A look back at the hurling final - Firstly, congratulations to Kilkenny on winning their 30th title and moving level with the boys from the Rebel County. It was a superb performance and one that will satisfy Brian Cody in a lot of ways and I will tell you why later in the article. Tipperary minors also deserve praise for their two-in-a-row All-Ireland titles and they are now also shaping up well for a treble achievement. And now is it time for a three-in-a-row at senior level? The last team to do it was Cork back in 1976/'77/'78 and right now the odds have been heavily stacked in the Cats favour to repeat that feat and maybe to go a step further and put four or five titles back to back. And who would bet against them - I know next September is a long way off but given that the Leinster champions go straight to the semi-final next year; these guys will be as fresh as daisies when it matters most. It is now a case of playing catch up for most counties and with the strength in depth in this Kilkenny squad, a lot of people think next year's final is only a matter of turning up for the Cats - that is as long as they are in the same mood as they were this year. Let's take a closer look at the final and where I thought Kilkenny got their tactics right and a word about Limerick's performance. When Kilkenny went 2-3 to no score up after nine minutes it was a total ambush by the champions and one Limerick obviously did not expect. It was the Munster men that needed that start but the opposite happened. The dominance of the Kilkenny half back line and the sheer determination in their play caught the boys in green totally off their guard but more importantly it was the placing of Brennan on Seamus Hickey, Shefflin at full forward on Lucey and Comerford at centre forward on Brian Geary, which stole the march on everyone. Two goals from the inside men and the match was as good as over. Cody's message was loud and clear - hit them from the off, demoralise them and they won't recover. On top of that earlier indicators showed Noel Hickey was on top of Brian Begley and that Jackie Tyrell was not allowing Andrew O'Shaughnessy any space or room to dictate the game as he had previously. Normally Donie Ryan would move to midfield as soon as the ball was thrown in to allow the space inside but somehow this did not happen and it was left to Ollie Moran mostly to try and rescue this All-Ireland for Limerick. This suited Kilkenny down to the ground and left a lot more freedom out the field to create the chances for Brennan, Shefflin, and most obviously Eoin Larkin, who scored four fabulous points in that first half period. Limerick needed to crowd midfield and deny the Cats the type of breaking ball possession they thrive on, but there was no Donie Ryan to do this and it suited the Cats. When Limerick did do this in the second half it was too late, the horse had bolted and there was no way back from eight points down. Limerick will be disappointed with their overall performance but when they look back at the game again on video they will realise the huge amount of possession they had in the second half and the amount of wrong options taken will frighten them. There were too many long range shots off target with Jackie Tyrell and Michael Kavanagh mopping up every breaking ball inside. They got it back to five points after Ollie Moran scored the goal, which was a great achievement in itself, but unfortunately they could not sustain it. All-Ireland final day is a big occasion and there is no doubt with the vast following Limerick had, that some players were certainly overcome by it all. It was no surprise that the two best performers for Limerick were Mark Foley and Ollie Moran who had been there previously in '96.There was a lot of publicity in the build up to the game in Limerick and rightly so, but there comes a time when players have to be protected a bit. I did not see too many Kilkenny lads opening shops and signing autographs the week of the match and I am sure that is one lesson that Ritchie Bennis will have picked up. When you are underdogs it is important to keep it low key and let all the fuss and hype fall on the opposition where possible. Twelve months on they will certainly be twelve months wiser, I am certain of that. Kilkenny on the other hand can neither be affected by the hype or allow themselves to get complacent. Brian Cody just does not allow it to happen. Training is first in his preparation, then it's about winning the match and then it's about letting the hair down after that, but the win must come first. Losing Noel Hickey and Henry the great, it would have knocked the stuffing out of any team but not this Kilkenny side. They brought on John Tennyson and put Brian Hogan into full back, brought Michael Fennelly into the midfield and pushed Derek Lyng to centre forward. They then played as if nothing had changed and played as well as ever. It illustrated to us all the level of composure on Brian Cody and his selectors to be able to do this and it also points to the strength and unity within the squad. Those who maybe felt they should have been on the team all responded positively when called upon, as Richie Power demonstrated so well. There is also a name that a few people expected an appearance from on Sunday and that is Richie Hogan, the underage star who was included in the panel at the last moment. His big day is surely only around the corner. Tweet

Most Read Stories