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Post by misteallaigh abú on Jul 4, 2021 17:05:27 GMT
Kilkenny v Wexford was breathtaking, a superb advertisement for hurling. I felt a bit for Wexford, they were gassed once extra time arrived but they had the chances to put Kilkenny away. You have to admire Cody and Kilkenny, he manages to get the best out of what he has, consistently.
Limerick, I thought, got away with an awful lot of over the top fouls in the first half, in particular. They left something on in nearly every tackle they made, it appeared to me to be calculated and quite cynical. They were never in any danger once they got their noses in front late in the first half.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 17, 2021 18:36:58 GMT
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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Jul 17, 2021 19:33:14 GMT
Dublin are really good at shouldering lads in the head, pity the game isnt decided on that
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Post by blacksheep21 on Jul 17, 2021 19:38:20 GMT
I am glad Paul Galvins potential involvement with this Kerry team this year did not happen. |
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Post by Kerryman Randy Savage on Jul 17, 2021 19:46:33 GMT
I am glad Paul Galvins potential involvement with this Kerry team this year did not happen. I agree. Leaving the footballers in the lurch like that right before the restart last year. I have spent years defending Galvin on the field but he let himself down today. Our current setup doesn't need sideshows. |
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 18, 2021 17:41:22 GMT
I have the Limerick v Tipp game recorded so i listened to rte radio sport.
Really and truly the screeching by John Mullane has to stop. I assume he got a lot of reaction on twitter at one stage but the novelty of the screeching hyena has long since worn off.
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Post by veteran on Jul 18, 2021 18:08:18 GMT
I suppose there have championship comebacks like Limerick today but there must be very few. Ten points down at half time against the most skillful team in the land I did not give tuppence for their chances . They simply devoured Tiipp in that second half . The mad ferocity of their hurling in that half reduced Tipperary the role of spectators and must have send a cold shiver down the spine of their remaining rivals.
However, should serious title contenders ever surrender a ten point lead? That second half reminded me of an interview I heard on the radio some months back with a Tipp hurler of the sixties when Tipperary were supreme. He felt the modern Tipp hurler is more skillful than in his day but he often questions their stomach in an intense battle . He may be on to something. In Tipperary’s defence today , a lot of them have been around for a while and very likely the intense heat was more injurious to them than their younger opponents. Still , Limerick look irresistible.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 18, 2021 20:50:55 GMT
I suppose there have championship comebacks like Limerick today but there must be very few. Ten points down at half time against the most skillful team in the land I did not give tuppence for their chances . They simply devoured Tiipp in that second half . The mad ferocity of their hurling in that half reduced Tipperary the role of spectators and must have send a cold shiver down the spine of their remaining rivals. However, should serious title contenders ever surrender a ten point lead? That second half reminded me of an interview I heard on the radio some months back with a Tipp hurler of the sixties when Tipperary were supreme. He felt the modern Tipp hurler is more skillful than in his day but he often questions their stomach in an intense battle . He may be on to something. In Tipperary’s defence today , a lot of them have been around for a while and very likely the intense heat was more injurious to them than their younger opponents. Still , Limerick look irresistible. To win it Tipp will probably have to beat KK in the semi and Limerick in the final. That team has a lot of mileage and maybe the heat didnt suit them as you say. Tipps season may well be over now. If so its a pity as i could watch those forwards all day. |
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 26, 2021 12:00:30 GMT
Tipp draw Waterford. Tipp have as much mileage as Galway and Galway are gone well back.
Waterford may have too much energy for Tipp especially if its a hot day.
Cork v Dublin. Big chance for both teams...Dublin lost 4 to covid before playing KK. Too close to call this one.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 28, 2021 12:39:21 GMT
Joe Canning has announced he is retiring from intercounty hurling with Galway days after they were knocked out of this year’s All-Ireland by Waterford.
The 32-year-old won three Leinster provincial titles and one memorable All-Ireland in 2017 in his time with the Tribesmen.
The news comes as a surprise to many, but Canning said he had told his teammates after Saturday’s loss. In that match the Portumna man became the highest scorer in the history of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship and with that he has decided to call it a day after three surgeries in the last five years.
“That’s it, finished with Galway now,” Canning said at a Bord Gais Energy media event. “I told the boys after in the dressing room, that was it, so have to keep my word a bit on that one.
“I will keep playing with Portumna, but that’s me finished with Galway.”
“There has been a lot of people wondering, would I, wouldn’t I, so just to end all that.
“It’s injuries and stuff like that. I had a couple of fairly serious ones over the year and even this year alone I tore a hamstring after the Waterford league game and didn’t realise I had it for a few weeks. Just a little nick, I’d a partial tear in my thumb as well. My finger, my heel, yeah there are four or five injuries alone this year, niggly ones, so yeah it wasn’t getting any easier for me.
“I just feel the time is right. I don’t want to stay around too long either. I think that is a bad way as well, just being there for the sake of it.
“As I said to the lads after the game, Saturday wasn’t the say I was planning to tell them. That’s just it, life moves on.”
“I thought it (retirement) might be later on in the year,” he said.
“You were kind of hoping in August time, August 22nd, All-Ireland that’s your kind of dream isn’t it, but that’s life, as I said, life moves on, that’s just the way it is.
“I am content with it. It wasn’t a thing just because we lost, that’s it. As I said to the boys I wanted to say it then because we will never be in that group again.”
More to follow…
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 28, 2021 12:41:06 GMT
Joe is the most skillful player i have seen. He had perfected all the skills. Sad day.
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Post by glengael on Jul 28, 2021 13:11:34 GMT
Yes Mick I agree 100%. I am very glad he did get that All Ireland medal and hopefully he will be able to give Portumna a few more years.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 28, 2021 17:28:51 GMT
Irish Examiner Logo
WED, 28 JUL, 2021 - 16:01
PM O’SULLIVAN
The retirement of Joe Canning, one of hurling’s finest talents, adds to an intense period for the most beautiful game.
He counts as one of the rarest ones, a prodigy of prodigies. Born on October 11, 1988, Canning got marked down for greatness almost before he could ride a bicycle. Like Kilkenny’s James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick, like Tipperary’s Eoin Kelly, his name was a hushed rumour long before he became a presence.
All virtuosos in the making follow the same path. Canning’s initial opponent entered from fable, the treacherous knight named Sir Expectation.
A friend of mine, Craughwell native, knows the family. Michael recalls being at Galway senior training in 2001, a time when Ollie Canning, older brother by 12 years, operated as the game’s finest corner back. His youngest sibling watched from the sideline, a joust with that knight still before the horizon.
Michael ran into the two of them on the way out. “You’re going well, Ollie,” he said. “Ah, not too bad,” Canning nodded, before reaching over to pat his brother’s shoulder and hand him a lance. “But this is the man. He’ll be the best of us all.”
By 2008, Sir Expectation lay sprawled. Joe Canning shot 2-12 in a qualifier tie with Cork, taking 1-5 from play. At that juncture, he had won three All-Ireland titles at Minor and U21. Home front likewise glittered, after two Galway senior finals and two club All-Irelands (with the tyro deemed man of the match, at 17, in 2006’s decider against Newtownshandrum).
That day against Cork, Canning’s third senior outing for Galway, he showcased near unique talents. Not many hurlers are both gladiator and surgeon. Wearing blue scrubs and sandals, one attacker went to business.
The 11th minute saw him fetch a ball above Diarmuid O’Sullivan, left of goal. Canning barrelled inside, Cork’s full-back unmerciful in tackle, before bouncing back outside, finding a notch of space. He flung himself and whacked the ball, one-handed, to the net.
Audacity married virtuosity. Dónal Óg Cusack, enraged, ran out and protested about steps, like someone who had doubted Moses.
That score illustrated Canning’s wondrous splice of force and finesse. Game intelligence sent him down O’Sullivan’s inside line first, committing a righthanded defender’s hurl to his right side. The spin back out therefore meant O’Sullivan’s hurl was fixed where it could not attempt a block.
But the wristwork and the timing and the strength involved in goaling that possession, one-handed, while off the ground… Beyond even fable’s charts.
Joe Canning’s sheer physical strength was a concealed weapon. No marker, whatever his success, ever intimidated him. Portumna were defeated by Ballyhale Shamrocks, my native club, in 2010’s club All-Ireland final. Aidan Cummins, our full back and himself a powerful man, told me afterwards that Canning was by far the strongest hurler he ever encountered.
That day in 2008, his second goal arrived via a penalty. Martin Coleman, a righthanded goalkeeper, had just come on following Cusack’s dismissal. Three men were on the line. The penalty, venomously struck, whizzed past Coleman’s body on his right side.
I rarely saw a penalty hit better or with more intelligence. Canning knew Coleman would not be able to get the bás of his hurl twisted round quickly enough from default backhand position. I infer that the young Joe Canning thought about hurling, the intimate increments of advantage, in the way the young Mike Tyson thought about boxing.
Canning, along with TJ Reid, is the finest penalty taker I have seen. Anyone can hit a rising drive. But how many hurlers can roll their wrists, sending the sliotar low by getting over it? Hardly anyone. Canning has a repertoire of penalties akin to the late Severiano Ballesteros’ repertoire of shots from the rough, the same cold audacious brilliance.
Local comparisons? Another day’s effort. Joe Canning as regards hurling’s other 21st century luminaries? All in time. The man departing graced the most beautiful game. Enough said, for the day in it.
A count remains one form of assessment. If so, he took the full set. There came at least one All-Ireland in the three major grades: Senior (2017), U21 (2007), Minor (2004, 2005).
Add three NHL titles (2010, 2017, 2021) and three Leinster titles (2012, 2017, 2018). The highest gongs likewise fell his way: Hurler of the Year (2017), Young Hurler of the Year (2008), five All Stars (2008, 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018). The absence of a Railway Cup is no longer relevant.
Home ground saw five Galway senior victories (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013) and four club All-Ireland victories (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013). The deep involvement of four Canning brothers in Portumna’s triumphs will leave those days the sweetest hours. Their youngest one now departs having made good a brother’s prediction.
And then some.
MORE #GALWAY GAA ARTICLES
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 31, 2021 13:16:21 GMT
Waterford 2.14 Tipp 2.13 and thats only the half time score! Tipp doing well to be so close as Waterford bossed the game for periods. Two goals from Callanan and a few super points from John oDwyer keeping Tipp in the game.
The pace will have to slacken. That may suit Tipp. If it doesnt Waterford will have the legs on them i think as Waterfords game is a running game.
26 scores from play. The ref is letting the game flow and playing the old advantage rule ....he is ignoring the rule that came in a few months ago whereby the first foul is meant to be whistled....i wonder is he acting on instructions from on high.
Either way its a far better spectacle.
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Post by Mickmack on Jul 31, 2021 14:10:06 GMT
4.28 to 2.27. Waterford won it. Tipp nearly got an equalising goal in injury time but Waterford finished strongly.
The ref gave Waterford a phantom penalty at the start of the second half which set then up. However the better team won.
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Post by glengael on Aug 2, 2021 17:17:48 GMT
Cork and Waterford somewhat surprise packets for the semi-finals. I wouldn't write off either causing an upset.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 3, 2021 9:25:37 GMT
Cork and Waterford somewhat surprise packets for the semi-finals. I wouldn't write off either causing an upset. 4th game in 4 weeks for both i think...whereas Limerick and KK have had a 3 week break...will fatigue be a factor |
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Post by clarinman on Aug 3, 2021 16:00:29 GMT
Cork and Waterford somewhat surprise packets for the semi-finals. I wouldn't write off either causing an upset. 4th game in 4 weeks for both i think...whereas Limerick and KK have had a 3 week break...will fatigue be a factor 4th game in 4 weekends for Waterford. One less for Cork as they got a bye in the first qualifier round. |
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Post by gaelicden on Aug 8, 2021 16:10:35 GMT
By God Cork are chokers!!! Just clear the F*#";:g sliotar, time is up like
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 8, 2021 16:17:49 GMT
By God Cork are chokers!!! Just clear the F*#";:g sliotar, time is up like All Tim oMahony had to do was run out towards the sideline and kick the ball into row Z. Being able to close out games is a huge part of tight games. Some finish by Mullen though. Extra time now. |
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Post by gaelicden on Aug 8, 2021 16:46:09 GMT
Fair play to Cork, recovered well in extra time. 1-37 to 1-32 winners but by God they don't make it easy for themselves.
I'd be concerned about their mentality if they find themselves a couple of points up against Limerick in 2 weeks time.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 8, 2021 16:46:53 GMT
The next 5 or 6 years will be all about Limerick and Cork.
Corks bench made all the difference today.
KK are involved in nearly all the epic games now even though they are not winning all irelands.
Second all munster final in a row coming up.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 8, 2021 16:49:49 GMT
Fair play to Cork, recovered well in extra time. 1-37 to 1-32 winners but by God they don't make it easy for themselves. I'd be concerned about their mentality if they find themselves a couple of points up against Limerick in 2 weeks time. Corks dna will mean they expect to beat Limerick. Limerick are more seasoned operators and Cork may have to wait a year or two. Only Pat Horgans second semi final win....hard to believe that. |
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Post by john4 on Aug 8, 2021 17:31:36 GMT
Rory McIlroy said after his final round of the Olympics golf that he never tried so hard to finish 3rd. We saw 2 teams today that never fought so hard to finish second. Limerick are up another level.
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Post by veteran on Aug 8, 2021 17:58:23 GMT
There is no doubting Cork were deserving winners. It was only Kilkenny’s innate doggedness that pushed it to extra time. Cork were more skillful, pacy and tactically aware. In contrast , I was astonished at how primitive most of Kilkenny’s attacking play was . Repeatedly dropping the ball in high , hoping for a catch in the midst of a forrest of hurleys or a kind break. The unsophisticated nature of this tactic was further compounded by playing TJ too far out with Walter inside . Walter’s dexterity and acumen would not come close to that of TJ.
Cork hurling has come in from the wilderness. Their u20s and minors are going well also. Having seen Limerick demolish Tipp and Waterford I felt they had it in the bag. Not so sure now. I will be surprised if Cork do not give Limerick a bellyful. There was a time when Cork rated only Tipp and Kilkenny, with Limerick only rare imposters. I suspect they will be confident of brushing aside this current crop of imposters in the final. You wouldn’t bet your life savings against them doing it. Time will tell.
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Post by dc84 on Aug 8, 2021 20:11:08 GMT
Went into it with the in-laws some game in fairness ! Hard to see past limerick but there is a bit of dog to these new cork lads, the full backline where immense and Kingston and Alan cafogan made all the difference with their movement cork forwards were very static in first 15 mins. You have to admire Kilkenny they give their all but are off ai winning standard at the moment.
Cork are short a wing back and centre forward I feel harnedy just doesn't work hard enough from what i saw. Jack o connor is electric I wonder would he cause Kyle Hayes a few problems at wf?
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 9, 2021 7:58:54 GMT
Nicky English
After Saturday, there was a temptation to wonder whether it was worth Kilkenny’s and Cork’s while turning up for this semi-final given the awesome nature of Limerick’s win over Waterford. But turn up they did – and with gusto in what turned out to be a brilliant contest.
Ultimately the better team won and more significantly the more dangerous opponents for Limerick. Cork are a young team and learning on the job. The space in Croke Park suited them and they eventually cut through Kilkenny.
An unbelievable second half from Shane Kingston turned the match around and although Adrian Mullen’s goal unexpectedly took it into extra-time I think, as things turned out, that will have helped Cork.
It was a real examination. Cork missed a 65 that would have given them a four-point lead but instead everything remained in the melting pot.
Kilkenny were reaching back with Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan coming off the bench and other forwards interchanging
They must have headed to the dressing-room in low enough spirits. The setback was a huge blow and the way they survived it was akin to the win over Clare when they had to scrap it out in the closing minutes.
This season, bit by bit, Cork are starting to answer the questions. Sunday was another opportunity to overcome adversity.
Instead of just surviving a Kilkenny comeback in 70 minutes, they had to go and win it and did so impressively. The key event for me was Jack O’Connor finding that opening to burn off Conor Delaney for the goal.
It took off from there. For a good bit of the match little had been seen of that pacy, goal threat but once Kingston came in at centre forward and O’Connor moved to wing forward, things began to click.
In the end they were better off having to do it the hard way. Whether the experience will pay off this year against Limerick isn’t guaranteed but they saw off a battle-hardened adversary in Croke Park where four times in the past eight years, they have lost All-Ireland semi-finals and a quarter-final.
The pressure will be off as they won’t be expected to beat Limerick but from a Limerick point of view they could have got tried and tested opponents with a known ceiling but instead will be facing a team still developing.
Cork could do with simplifying things. If Tim O’Mahony doesn’t try and pick out a pass in the last minute but just belts the ball up the pitch, Fergal Horgan probably blows the whistle. Instead Pádraig Walsh plays in Mullen for the goal.
But they’re on the right track. Waterford tried to outmuscle Limerick on Saturday and it didn’t stand a chance of working. Cork will try to play around them and they’ve nothing to lose which makes them dangerous opposition.
Kilkenny were reaching back with Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan coming off the bench and other forwards interchanging. Once again they absolutely produced what it says on the tin but that’s no longer enough and in the end it was too much of a struggle.
It tells a lot that they are now more dependent on Eoin Murphy, who produced a string of excellent saves, than TJ Reid.
On Saturday Limerick were unstoppable. They’re improving as they go in what’s turning out to be a really well-timed All-Ireland run and have now produced three successive halves of outstanding hurling.
I was particularly impressed with Limerick’s discipline. They tackled with the chest rather than using arms and hurleys, which suggested that they’ve done some work on this aspect of their game
Up until half-time in the Munster final they had been relying on Cian Lynch and Kyle Hayes but this time we saw year’s-best performances from a number of Limerick players, including Nickie Quaid. On the occasions that Waterford managed to escape the stifling attention of their markers, the goalkeeper made some excellent saves.
There were a couple of factors that I felt influenced Waterford’s approach. Fatigue in their fourth match in successive weeks was bound to be a factor even though they made no excuses of their punishing schedule. In last year’s final they were physically overwhelmed and they appeared determined not to allow that happen again.
They attacked savagely in the first quarter. Conor Gleeson stuck to Cian Lynch and the Bennetts put themselves about with some serious hits, showing that Waterford were well up for it. I’m not sure if I was going to war with Limerick that I’d choose physicality as the ideal battlefield.
The champions’ physique, conditioning and – now – fitness is fairly forbidding and there was a step-up in performance all around: as well as Quaid, Dan and Tom Morrissey, Darragh O’Donovan to name a few.
I don’t know if it was their emphasis on confrontation or simply fatigue but Waterford’s hurling wasn’t anywhere as good as in recent weeks – there were times when they needed a second touch to get control, which is fatal against Limerick.
Waterford’s puck-outs were under pressure but what were they to do? Go long and the ball is landing on Diarmaid Byrnes and the outstanding Kyle Hayes; go short and the ball-carrier is swallowed up in the middle third.
The game got away from them after the first water break, as Cian Lynch began to turn up the dial and every one of the Limerick forwards scored from play. They won that phase by 0-11 to 0-4 and that was that.
I was particularly impressed with Limerick’s discipline. They tackled with the chest rather than using arms and hurleys, which suggested that they’ve done some work on this aspect of their game. It was ironic so that they picked up a red card.
Peter Casey’s foul didn’t look great on review and unless they can argue that the bars of the helmet got entangled – which actually can happen – they’ll be doing without him in the final, which is a blow for the player.
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 9, 2021 12:25:45 GMT
Talking points: Cork’s dominance in the puckout stakes
SUN, 08 AUG, 2021 - 22:04
PM O’SULLIVAN
Cork defence
Much of the reason why the 2010s remained an All-Ireland desert for Cork hurling lay in an inability to defend, consistently, as a unit.
Most of top level defending amounts to a form of housekeeping, repeatedly doing the correct thing, the expected thing. Avoiding basic errors, such as having two men contesting a high ball or passing infield under pressure, remains the heart of not getting shattered. Precious little can be done about a forward’s flash of genius. All the while, bread and butter details are a defence’s champion diet.
For Cork, this defensive weakness is all but eliminated. Composure in defence granted them the platform required to overcome Kilkenny by a fully deserved five point margin.
Doubts have been aired, say, about Mark Coleman at centre back. The flipside of seeing the Blarney clubman as a wing back shoehorned into the centre is that he has no problem reverting to his former role.
Kieran Kingston and colleagues decided on Ger Millerick as TJ Reid’s initial marker.
Any time Reid stood at centre forward, Millerick followed. Coleman, therefore, spent most of his time at right half back, to good effect. He even managed a splendid point, surging upfield in the 37th minute.
More importantly, Cork’s defending held up, literally, in the 10th minute. Reid lanced towards goal but was caught by a combination of Coleman and Darragh Fitzgibbon, pacy enough to defend without fouling while running towards their own posts. Here is one of the game’s most difficult skills.
Reid got blown for steps and his opponents swelled in belief.
A river flows downhill but must rise somewhere. On this occasion, many of Cork’s eye-catching scores derived from a deep defensive source. Item: Shane Kingston’s 60th minute effort, the fourth one in a seven point haul, finished a move that had begun with Eoin Cody getting dispossessed in a promising position upfront.
The Cork defence tapped the source. Then the Cork attack had Kilkenny at sea.
Kilkenny puckouts
While there are many reasons why Cork triumphed, Kilkenny’s analysis will need to look in detail at performance on their own puckout.
This deficiency is not a new one, a one day malfunction. The two games played to win 2021’s Leinster Championship demonstrated that Kilkenny experience serious difficulty in harvesting possession on their restarts once the ball is delivered long. This weekend’s outing against Cork laminated that pattern.
One stretch of this All-Ireland semi-final will chafe the necessary analysis.
Between the 60th and 67th minutes, Eoin Murphy went long with six puckouts. Each one was gathered by the opposition’s defence and a fresh attack initiated.
There is a strong sense in which the winners, but for Adrian Mullen’s wonder goal at the death, seized the day during this period.
Shane Kingston slotted his 60th minute opportunity for a two point lead, 0-24 to 0-22. Three minutes later, the gap had broadened to six points, 0-28 to 0-22, after Kingston rose another white flag.
Cork’s dominance in the puckout stakes ultimately throttled Kilkenny’s hopes. Until the Leinster champions establish means of improving in this area, they will find acquiring a 37th senior title the recalcitrant side of difficult.
TJ Reid, their most accomplished fetcher of possession, will be 34 in November. Walter Walsh, despite his height, has never been a reliable puckout target. The irony is that such difficulties accrued on an afternoon when Eoin Murphy reaffirmed his credentials as hurling’s finest 21st century goalkeeper.
Key interactions between tactics and personnel will never become irrelevant. There will be a long winter in Kilkenny, reflecting on where they can improve, how they can improve. The puckout aspect of their senior panel’s approach needs to be stripped down, refurbished and polished.
History boys
Cork and Kilkenny is one of the GAA’s most celebrated rivalries.
This particular history stands long and stands rich. The Leinster men beat these opponents to record their first two senior victories, in 1904 and 1905. At that point, the Munster men already owned six senior titles.
For most of the 20th century, Cork were nearly always ahead on the roll of honour.
But Kilkenny’s extraordinary 21st century surge, 11 triumphs in the 16 seasons between 2000 and 2015, reset the relationship. Not all of the reset proved harmonious.
This meeting of the counties felt not just like another chapter but also like a change in tone. There was an end of era feel to the Kilkenny camp. They may have to go sideways before powering forward again in time.
For sure, this result salved a lot of Cork hurt.
At its onset, 2021 represented the county facing into a 16th season without the Liam MacCarthy Cup. The place rightly loves its own pedigree and does not want to exceed the dearth experienced between 1903 and 1919.
There are people who reckon taking on Limerick in the 2021 All-Ireland final is hurling’s version of a fool’s errand. No one in Cork, though. They will travel on merit, nothing daunted.
They will be wearing not motley but blood and bandage.
MORE IN THIS SECTION
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Post by Mickmack on Aug 9, 2021 12:28:29 GMT
In the 2020 semi final v KK, Waterford made hay by winning the KK puckout.... just as Cork did yesterday.
Waterford didn't repeat the feat in the final v Limerick and i can't see Cork doing any better in this final.
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Post by taggert on Aug 9, 2021 14:28:24 GMT
Thanks for posting the above Mick.
Cork looked good at times yesterday but its a Kilkenny side that is lacking in quality if not the typical guts and desire of a Brian Cody team. If Tony Kelly had goaled with the last puck of the game against Cork, its Clare who would have been competing with Kilkenny yesterday - indicating to me, Cork are closer to the chasing pack than they are to Limerick right now. That said, they are arrogant enough in their hurling to believe they will win it so hopefully its a good final. Should they lose as I expect, they have still much to look forward to as they are young, talented and have more coming through.
Has there ever, in the history of both GAA codes, been a more impressive demonstration of optimal strength and conditioning than that of this Limerick team. Combined with brilliant and daring passing, touch and control at unbelievably close quarters, they are a joy to watch.
Its a level of entertainment that in my view is in total contrast to the joyless, predictable and dull fare served up by Dublin footballers, who are a winning machine, but not for me.
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