Tom Condon plucked one from the Kilkenny sky in the 67th minute.
The Limerick crowd roared and the hair must have been standing on the back of Tom Condon’s neck. The momentum from his soaring jump dragged him forward at pace and if he wanted to look good and if he wanted that Limerick crowd to go even wilder, he would have lamped the sliotar down the other end of the field.
Four or five years ago and the Knockaderry club man would have had zero qualms about landing it the far side of Kilkenny City. This is a different Tom Condon knocking about now.
This year, he wasn’t thinking about the glory of it, he wasn’t panicky or even rushing to get rid of the ball – he was cool, calm and composed with the sliotar in his hands and he was seeking out the best, most caclulated thing to do.
Dan Morrissey showed for him – there’s always a teammate showing for a Limerick man in possession – and Tom Condon found him with a low zipper across the turf.
Limerick were out. It wasn’t long before Tom Condon was named the man-of-the-match.
And on Monday’s GAA Hour Show, he came in for further praise from Kilkenny legend JJ Delaney.
“You saw Tom Condon on Sunday, he was hitting the ball 20 or 30 yards and he was gone again, he didn’t care where his man was, his man wasn’t following him, he was there for the one-two there as well,” said JJ.
Condon was at this all day long in an energetic, bustling performance.
“That put Tom in a lot of space there so he was bursting out then and he was able to hit the 70:30 ball. They weren’t lumping it up the field for the sake of getting rid of it, they were all very confident coming out with the ball and they were assured of what they were doing.”
Is é @TCondon4 Laoch na hImeartha
Bua slachtmhar ag a fhoireann inniu@LimerickCLG 2-18 @KilkennyCLG 0-15@MunsterGAA #GAABEO #AllianzLeagues pic.twitter.com/VNpNEnmrG2
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) February 17, 2019
It’s Limerick’s tactic. Play it short, pass and move, always help a teammate. Their touch is so sharp and striking so crisp that they can destroy teams with it.
“They were told at half-time, I’d say, just play it through the lines, get their half forward line out the field, and then there’s loads of space in the full forward line for Aaron Gillane to win it,” added JJ.
“It’s just putting your team before yourself, the manager will give him the credit for it obviously…that’s what this Limerick team are doing all over the field.”
And Wooly made a good point when he touched on the point that the 31-year-old is still learning new tricks.
“I just thought how far he has been developed as a player under this system…”
You can listen to the Condon love-in, and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show here.
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