Tipperary find the back door slammed shut at last minute

A Tipperary supporter looked for consolation as the crowds drifted away from Croke Park, and found it in the very mechanism which had given Tipp a second chance at the title. "If we'd won it," he concluded, "we'd have been hearing for years about the `backdoor' All-Ireland".

He had a point, and a point was all there was between the sides after a historic All-Ireland final whose outcome satisfied everybody, including hurling's fundamentalists. The first all-Munster decider produced an epic to grace the tradition of the game's proudest province and, in the end, the 1997 championship's only unbeaten team won.

Thus the sun will probably rise again this morning and the many doubting Thomases will not be required to believe that a team beaten in July could really rise from the dead in September. Meanwhile, the heartbreak of the Tipperary supporters will have been matched by the feelings of the GAA's accountants who, had John Leahy taken a point rather than shooting for goal in the dying seconds, would now be counting the proceeds of a replay.

There was no President in Croke Park for the game, a particularly sad situation for Clare, which until this weekend could claim almost as many Presidents (2) as All-Ireland hurling titles. And as the first half developed yesterday, neither statistic looked like changing. A stiff breeze boosted Tipperary's assault on history and even so great a player as Brian Lohan had his work cut out to hold Tipp's full-forward, Eugene O'Neill. And when, with the interval approaching, O'Neill scored a point and then won the free which opened up a six-point lead, drama critics in the press-box were thinking of headlines involving Clare and a Long Day's Journey into Night.

But a burst of scores either side of half-time put the Munster champions in control and midway through the second period, it seemed that even Tipperary were succumbing to the belief that their winning just wouldn't be right. With both the wind and tradition now behind them, Clare opened a five-point.

Still, this was a historic occasion, and it simply demanded a grand finale. So, just as the Munster champions had slammed the back door and were in the process of bolting all the windows, Tipperary came down the chimney with two opportunist goals for a one-point lead.

A Clare equaliser quickly followed, but there was real fear in the faces of their supporters now every time Tipperary attacked. So when Jamesie O'Connor scored his team's 20th point to restore their lead late in the game, it brought the loudest cheer of the day - a deep, hoarse howl that seemed to rise from the pit of every Clare supporter's belly.

The cheers died in their throats when, seconds later, the ball fell into the path of Tipperary's ace forward. There was a sharp intake of 65,000 breaths, as John Leahy shot low and the Clare keeper, David Fitzgerald, dived to save. Then the clearance, followed shortly afterwards by the final whistle and 65,000 people exhaling, in relief or despair. So, a third All-Ireland title for Clare, embellished by the earlier heroics of their minors. And among the many banners gathered under the Hogan Stand for the presentation was one, honouring the team's inspirational full-back, which read: "Brian Lohan for President".

Maybe the Taoiseach, who was deputising in the role yesterday, was tempted by the proposal.