THOSE convinced that the Railway Cups are moribund may still be in the majority, but a minority of one thousand loyal supporters at Newbridge yesterday surely felt a little stronger in their belief that the competition could, with little difficulty, be resuscitated to full life again.
Those present were treated to an exhilarating second half title winning performance by Leinster's footballers, not least Niall Buckley's 60th minute goal and afterwards Leinster team manager Mattie Kerrigan, said that the player want this competition to continue so badly that he could visualise a players strike if it is ever scrapped.
Leinster's dedication in training, borne of a razor sharp determination to recapture the trophy after an eight year lapse, was translated into smooth, cohesive and positive action in the second 30 minutes, which consigned the Munster men to a catching up role.
Leinster truly held the edge in individual flair and combined effort. They looked a lot more comfortable in possession, rarely failing to find the extra man in space, while the Munster defenders found themselves throwing about more passes than their forwards in trying to wriggle out of danger.
But Paidi O Se had every reason to be happy with the performance of his defenders, if only for the manner in which they marked up tight and hustled Leinster attackers into shooting 10 first half wides. Munster's only first half wide, shot by Colin Corkery, came three minutes before half time. Indeed, Munster's attacking opportunities and options were limited, thanks mainly to the midfield work of Paul Bealin and attacking half backs, Paul Curran, Glen Ryan and Denis Lalor. However, Leinster's wayward finish in the opening 30 minutes enabled Munster to be flattered at the interval, when the sides were level on 0-5 apiece.
I was very pleased with them in the second half, not so much for increasing their rate of possession but for getting a pattern going, said Mattie Kerrigan. Dublin's Brian Stynes had an interesting battle of wits with Kerry's Stephen Stack. Although officially listed at full forward, Stynes covered acres of ground in a self imposed duty to be everywhere. Wing back Stack was delegated to follow him and when Stynes had a point, four minutes from half time, the Kerryman emulated the feat within a minute at the other end.
Leinster captain for the day, Paul Curran, was not surprised with the level of commitment and understanding shown by his team "We have been training very hard for this. There was never less than 20 or 22 players for our sessions." When receiving the Cup, Currant made a special appeal to the game's administrators to find suitable dates for staging the competition "I am sure the crowds will come back under proper conditions. Playing matches in February when pitches are at their worst is crazy. A semi final weekend in March and the final in April would be a help. The pitch was great out there today he said.
Curran believes very strongly that there is a future for the competition. So does Paidi O Se. The Dubliner's roars of encouragement to his players repeatedly rose above the noise of the crowd. "We didn't do ourselves justice in the first half,"_he claimed.
"They were far the better for them on the day, conceded Munster boss Paidi O Se after our two fantastic games with Ulster, today was a bit disappointing for us. We needed a goal at some stage to boost our efforts."
The games two goal came late in the last minute in fact, but it was well worth waiting for. Kildare's Niall Buckley had just replaced Louth's Seamus O'Hanlon, when he gathered a perfect waist high pass from Wicklow's Kevin O'Brien, the most dangerous attacker on view. The slickness of the pass gave Buckley all the space he needed to career onwards for 20 yards, before unleashing a pin point left footer into the right corner of Kevin O'Dwyer's net.
Victory for Leinster had been virtually assured a lot earlier for after Joe Kavanagh an reliable place kicker Colin Corkery, had got their team to within a point of, Leinster's nine points total midway through the second half, the Leinster men responded mercilessly with a string of four points in a five minute spell. This golden patch was sparked off by Louth sharp shooter Colin Kelly, who saw his range shot go in off an upright. The very industrious Graham Geraghty followed up almost immediately, then Kelly and Stynes' collaborated to send O'Brien clear to make it 0-12 to 0-8, before Curran got forward in his trademark fashion, to hammer home the message with another great point. The barrage continued, but Denis Lalor struck a post. Subsequently, The only real threat from Munster came when Kavanagh's shot was parried away by Byrne Curran was on hand to gather and clear his lines. Disappointing displays by Billy O'Shea and Darn O Cinneide weakened Munster's prospects considerably up front.
