Lee Gannon may have only joined the Dublin U20 hurling panel four weeks ago but in spirit, he’s been there all along.
This is a man who, back in 2017, was in tears on the Croke Park pitch after the Dublin minor hurlers lost the All-Ireland final to Cork. This is a man who, fast forward to 2018, was the captain of the team when Dublin North College’s pulled off an almighty shock, in defeating St Kieran’s College in the Leinster schools final.
If it seemed back then that Dublin hurling was going places, then this was the man who was taking them there.
By 2019, Lee Gannon was part of the Dublin senior hurling panel but it wasn’t long before you were craning your neck back a little bit further, comparisons on the mind with men who had gone before him.
That’s because, just like Cormac Costello, just like Ciaran Kilkenny and Con O’Callaghan – Lee Gannon was another young Dublin dual star who by 2020, was kicking instead of pucking.
It’s why, when the choice had to be made, he wasn’t playing for the U20 hurlers against Offaly or against Wexford back in December because he was playing with the footballers instead. By that stage, the pandemic was closing in on us all and with fixtures squeezed, it meant that playing dual was a virtual impossibility and Gannon’s hand was forced. It was the day after the hurlers’ semi-final win over Wexford let’s not forget, when Gannon was part of the Dublin u20 football team that lost the All-Ireland final to Galway.
But if you found yourself in Tullamore of a June Wednesday, you’d have seen Gannon lighting up the the Leinster hurling final with a virtuoso display in the Dublin half forward line and you might just have thought all was well int the world.
The irony of this fairytale was not lost on Gannon, when after being named as man-of-the-match, he thanked his lucky stars that Dublin manager Paul O’Brien had brought him back.
“From the lows of last December to the highs of now, it’s amazing really,” beamed a visibly overjoyed Gannon in an interview with Micheál Ó Domhnaill on TG4.
“It’s a credit to all them boys out there. I only joined up about four weeks ago, so I’m in such a privileged position because they’re the boys that done all the hard work.
“I’m lost for words thinking about that performance there to be honest with you. It was an unbelievable performance.”
It was only then, when asked about their upcoming All-Ireland final against Cork, when it was made crystal clear to you all that Dublin hurling had been missing.
“We’ve had a good few games against Cork over the years so I think it’s time we finally got over the line against them,” Gannon said emphatically.
“We’re not the same Dublin team as before. This is a different animal.”
“We know how good we are. We are like a band of brothers over there,” he continued with the conviction of a man you’d follow into war.
“Whatever happened before, it doesn’t happen today It’s a start, and from now on, Dublin hurling will start pushing on from this, and hopefully in two weeks time, we’ll win.”
Is é Lee Gannon @DubGAAOfficial Laoch na hImeartha BGE/TG4 anocht!
Nach air atá an happy head 🙂 #HurlingToTheCore | #GAA | #Hurling | #COYBIB | #UpTheDubs pic.twitter.com/pgsNRry1WI
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) June 23, 2021
You’d be fit to go out and hurl yourself.
