Drico ‘an All-Black in other colours’

At 21 he still couldn’t break onto the club’s senior starting line-up — in fact he’d play senior championship for Kilkenny before he’d play it with his club

ON the way to Dublin yesterday, watching the reading rising on the thermometer, I was fearful that this Leinster final was going to be a hard day for lads with a lot of mileage under their belts.

FORMER Kilkenny captain Denis Byrne has written off Cork’s chances of causing an upset in Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park.

IN these final few days before the All-Ireland decider, all the talk is about the players from both teams. Henry, Eoin Kelly, Eoin Larkin, Lar Corbett – these are the stars, these are the guys you pay to see, and the pressure is on them to produce.

BUILD, don’t knock. As a philosophy it works for a new Dublin property firm, with the same sort of ethos in one of its slick residential offerings.

AS the inter-county GAA season emerges from winter hibernation, Brendan Larkin and Therese O’Callaghan canvassed football and hurling managers on their close season training regime.

OVER the past several years, this year more than ever, we’ve had headline after blaring headline on whether or not the GAA will open up Croke Park to rugby and soccer.

FOR the second time in 12 months Na Piarsaigh have lost a key player to Australian Rules football.

WITH his side already through to the knockout stages of the Allianz NHL, Tipperary manager Ken Hogan has rested a number of first choice players for Sunday’s clash with Cork at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.

ALLIANZ NHL DIVISION 1B RESULT:

Tipperary hurling boss Ken Hogan has named three debutants in his side to face Offaly in the National League on Sunday.

TIPPERARY introduce three newcomers for their opening game in the Allianz National Hurling League against Offaly at Birr on Sunday.

THE end of another purrfect week for Kilkenny, but should the Cats now carry a public hurling health warning? Can anyone stop their relentless pursuit of three All-Irelands in a row, and three league titles to boot?

TIPPERARY have given a starting place to John Carroll for Sunday’s Guinness All-Ireland senior hurling championship quarter-final clash with Offaly at Croke Park and have switched Lar Corbett to full-forward for the eagerly-awaited showdown.

A rejuvenated Tipperary destroyed Laois by 21 points in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Qualifier at Portlaoise.

THE RUMOUR mill was in overdrive in Kilkenny yesterday, following the decisions of hurling captain Charlie Carter and Brian McEvoy to quit the county panel. Not surprisingly, conspiracy theories abounded, and most had manager Brian Cody as the central character.

BRIAN CODY is maintaining a dignified silence on the departure of Charlie Carter and Brian McEvoy from the Kilkenny hurling panel. He has refused to make any comment at all so far on the controversy, either locally or nationally and has not indicated if he will respond.

Tipperary's dismal showing against Clare in the Munster senior hurling championship is reflected in the thinking of the managment team for Saturday's All-Ireland qualifier against Laois at Portlaois.

FORMER Kilkenny All-Ireland winning captain Denis Byrne has been handed the number 14 jersey on the Tipperary team for Saturday’s qualifier against Laois in Portlaoise.

KILKENNY senior hurling captain Charlie Carter yesterday cited a lack of first team hurling and a knock-on loss of appetite as his reasons for retiring from the inter-county game.

Tipperary 0-22

Tipperary have made three changes to their side ahead of Sunday's NHL clash with Clare in Ennis.

TIPPERARY hurling manager Michael Doyle yesterday paid tribute to John Leahy, whose inter-county career has almost certainly been ended by another serious knee injury.

CHARLIE CARTER returned to the Kilkenny panel for yesterday’s league victory over Cork, with manager Brian Cody insisting that a so-called rift had been blown out of proportion.

Tipperary 3-15 Galway 2-18

David Tierney blasted home a goal in the fifth minute of injury-time to give Galway a sensational draw with Tipperary in the Allianz NHL at Thurles.

CHARLIE CARTER may be about to quit the Kilkenny senior hurling team.

FORMER Kilkenny captain Denis Byrne’s dream of a return to inter-county hurling with Tipperary moves closer to reality with his inclusion — along with John Leahy — among the substitutes for next Sunday’s Allianz National Hurling League game against Galway in Thurles.

Former Kilkenny captain Denis Byrne has been included in this weekend's Tipperary squad to face Galway in the National Hurling League.

Tipperary manager Michael Doyle includes former star John Leahy and former Kilkenny forward Denis Byrne in his squad for Sunday's NHL tie with Galway at Thurles.

FOR the hurling world at large, the defeat of Kilkenny in the glamour Allianz National Hurling League tie in Nowlan Park at the weekend was a dose of reality.

Former Allstar hurler John Leahy could be set for a dramatic return to the Tipperary team.

I AM appealing for help from any readers who may have information on Mary Carter of Grafton Street, Dublin, who sold glass and china there between 1782 and 1788.

MAYO manager John Maughan introduces three newcomers for Sunday’s NFL tie with Sligo in Castlebar.

KILKENNY’S Graigue Ballycallan suffered a double whammy yesterday with confirmation that county hurler Denis Byrne and camogie star Sinead Millea are leaving the club.

Former Kilkenny hurling skipper Denis Byrne has put in for a successful inter-county transfer to Tipperary.

IN MANY ways, Kilkenny’s victory in this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling final could be said to be the managerial masterpiece of the year.

IF IT ain’t broke don’t fix it. Never change a winning team.

IT'S not the glamour clash of the All-Ireland semi-finals, the meeting of the two new boys, Waterford and Clare has seen to that.

Kilkenny hurling manager Brian Cody has dropped captain Denis Byrne from the team to face Galway in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Kilkenny have dropped their captain for Sunday's All-Ireland Hurling