ANTHONY NASH STRIKES the ball harder than any hurler since the great John Fenton, according to mentor and selector Ger Cunningham.
Nash kept Cork’s All-Ireland dreams alive when he rocketed a 20-metre free past Clare keeper Pat Kelly in Sunday’s drawn final.
That goal, coupled with another clean sheet, capped another fine performance by a player who has worked his way from third-choice to All-Star to Hurler of the Year contender in a few short years.
Nash could have finished with a hat-trick last weekend but another 20-metre free and a penalty were saved by Kelly and Colin Ryan.
Cunningham says it takes a brave man to charge off his line and block one of Nash’s thundering strikes as Kelly controversially did in the first half.
I tell you, I wouldn’t be coming out that far to face a free from Nash anyway!It’s something obviously that Clare would have thought about with Fitzy being a goalie, ‘how do you stop them?’ That’s one way of doing it.
“He was very brave to do it but I think it contravened a couple of rules. You’re not supposed to come out that far.”
Nash’s free-taking technique has also come under some scrutiny after he moved the ball six or seven metres forward with his lift before striking it.
“Have you ever tried to do what he’s doing?” Cunningham asked. “There’s no law against it. There’s no rule against it.
“It’s a very difficult thing to do to throw up the ball seven yards ahead and hit it full force. You don’t see that many fellas doing it. They might go three or four yards but it’s an exceptional throw up and to be able to connect bang on is a great skill.
I faced John Fenton a few times and John Fenton had a fierce whack of a ball. He did something similar, threw it up and came in.He didn’t come in quite as far as the 14 but John Fenton had a ferocious whack of a ball. He’d be closest I would put to [Nash].
