Kilkenny silence doubters after not hearing Bubbles the believer

Seeing sense

Man of the Match in Sunday’s Kilkenny v Clare clash, Eoin Cody grabbed his chance to roll out the by-now traditional winners’ “we were written off!” statement after the game.

Interviewed on the pitch by RTÉ’s Damian Lawlor, Cody immediately made the point that the Cats haven’t been getting the credit they deserve.

“Can you make sense of that?” asked Lawlor.

“I can make sense of it, we’re a good team and I think a lot of people don’t give us any credit for that,” said Cody.

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The Ballyhale man must not be a listener to the GAA Social podcast. Speaking on that show before the semi-finals, former Tipp ace John “Bubbles” O’Dwyer tipped Kilkenny to win the All-Ireland.

“For whatever reason, I just fancy Kilkenny to win the All-Ireland,” he said.

Mystic Bubbles reckoned a Kilkenny win might even herald a new tactical era.

“If Kilkenny break Limerick, that might bring it back to the more expressive brand of hurling,” O’Dwyer said.

Mighty young Oak Leafers

Derry minors continued an extraordinary record of success in the grade. The Oak Leafers were late to the party – they didn’t even make an Ulster minor final until 1965 but have made 24 provincial finals since, winning the Larry Murray Cup a further 15 times.

Derry have been able to translate that to the national stage, too. In all, they have reached 12 All-Ireland minor finals (including 2007, when they came through the back door having been beaten by a point in the Ulster final).

Their greatest era so far was from 1980 to 1990, when they won six Ulster titles and were runners-up once, mining two All-Irelands from four final appearances. But their current run (seven Ulster finals since 2015 and two All-Ireland wins) is right up there.

Spot the problem

Armagh sweeper-keeper Ethan Rafferty has come in for a lot of praise for his performances over the last couple of years but Brian McEniff thinks he shouldn’t be between the sticks for penalty shoot-outs.

Writing in his Mac’s View column in the Donegal Democrat, the 1992 All-Ireland-winning manager suggested Armagh should have replaced Rafferty before the shoot-out against Monaghan.

“That is the third penalty shoot-out they have lost in 12 months and I feel they need to take a look at their goalkeeping situation. They have an outfield player playing in goals and he is not a natural ‘keeper. I just wonder if they could have changed their ‘keeper when they knew that penalties were to be taken.”

In words

“We’ll see what the wifi is like here in Croke Park, it doesn’t be hectic down in Thurles at times.” – Radio analyst Shane McGrath yesterday as Hawk-Eye was called into action.

In numbers

13 – All-Ireland senior medals (club and intercounty) TJ Reid has won; 14 would be a new record.

Limerick’s nice figures

Limerick were referred to by Dónal Óg Cusack on Saturday as “possibly the greatest team ever” and the statscertainly look very impressive.

If Limerick win the final, it will be their 20th win in four years, a new record.

A final victory would also extend their existing record of wins over a six-year period to 29 and equal Kilkenny’s record (2004-12) of wins over a seven-year period.

Stats courtesy of the excellent @GAA_Stats Twitter account.