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Last Sunday’s hurling final was the greatest I have ever seen. I particularly enjoyed the senior match, but the minor game provided a wonderful array of all of the great skills of the ancient game too. If the minor encounter was a tasty starter, the senior game between Tipperary and Kilkenny was an awesome encounter. There was huge physicality and manliness about the match from the minute the ball was thrown in right to the very end. It was gripping stuff and at no stage during the match could I have predicted the outcome. I was half hoping that Tipperary would win it for a number of reasons. I normally shout for the underdog but I also have a brother- in- law from Tipp and he was really excited in the lead up to this match. I felt for him when I spoke to him after the game as he was planning a few days off to celebrate a massive homecoming in Thurles! However in the grander scale of things I think it was appropriate that the Cats prevailed to create their own bit of history and win their fourth All- Ireland in a row. Winning so many titles doesn’t happen by chance and anyone involved in management at any level will be intrigued as to how Brian Cody keeps his players focused, fresh and driven. There are so many distractions for young people these days that it is a task in itself to keep players interested in their chosen sport. That is why I took special interest in the comments of Cody in a post-match interview earlier this week when he gave an insight as to why this current Kilkenny side are arguably the greatest hurling team of all times. He suggested that there is no chance of this great Kilkenny team getting complacent or big-headed, despite their phenomenal run.

On Wednesday night the Galway football board ratified Joe Kernan as the county football manager for three years. He is a very high profile appointment, another it is questionable whether the playing talent is in the county to reach an All-Ireland final.

It has been a difficult couple of weeks both on and off the field for Galway United, but tomorrow’s encounter with Shamrock Rovers at Terryland Park offers an ideal opportunity to deliver an improved performance.

There is only one place to be on Sunday and that’s in Belleek Park at 2.30pm, Westport United, who wrestled the lead back in the Super League last weekend, will make the trip north to take on the side who were leading the league for the past couple of weeks. Ballina Town, whose game was postponed against Snugboro United last weekend, will be eager to reclaim the top spot in the league from the three in a row-chasing Westport men. Currently Westport are three points ahead with a slender on-goal advantage in the goal difference stakes, while Ballina have a game in hand on the champions. A win here and if they pick up a win in their postponed game could see a six-point swing at the top with Ballina moving three points clear.

Sunday August 30

The greatest Kilkenny hurling team of all time were swept away by a sea of black and amber on Monday evening. Thousands of supporters lined the streets of Kilkenny to greet their four-in-a-row heroes.

Connacht Senior League action kicks off tonight (Thursday) when Galwegians host city rivals Corinthians at Crowley Park (6.30pm).

A power-packed display from start to finish propelled Garrycastle into this year’s county decider in impressive fashion. This game had the potential to be the game of the championship but in truth, given its one-sided nature, it failed to live up to its billing.

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When the crunch came and Ballina had to see off the champions to retake the top spot in the Super League last weekend, Brendan Kenny’s men didn’t come up short. They had the game wrapped up and the points in the bag with half an hour to go when Eugene Gorman put the ball into the back of the net after a Michael Duffy effort had come back off the post. That goal put the home side into a 3 - 0 lead and Westport were consigned to defeat. The visitors did pull one goal back right at the death through Vinny O’Malley. Westport’s goal ensured that, while Ballina went back to the top of the table, both sides are still level on points, but it is a very slender one goal in the plus column for Ballina Town that keeps them at the summit.