dublin's Connolly shows star quality
DUBLIN will face the difficulty of dealing with an immense amount of hype following their 0-22 to 0-15 demolition of Tyrone in the last of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-finals at Croke Park last Saturday night
The attention is well deserved. This was the best Dublin performance for many years, containing some brilliant passages of football in difficult wet conditions.
Had it not been for four wasted goal chances, Tyrone could have suffered an even bigger hammering. As it was, they managed some late points to give the scoreline some respectability.
But no one was fooling themselves in the Tyrone camp. As Sean Cavanagh put it: "The energy pace and power of Dublin blew us away. You have to bow down to that whenever you are beaten by a superior team."
Exactly. Something else they couldn't deal with was the stunning accuracy of the Dublin side. No fewer than 19 of their points were scored from play.
And no one was better than Diarmuid Connolly. The St. Vincent's man was brilliant off either foot shooting 0-7 in a Man of the Match performance.
In terms of footballing ability, Connolly has it all but he had tended to blow hot and cold. Hopefully, from Dublin's point of view, last Saturday night marked his transformation into a real star.
The semi-final against Donegal on Aug. 28 will unquestionably reveal a good deal more about Connolly and the entire Dublin team. The one certainly is that Dublin will get considerably less room against the reigning Ulster Champions.
Although Tyrone played with terrific heart and keep going until the end, they are not what they were. The once great team has seen some of its most important figures grow older and less able to cope with the modern game.
Following the nature of this defeat, they are some who will write them off. But manager Mickey Harte warns that would be premature.
Harte, who will remain in charge for 2012, commented: "I think people are thinking too narrowly to say that this is a team that is going to disappear all in one go. That's not the case.
"There are some players who are near the end of their career and they will make a decision that is right for them but there will be no wholesale turnover. If you look at the team which started against Dublin, there were not too many elder statement included."
All of which is very true but the feeling persists that Tyrone will need time to adjust. Their marking, for instance, was far too loose against the likes of Connolly and the Brogan brothers, Bernard and Alan.
That said, nothing should be taken away from this Dublin performance. Had they managed to put away their goal opportunities, it would been as close to perfection as they could have hoped for.
The encouraging aspect was that they created those chance with some brilliant football. Just as impressive was their capacity to work so hard with some of their defending right out of the top drawer.
Bernard Brogan was back to his best, contributing five points, while Alan Brogan got three. Goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton was also immaculate with his kick-outs, and, for good measure, put over a 45 and a free.
In truth, every member of the extended Dublin squad did their bit. Manager Pat Gilroy went out of his way afterwards to explain that the practice games between the 'A' and 'B' teams was the key to Saturday night's performance.
He said: "The other 19 guys in the panel probably deserve more credit than those who played. They matches in training have been fantastic with not an inch given and little between the sides. I think that's where this display came from."
As for the quarter-final itself, Tyrone opened well enough with Mark Donnelly and Sean Cavanagh putting over points to leave them 0-2 to 0-1 ahead by the fifth minute. But that was the last time they were to lead in the encounter.
By half-time Dublin were in complete control, leading 0-11 to 0-6. The one concern for their big support in the 52,661 crowd was that the Dubs should possibly have been further ahead.
But they need not have worried. The lead was quickly increased to eight points early in the second half and from there on it was a matter of Tyrone trying to hang on in there.
To give them their due, they showed a good deal of resilience to keep the scoreline respectable. Interestingly, Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh, who finished with four points, now believes that Dublin will reach the final.
He said: "They are going to be very dangerous and I fancy them to beat Donegal. It looks like it going to be a Kerry-Dublin final."
Fair enough but the one thing that Dublin clearly must not do is to get caught up in the hype. This was one brilliant performance in what was previously an erractic campaign and Donegal are unquestionably going to be a much harder nut to crack than Tyrone.
Minors called back from dressing-room
CLARE must still be wondering how they managed to lose out to Galway by 1-23 to 1-18 after extra-time in an exciting and somewhat controversial All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship semi-final at Croke Park.
The Munster champions were three points ahead in injury-time. However, Galway launched one last attack which saw Gerard O'Donoghue bundling home the equalizing goal.
Initially, the two teams thought there would be a replay but they were called back from the dressing-rooms for extra-time. That saw the more physically powerful Galway lads pull clear with skipper Shane Maloney playing a key role.
