Cats aim be be title top dogsTop billing in hurling's roll of honour is on the line this Sunday for the first time in 27 years. When Cork defeated Wexford in 1977 the county moved clear at the top of the table and haven't been passed since.
Despite Kilkenny now being equal with Cork on 28 titles each, the Leinster county have never topped the roll of honour on their own.
Last year was only the third time Kilkenny drew level at the summit, defeating Cork to win that 28th title. The only other opportunities for the county to move clear at the top came in 1937 and 1940.
The first of those years was the only previous All-Ireland between counties level at the top of the roll of honour and it ended badly for Kilkenny with a record defeat by Tipperary in the final. Nonetheless, they caught up again in 1939 after the Thunder and Lightning final.
That left Kilkenny sharing top spot with Tipperary on 12 titles but a year later with the chance to take the lead, they lost the 1940 decider to Mick Mackey's Limerick.
Outright leadership of the roll of honour has alternated between Cork and Tipperary - who until recently couldn't meet in an All-Ireland final - so it's not surprising there has been only one previous All-Ireland between two teams level at the top.
No shifting sharpshooter Shefflin
Rarely has the hurling championship's top scorer looked so sewn up before the final throw-in. Henry Shefflin's 6-40 is 12 points ahead of the next best, Clare's Niall Gilligan (5-31). Two Cork players share third place - Joe Deane and Ben O'Connor with 35 points each - but only miraculous scoring sprees would see them get close to the Kilkenny player.
THE TOP 10
1. Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny) 6-40 (58 pts)
2. Niall Gilligan (Clare)5-31 (46 pts)
3. Joe Deane (Cork)1-32 (35 pts)
and Ben O'Connor (Cork)2-29 (35 pts)
5. Andrew Mitchell (Westmeath)2-25 (31 pts)
6. James Young (Laois)1-26 (29 pts)
7. Damien Murray (Offaly)1-25 (28 pts)
8. Eugene Cloonan (Galway)4-14 (26 pts)
and Eoin Kelly (Tipperary)2-20 (26 pts)
10. Eddie Brennan (Kilkenny)5-10 (25 pts)
GENERAL STATISTICS
Number of games to date: 32
Number of draws: 2
BIGGEST WINNING MARGINS
26 points: Kilkenny (4-22) v Dublin (0-8)
23 points: Laois (4-19) v Carlow (0-8)
22 points: Cork (2-26) v Antrim (0-10)
19 points: Clare (7-19) v Laois (2-15), Waterford (3-21) v Clare (1-8), Kilkenny (4-20) v Galway (1-10)
18 points: Cork (1-27) v Wexford (0-12)
17 points: Galway (5-19) v Down (1-14)
LOWEST WINNING MARGINS
1 point: Waterford (3-16) v Cork (1-21)
2 points: Wexford (2-15) v Kilkenny (1-16)
3 points: Cork (1-18) v Limerick (2-12)
Where do all those tickets go?
You can't always get what you want. And if at this stage you haven't managed to get a ticket for Sunday's hurling final take some consolation from the fact there are many more like you. Demand for All-Ireland tickets is significantly greater than the supply. And even though it's a repeat of last year's final there won't be a spare seat in the house come 3.30 p.m.on Sunday.
For those still wondering where all the tickets have gone the following breakdown of last year's final might help:
OVERALL CAPACITY: 79,500
TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE FOR CIRCULATION
Long term (On Cusack Stand): 5,166
Premium and box tickets: 10,528
Miscellaneous: 184
Total: 15,878
TICKETS IN GENERAL CIRCULATION
County allocations: 24,422
Competing county allocations: 24,028
Extra allocations for competing counties: 4,260
Ard-chomhairle: 796
Former presidents: 659
Provincial councils: 385
Handball: 162
Camogie: 120
Women's football: 140
Overseas: 540
Schools and educational bodies: 2,278
Public representatives: 140
Staff and sub-committees: 1,340
Sponsors: 645
Ard-stiurthóir: 334
Media: 253
Minor teams: 70
Jubilee teams and CLG/INTO: 340
Players' tickets (competing counties): 540
Intercounty panels: 1,920
Páirc an Chrócaigh Teoranta: 250
TOTAL: 63,622
Hard to bet against Kilkenny
Kilkenny remain the bookies' favourites to win Sunday's All-Ireland final, according to the latest betting from Boylesports. They are 4/6 to win the match, with Cork at 6/4 and the draw at 15/2 (70 minutes). Kilkenny are also 15/8 with to win the minor, under 21 and senior hurling titles again this year. Kilkenny's minors are at 8/11 to beat Galway (11/8) on Sunday, while the under-21s are 8/15 to beat Tipperary (7/4) on Saturday week.
More unusual bets available from Boylesports on the hurling final include: a hurl to be broken from the first clash from throw-in - 4/1; DJ Carey to be held scoreless - 7/1; and Diarmuid O'Sullivan to score a point from play - 9/1.
Dunne's stories
One of the outstanding hurlers of the modern era is the subject of a biography to be published in November. Liam Dunne, Wexford's All-Ireland winning centre back and All Star, retired last year and will shortly publish his life story.
Although Dunne was a fine hurler, his career was marked by injuries and controversies, all of which are addressed in the book.
He became the first player to be sent off in three successive championships between 2000 and 2002. It was the last of these incidents that impacted most strongly on the Oulart-The-Ballagh player.
After getting a red card for a wild pull on Martin Comerford in July two years ago, Dunne suffered a personal crisis and went on a five-month drinking binge.
A meeting with former manager Liam Griffin convinced him to rebuild his future and hurling reputation.
I Crossed the Line is co-written with Star GAA correspondent Damian Lawlor and is published by Sliabh Ban Ltd.
