OUT AND out greed, isn’t it? Sheer avarice. Kilkenny, the aristocrats of hurling, and Kerry, the kingpins of football, stubbornly and selfishly refuse to allow anyone infiltrate their worlds. Yesterday, in adding further provincial titles to their respective rolls-of-honour – which at this stage are in danger of requiring more parchment – the reigning All-Ireland champions threw down markers to any pretenders as the summer battles heat up. Liam and Sam will be hard to prise away!
In the case of Kilkenny at Croke Park, there was an eerily familiar feeling to it all.
Kilkenny, who won their 12th Leinster hurling title in 13 years and their 67th in total, outplayed the interlopers from the West who were chasing a first Leinster crown.
The Cats, though, were the ones left licking the cream again. Kilkenny had seven points to spare – 1-19 to 1-12 – but, in truth, were even more superior than the final scoreline indicated, with Galway’s talisman Joe Canning restricted to just two points late-on in the match, while Galway went all of 20 minutes in the second-half without troubling the white-flag-waving umpire.
No surprise, so, as Kilkenny focus their attentions on their next outing in a quest for a five-in-a-row of All-Irelands. And, with the Bob O’Keeffe trophy safely back in their hands, Brian Cody’s men have five weeks before they re-enter the coliseum for a semi-final meeting with an as yet unknown foe to keep the Liam MacCarthy in the trophy cabinet.
“That’s the next challenge,” conceded Cody.
It wasn’t quite so handy for the All-Ireland football champions in Killarney, where Kerry were forced to overcome a half-time deficit and then a stirring fight-back to fend off Limerick by 1-17 to 1-14.
“Limerick put us to the pin of our collar,” said Kerry captain Bryan Sheehan, adding: “We knew it was going to be a massive test, we knew we’d have to be on top of our game and that Limerick would come and give it everything.”
Almost 24,000 spectators at Fitzgerald Park were treated to a splendid and exciting Munster final, but Limerick – just as they were a year ago when losing out to Cork – were left ruing what might have been after profligate shooting proved costly, especially when they were aided by a strong wind at their backs in the opening half.
However, the key period in the match came early in the second half when Kerry’s experience saw them shoot 1-7 without reply – the goal coming from Colm Cooper – to ease seven points clear and seemingly have Limerick dead and buried.
It wasn’t to prove as clear-cut as that, though, as Limerick – inspired by a man-of-the-match performance from midfielder John Galvin – got back to level pegging with the Kerrymen before succumbing to three late points.
“They are the All-Ireland champions for a reason and this is their own back yard,” remarked Galvin, in acknowledging the way Kerry tagged on the winning points and then showed resistance to keep a last-ditch Limerick assault from bearing fruit.
Kerry manager Jack O’Connor felt his side “subconsciously, took our foot off the pedal” after Cooper’s goal, but added: “it was a battle we were expecting and hopefully it will stand to us . . . . the hard games against Cork stood to us.”
No, the message to one and all from Kilkenny and Kerry yesterday was that the silverware won’t be going anywhere without a heck of a fight. Is it ever any different?
