Darragh Ó Sé sensed it wasn’t going to be a good day for Kerry in Killarney last Saturday from the moment the referee lobbed the ball into the air to start the game. They were, he writes, “second to everything, right from the bloody throw-in”.
While Mayo weren’t flawless, Darragh says they were far the better team, Kerry well off it, devoid of any cohesion or direction. They’re “going to require some major reconstructive surgery”, he reckons, ahead of their meeting with Cork on Saturday week.
In contrast, Munster hurling – bar Waterford – is in rude health, writes Seán Moran, the “pyrotechnics” produced in the championship there so far this year firing the imagination of the public and leaving it poised to beat the record round-robin attendances set in 2019.
Leinster hurling isn’t faring as well, and “should the unthinkable happen to Wexford and they have to depart the provincial championship for at least a year”, the impact on its attendances will be significant.
Sports Books of the Year: Conor Niland’s The Racket the best in a year dominated by autobiographies
Manchester City approach the surreal as they head for Liverpool
Mark Ella was ‘the fulcrum ... the genius’ of Australia’s trailblazing tour of 1984
Patrick Reed returns to winning ways despite worst warm-up
There’s a rising tide in Offaly hurling, though, Gordon Manning talking to senior captain Jason Sampson ahead of their Joe McDonagh Cup final against Carlow on Saturday. A victory would guarantee them Leinster Championship hurling next year, for the first time since 2018, and with their under-20 side through to next month’s All Ireland final, there’s a sense that “the county is reinvigorated”.
Gordon D’Arcy, meanwhile, believes Leinster need a bit of reinvigoration themselves after a season that promised so much ended trophy-less. It’s up to their young players now to “prove they are good enough to fill a Leinster jersey,” he says, with little prospect of outside recruitment.
Munster, of course, still have a chance of ending their campaign with silverware, Johnny Watterson looking ahead to their URC final against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday. One of the defining cameos of the game, he says, will be the face-off between outhalves Jack Crowley and Mannie Libbok, if both start, in what could be a World Cup audition for the pair. No pressure.
Telly watch: Wednesday proved to be yet another fine day for Eddie Dunbar and Ben Healy in the Giro d’Italia, Dunbar up to fifth overall and Healy moving top of the King of the Mountains standings. You can see how they fare in stage 17 on Eurosport today (11.30-5.0). Also in Italy, Fiorentina and Inter Milan square up in tonight’s Coppa Italia final (Premier Sports 1, kick-off 8.0).
