JOE BROLLY urged RTE to make Marty Morrissey and John Mullane its primary hurling commentary duo for TV after seeing their joyous calling of Oisin O’Donoghue’s wonder goal.
Trying to describe the 19-year-old sub’s moment of magic was no small task given a three-pointer was in no way on when he got the sliotar.
The RTE Radio One commentary has been widely shared since Sunday[/caption]
But the pair managed to articulate its technical brilliance as well as sheer audacity whilst also conveying the overcome excitement viewers nationwide felt at the exact same moment.
Hailing them on X, Brolly posted: “Why are these two not doing all the big hurling matches on TV? Absolutely hair raising from the pair of them.
“The joy. The knowledge. The way they capture the feeling. National bloody treasures.”
When O’Donoghue unleashed his top corner effort past Eoin Murphy, there was an understandable momentary pausing of the “No cheering in the press box” rule as Morrissey and Mullane weren’t the only recognisable faces seen losing their collective minds.
Des Cahill, Shane McGrath and Henry Shefflin were visible in the row behind with a few people noting their contrasting reactions given the latter pair’s allegiances.
The clip was shared on The Sunday Game’s Instagram account with fans loving the raw emotion of it all despite the protagonists hailing from Clare and Waterford respectively.
Samuel hailed: “John Mullane just brings a passion to commentary on hurling. His natural grá for the game comes out.”
Similarly, Lurlene added: “I listened to it on the radio! Picture perfect audio portrait of what was happening.”
Caitriona praised: “Pure gold!!! Shane Mcg reaction in the background. Magical day!”
There was a comparable scene pitchside between Jackie Tyrrell and Liam Sheedy with the former sportingly initiating a handshake with the ex-Premier boss.
Both TV pundits as well as neutral observer Ursula Jacob acknowledged that Darragh McCarthy’s second yellow card was harsh if the correct call by the letter of the law.
That slightly contentious decision has been completely overshadowed by another controversial moment however.
Human error was responsible for the scoreboard incorrectly awarding Tipperary an extra point from the 70th minute onwards. Crucially, referee James Owen did not make the same mistake.
But Kilkenny players have a right to feel aggrieved considering they chased a goal unnecessarily thinking their deficit was then four points rather than three.
While analysing how the confusion arose on The Sunday Game, Brendan Cummins noted that one umpire put his hand up to catch the sliotar as Noel McGrath’s shot went just wide while the other official signalled it was wide.
Kilkenny then had two attacks where firstly Eoin Cody and secondly John Donnelly needlessly went for goal from long-range.
CANNING VERDICT
Joe Canning outlined how Kilkenny’s players clearly forced the issue as they felt they were in a bigger hole than they were in actuality.
Speaking about them thinking they were initially down by four immediately after McGrath’s phantom point, he emphasized: “Psychologically that’s huge because then you feel you have to get a goal and a point.
“When you’re only two points down you’re thinking we can tap one over and then try and win the puck-out so you can tap another one over.
“So for Kilkenny’s players, psychologically, chasing three points (that late on) is way different from chasing two points.”
Later on in the programme Canning returned to just how vital Robert Doyle’s goal-line block from Donnelly’s rasping effort had been.
The Galway great added: “He’s lucky because if they got that goal at the end of the match, Kilkenny would’ve won by the referee.
“Kilkenny would’ve been a point up yet everybody in the stadium would’ve thought it was a drawn match. So he saved the GAA I’d say!”
