In the main, I’d generally be a glass half-full kind of guy - but it’s hard to extol the virtues of last weekend’s two big finals.
Once TJ Reid prodded the ball to the net, the game was over and the intensity was more like that of a really poor underage game. I think they are well primed to hop off Limerick again but, before that, they may have to face Clare again. Whoever wins the All-Ireland, if it’s not Kilkenny, there’s a good chance they’ll have to go through them. And that will take a savage effort because Kilkenny will go all the way to the end.
Limerick outsmarted Clare. I was golfing with TJ Ryan last Friday and when discussing the most important match-up, we settled on Eibhear Quilligan v Nickie Quaid. We weren’t wrong. Granted, at times the quality wasn’t sky high but that’s why it’s the Joe McDonagh final, not the Liam MacCarthy.