Toher plays part as Irish claim Shinty crown
SHINTY Trim man most capped player on Ireland panel
Trim's James Toher was the most capped player on the Ireland team that beat Scotland to retain the Mowi Quaich Cup following a thrilling 3-16 to 5-7 extra-time win in the Shinty-Hurling International at Ennis on Saturday. Kilkenny's Eoin Cody was the hat-trick hero, his third goal - a fine solo effort from a tight angle - coming during the additional 20 minutes as the home side took control of proceedings, a late Scotland goal putting a gloss on the scoreline, writes Paul Keane
The visitors looked destined to prevail in the home of the All-Ireland champions before one of those Banner heroes, Aidan McCarthy, came up with a late equaliser - one of nine points in total for the Clare forward.
The 14-a-side game, which lines out with three midfielders, five defenders and five forwards, is a regulation 80-minuyte contest with the compromise for the Ireland players being that they couldn't catch the ball.
That aspect of the game made it an all-action game of essentially ground hurling and Toher thoroughly enjoyed his 10th experience of the game.
"It's strange, there are a lot of breaks in play, so you do get a few breathers, but then whenever you go to the ball everything is a flat out sprint," said the Trim man. "They could be 80 yards away with the ball but you just know that if they pull on it they're driving that distance no problem and it could be immediately down on top of you.
"The length of their stick as well, you could be two yards in front of one of them and they could still get you with it.
"It's a rough auld game, but to be fair there were only a couple of blows there in the game, it might be worse in a club championship game in hurling at times. I think the crowd like to see that as well, some big clashes.
"It (not being allowed to catch the ball) encourages ground hurling which has been lost in the modern game.
"The modern game is based on possession. You don't ever just drive the ball without looking, but in this game you often have to do that because you don't get the time to look.
"You're putting your faith in the traditions of the game, that there's going to be someone in the position you're hitting to, rather than what you see in the modern game normally where someone is moving into a position and you don't hit it until he gets in there.
"We were very traditional in terms of how we stuck with two inside and three in the half-forward line at all times, that didn't change at all. So no matter where we hit it, it was generally going to someone," said Toher. Toher was proud to be the player with the most caps, but he was envious of the lads with All-Irelands and All-stars. He put his longevity in the hybrid game down to his relationship with one of the coaches Jeff Lynskey who called the Trim man into the Ireland u-21 squad 12 years ago. "Maybe I have that (record) in the shinty but there were boys out there with All-Ireland medals and All-Stars," said Toher.
"It's a completely different game, I don't think no matter how much hurling you've played that it can prepare you for the way the game is played.
"Sometimes it's fast, other times it's a bit slow. I wouldn't read too much into the caps. I've been around a long time at this stage so they kind of come with that.
"I think I was 19 (first cap). I think I had Jeff Lynskey for five years so he took a liking to me for a while, fortunately for me.
"He took the u-21s and he carried through a lot of lads to seniors. So he kind of knew a lot of us from a few years before. I think that could have been 2011, 2012 maybe. It's so long ago now."
Toher was delighted to get back in action after the disappointment of losing the SHC final with Trim.
"I've been playing with Trim a long time. I remember when Trim were a long way from winning anything so you have to be grateful for just being in the final too," recalled Toher.
"I think in the last three years we got to seven out of eight finals between u-21, league and championship with the seniors, not too many clubs would have done that.
"You can't just be greedy, you have to be ambitious but also be grateful for what you get.
"Things like this are obviously wonderful but I just think that if you get caught too much in the highs or the lows you're missing the moment itself," admitted the Trim man who confirmed that he does intend playing for Meath in 2025, if selected!