In all the games we see around the country, there are times when a player will perform at a level that takes the breath away. Followers of the team and rivals alike see it and acknowledge it.
It'll be one of those days when the skill transcends anything seen before. The speed, finesse, and ferocity can dazzle opponents and introduce a new level of heroics that ignites the field, inspires the players and makes conversation later for the barrooms, the carloads and the county papers. 
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At the start of any game, you can see the hesitancy in some of the bodies on the pitch. It might be their first County game, new and unused to the pace, the ruthlessness and speed of play, the finality and aggression of the shoulders as they smash a body to the side to clear the way or race to win a ball. It's like nothing they've ever experienced before. All the talk and advice in the world can't prepare them for it; it's something they have to experience to know.
Some learn quickly. Others in an instant. Some never. And you see it when after five, or ten, or even twenty minutes, the new man is replaced and he, and everyone in the park, suspects that he has probably had his moment of county honours. It's not always the case, but frequently. But he'll cherish the memory, the chance he had, the consideration for the moment, when he'll be able to talk to grandchildren, or visitors from America, or maybe in some conversation when he'll think of what might have been, realise the honour of having been considered good enough, at one time, to wear the jersey. 
The moment a goal is scored can bring a team alive, a crowd awake, and the fans of the scoring team into a frenzy. A game can change in the two seconds it takes for a hurl to swing, strike the ball, and shake the net. History can be made and names learned and remembered for life. Those brief searing moments will burn in the memories of new young fans witnessing their first senior hurling contest, veteran followers seeing another championship lost for want of a faster stride or a longer reach, or relatives catching their breaths as a brother, nephew, cousin or other fires the final shot that changes the game.
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