Kilkenny 1-16 Galway 0-15 Kilkenny charged into the NHL final with a compelling second half performance at the Gaelic Grounds.

Joe Canning fired Galway into the Walsh Cup final and past a lacklustre Laois in a sodden Duggan Park in Ballinasloe yesterday.

AT THIS time of year, American football teams are tasting the white heat of intense pre-season training. Gridiron giants take part in a violent annual ballet as a hulking, heaving mass of athletic hardware crashes into each other in a frantic bid to forge a team ready for the NFL season.