After a series of outstanding matches throughout the provinces, the way has now been largely paved for the national finals of the AIG Irish Cups and Shields at the O’Meara Course, Carton House, Kildare next month, (September 20-23).

Given there is invariably little between the teams at this stage of the various AIG Irish Cups and Shields competitions, it is not surprising the bookmakers have struggled to separate the qualifiers for this weekend’s Munster semi-finals and finals of the Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield at Shannon Golf Club.