Amber Kelly Torrent

Cats Tipp the scales to reclaim McCarthy Cup

THEY say revenge is best served cold, but Kilkenny produced a red-hot variety of their own to burn champions Tipperary from first whistle to last before 81,314 spectators at Croke Park today.

This final was the third in a row between the neighbouring counties and with both having won one each previously, today’s game was the decider in this modern day trilogy.

It was Brian Cody’s bravehearts who had the greater hunger and a never-say-die attitude which the champions were unable to live with.

Indeed it is a tribute to the Tipp side that they managed to make a fight of the encounter because for long periods the team, and in particular their forwards, appeared dysfunctional. If anyone was to tell you before the game that last year’s Hurler of the Year, Lar Corbett, wouldn’t score or indeed have more than a passing influence on the game, who would have believed such talk?

Last year the Cats defenders left the field despondent, having been taken apart by a Corbett hat-trick. Guess who had their revenge for that humiliation today?

This return to victory had the Cody blueprint written all over it. Denied the historic five-in-a-row by the fire in Tipp’s belly last year, the Leinster champions went about their task of rebuilding quietly all year before unleashing a torrent of desire at Croke Park today.

This Clash of the Titans certainly wasn’t for the feint-hearted; the tackles thundered in, the hits were administered by both sides without flinching and the standards of the hurling suffered somewhat because of the intensity.

If a good start is half the battle, then the new champions were on their way from the throw-in. They had a point within a minute through their talisman Henry Shefflin after Colin Fennelly was fouled. Eoin Larkin was through on goal two minutes later but last-gasp defending by Michael Cahill averted the chance. But Larkin gained some amends by getting a point in the next attack.

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