BEFORE I say anything about the games yesterday, I want to pay tribute to a great Kilkenny hurling man, from a great Kilkenny hurling family –Eamon Hennessey.

APART from the two teams — Wexford and Offaly — in the relegation battle this Sunday in Division 1, which itself is a huge game for both counties, every other team has a chance of making the league final.

THERE’S a day in golf, the third day, that they call ‘moving day’, fellas getting into position for the final push on the last day; this is ‘moving weekend’ in the Allianz Hurling League.

I’D like to start by going back to Saturday, andnot to the inter-county scene either.

I WAS left disappointed by the glamour games in the top two visions on the opening weekend of the Allianz Hurling League.

I AM probably an exception to the rule but I’m not a lover of hurling under lights.

AFTER so many months of doom and gloom, of recession and depression, it is great to see the real hurling season starting again with the Allianz Hurling League this weekend.

WHAT a difference two weeks makes. A couple of Sundays ago, in the semi-final, the Tipperary champions put their bodies on the line, gave everything possible to get the win over Kilmallock, in Kilmallock.

THE most striking difference between Thurles Sars and De La Salle is the number of county titles won — Sars have 31 in Tipperary and are top of the class, De La Salle have only two in Waterford.