Shane Moloney was on the pitch when the final whistle sounded. Croke Park shook. Galway were All-Ireland champions. Marooned no longer.
It was September 2017, and for the first time in 29 years the Liam MacCarthy Cup belonged to the Tribesmen.
Many Galway fans remember Moloney for his match-winning contribution of scoring the injury-time point in the All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary in 2015 more than anything else.
But for the talented forward, who captained Galway to All-Ireland minor glory in 2011, that 2017 success trumps the lot.
“There were a few barren years,” recalls Moloney. “Lots of great managers and players went through without ever winning the All-Ireland. I was very lucky to be part of a great Galway set-up and a great Galway team. I think 2017 would have to be the one that would stick out for me the most. I’ll never forget that final whistle.
“There were so many near misses. To get over the line in 2017, it was just huge. It was unbelievable for the community and the county.”
Eight years on, Sunday presents another opportunity for Moloney to achieve something amazing back at Croke Park – and this time for his local community when Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry face Cork’s Watergrasshill in the All-Ireland club intermediate hurling championship final.
Moloney was dropped from the Galway panel in 2019, but there was no resentment when Micheál Donoghue delivered the news, rather there was a realisation that all his energies thereafter would go towards helping his club.
“That Galway team was so strong. You’d have Conor Cooney, Conor Whelan, Cathal Mannion, Joe Canning, Joe Cooney, Johnny Glynn, Niall Burke, Jason Flynn – they’re all probably household names really. So trying to break into that team was very difficult.
“I probably wasn’t going well enough at the time either. I knew that myself. Sometimes the harder you try, the ball bounces the other way for you.
“Micheál rang me one day in February (2019) and just asked would I meet him. I met him in Loughrea and, look, we had a great chat. Going to meet him, I had a fair idea what it was about.
“But I agreed with him at the time. I knew myself that I wasn’t hurling well enough in there. I came back to the club then, I went back training immediately that week.
“Once I got dropped, my sole focus was going back and trying to give everything I could to the club.”
Moloney will be 32 in March, so a county recall is not something he is hoping to gain from this club adventure. Winning on Sunday is the target, nothing more.
“I was there (with Galway) for a few years and loved every minute of it, but once I let go of Galway I came back and gave everything to the club.
“It’s a young man’s game now. I see they (Galway) are back training and there’s a good influx of young lads in there. They’re the future and they’re the ones who are going to pave the way for Galway, please God.
“For the club, this run has been huge. It’s a great honour for the club. There’s great excitement around the area, there are lots of blue and green flags and hats everywhere you go, everywhere you turn. It’s a great opportunity, everyone in the parish is buzzing for Sunday.”
Former Dublin manager Mattie Kenny is the Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry boss, returning to his home club after achieving significant success elsewhere – not least guiding Cuala to back-to-back All-Ireland club senior hurling titles in 2017 and 2018. He now wants to add a club intermediate crown to his CV.
“Mattie came back with us in January 2023. We had been relegated (from senior) in 2022, so the management stepped away. Mattie joined us then so this is his second full year with us,” says Moloney.
“He hasn’t reinvented the wheel or anything, he just got everybody going in the one direction. There are good players who would do anything for him and he’s got a great management and back room team.
“We’ll do whatever he says. If he asked us to train at 6am, we’d do it without asking why. We just have everyone going in the one direction and that’s probably the big thing at the minute, the whole club is going in the one direction.”
Next stop, Croke Park.
*Croke Park will host three AIB All-Ireland club finals this Sunday:
All-Ireland club junior hurling final – St Lachtain’s (Kilkenny) v Russell Rovers (Cork), 12.30pm
All-Ireland club intermediate hurling final – Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry (Galway) v Watergrasshill (Cork), 2.30pm
All-Ireland club intermediate football final – Crossmolina Deel Rovers (Mayo) v Ballinderry (Derry), 4.30pm
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