25 Scores to 19

9th Aug 2010

Hurling defeats can be like Holy men and their scriptures. The interpretation of their meaning hotly debated - often into obscurity. Any considered hurling theologian must agree that maybe they don't mean anything at all.

Walking down Clonliffe Road after the game the quietness was remarkable. Like crowds after a funeral or a disappointing gig. The excitement lasted about 15 minutes. The only cheering from Cork fans worryingly revolved around celebrating Kilkenny's early misses. The last significant audible roar was at Ben O'Connor moving a free a few feet back from the 21 yard line at the end of the first half. Despite being umpteen points up their fans' hatred of Cork and everything we stand for is unrelenting.

The untypical politeness of Dublin's Clonliffe Road and its rows of mature red bricks becomes far rougher up the Ballybough Road. Like feasting flies the Dubs were the only noisemakers. Their accents piercing like petrol hedge trimmers. Nnnnnnnh.

"Ah yiz better get uwissed to bein' beeetin' ladz coz the dubz is gowin' teh hammer yiz too-wa"

Ah yes. There's always the football.

The Kilkenny hurlers were and are mesmerising. Their dominance began immediately, not as hurling matches flow: the unpredictable hysteria of the first ten minutes until the game finds a pattern.

Cork's once magical touch deserted them. It seemed to take Cork players twice as long to gather the ball as Kilkenny receivers. The fluid patterns became a web of over complication. Kilkenny seemed to be everywhere. More than anything they were just in the way. A constant obstacle. Like an annoying wazzie who just won't fuck off. Same colours an' all.

Against Tipp, Galway or Waterford a block down meant losing possession. Against Kilkenny it means conceding a point. At best.

After twenty minutes the vociferous chanting on the Hill had died. Two Germans expecting far more excitement than their 30 euro had promised looked bored and played with their phones. One Kilkenny fan admitted to his boredom of the hurling championship - "they're the best team ever but to be honest the matches are boring. At least ye have the Munster championship.".

Four cakewalks per year. It's not their fault they've soared ahead. RTE can't have pundits admit their product is boring either.

As many reasonable people are suggesting if you theoretically take Kilkenny out of the championship and pretend for a moment that they are another Leinster footballing minnow (by the way, they are actually the worst football team in the country, not just Leinster) Cork would be serious All-Ireland contenders for Liam McCarthy.

Losing to Waterford by a point after a replay and beating Tipp out the gate of Pairc Úi Chaoimh. We'd be "up there" anyway.

Whoever meets Kilkenny in three weeks time will be forced into the same internal biblical debates as before when they too are thrashed from the get-go in whats likely to be another borefest. Tipp are very weak at the back.

There are no messiahs on Leeside with answers. If you stomached watching it, Donal O'Grady, once a messiah himself, could barely contain his rage on the Sunday Game at the stream of Cork's unforced errors but strangely he couldn't articulate any solutions.

In the quagmire of defeat the TV show at least showed some scintillating points from Pat Horgan. Something to cling to.

For some the strikes are the root of the problem. For others the strikes weren't strikey enough. Thankfully a majority seem to have moved on and recognise the challenges. Strikes or no strikes development squads have to nurture players and fine tune them to the music of Croke Park in August.

Kilkenny are a great hurling team and that must be factored into the context of any debate about the state of Cork, Tipp, Galway or Waterford hurling.

Twenty five scores to nineteen. It doesn't sound too bad if you spin it that way to yourself and as the Cork lads doing their utmost to be positive on the Hill were still shouting at the end 'you'll never beat the double".

Lift your hearts Rebels. The football squad just got strengthened and there could be serious silverware on Leeside this year yet.

Rebels Abú!