THE TWO games I saw this weekend – Tullamore on Saturday and Tipperary against Clare in Limerick yesterday – have restored my faith in hurling.

COMING into Tullamore on Saturday, you knew something special was going to happen; there was magic in the air.

OVER the last few months I feel there’s been a lot of begrudgery directed towards this Kilkenny team and their fantastic achievements, growing criticism over their style of play and so on.

BEFORE we get into any details, I want to address something here in general terms, namely the lack of buzz around the championship this year.