Cats’ smash and grab

There’s a film, Gone In 60 Seconds, about a master car-thief whose forte is to ‘lift’ any car in a minute or less.

It took Kilkenny slightly longer than that in this Allianz Hurling League Division 1A final in Semple Stadium yesterday, but it was just as much a masterclass, in this case on how to lift silverware.

Cork came into this game with a growing reputation, and with Kilkenny hit hard by injury (four front-line forwards — Henry Shefflin, Richie Power, Michael Rice, Aidan Fogarty — along with regular full-back Noel Hickey out of commission) the young Rebels had even been cast as favourites in many quarters. Instead they received a hard lesson from the All-Ireland champions.