It’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
Richie Hogan made only his second start of the year for Kilkenny in Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Danesfort club man missed out on Kilkenny’s whole League campaign due to a back injury, while his championship involvement to date was restricted to substitute cameos and limited game time.
Richie had started against Wexford in the Leinster championship, but after four wide balls in the first half, Brian Cody had called him ashore before half-time.
Since then, Richie’s had to make do with life on the fringes. To his credit, he’s put the head down and he’s battled away. Against Galway in the drawn Leinster final, he showed glimpses of his genius when he turned the tide for Kilkenny late on with one genius pass across the pitch setting up a late score.
Richie had been knocking on Brian Cody’s door and last weekend he bet that door down. After Galway had destroyed Kilkenny in the first half, Kilkenny needed something big and they needed it fast.
Hogan stood up and he steadied the ship. On top of scoring 1-1 to spring Kilkenny into an unlikey comeback, his leadership and presence around the field revitalised everyone in Black and amber around him.
They eventually lost that day and that meant Sunday’s clash with Limerick was do-or-die. Brian Cody had played his youngsters all year but when it really came down to it, he gave the call to the tried and trusted Richie Hogan.
And Richie didn’t let him down. Hogan reeled off three points from play in the first 15 minutes of the game.
His third was the best of the lot, where the smallest man on the pitch, the diminutive 5 ft 7 in forward leapt into the sky to pluck a high hanger over much taller men.
Fantastic score from @KilkennyCLG's Richie Hogan! pic.twitter.com/CxIi83bjPV
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 15, 2018
Keep your eye on the ball, time your jump right, back yourself and it doesn’t matter who you’re up against.
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