It took years for Kieran Joyce to break into Brian Cody’s side but the defender is perfectly happy to be on the outside looking in as Kilkenny start to put the disappointments of their 2013 championship to bed.

Rower-Inistioge (Kilkenny) 1-14 Clooney Gaels (Antrim) 0-07

CLARE’S Tony Carmody scored a first-half goal, went off injured minutes later but raised the rafters at the end of this final when he lifted the All-Ireland IHC trophy.

HE may have an All-Ireland senior medal in his back pocket and more than a decade of representation at the elite level of the intercounty game behind him, yet Niall Gilligan remains on the hunt for glory.

HILLBILLY’S Fried Chicken, a late night favourite of revellers, is planning on opening 26 stores by the end of next year, creating almost 400 jobs.

SHANE MCGRATH insists Tipperary are better equipped to retain their All-Ireland hurling crown than the team that captured the title in 2001.

KILKENNY’S pursuit of three All-Ireland hurling crowns in the space of eight days got off to a successful start in Semple Stadium on Saturday night.

The Kilkenny team to face Cork in Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final shows two changes from the side selected to play Galway in the Leinster final.

THOUGH there was little more than pride at stake, this clash of rivals produced an interesting spectacle at Nowlan Park yesterday.

Kilkenny 1-20 Waterford 2-12

Kilkenny make a number of changes in personnel and positions to their team from the side which defeated Limerick, for the final League game against Waterford.

KEEPING the feet on the ground, that was man-of-the-match John Gardiner after Sunday’s hard-earned league win by Cork over Kilkenny, and with good reason.

ISN’T it very easy to be a hurler on the ditch?

A THIRD win for unbeaten Cork in the National Hurling League, a second defeat for Kilkenny – is hurling witnessing a turning of the tide?

Cork 0-18 Kilkenny 1-13

John Tennyson and Eoin Larkin will make their first appearances of the season when Kilkenny face Tipperary in the sides' refixed All-Ireland NHL Division 1 duel at Semple Stadium on Sunday (throw-in 2.30pm).

KILKENNY boss Brian Cody has rubbished notions that the county have a bottomless well of talent as he prepares for Saturday night’s NHL Division 1 opener against Tipperary without several first-team regulars.

All-Ireland champions Kilkenny crashed out of the Walsh Cup on a day when Offaly, Galway and Wexford advanced to next weekend's semi-finals.

ONE of Cork’s most famous fast food outlets is expanding in Munster and generating new jobs.

IT’S tough, trying to break into the elite in Kilkenny hurling, the championship starting 15.

KILKENNY’S mental toughness is what the All-Ireland champions must preserve if they are to retain their standing as the number one team in the country.

AFTER a lack-lustre football decider the week before and all the hype created by the Heineken Cup semi-final, this epic Allianz National League final in Thurles yesterday was just what hurling and the GAA needed to reclaim the feelgood factor.

NOTHING I saw during that league could have prepared us for this.

Kilkenny 2-26 Tipperary 4-17 (after extra-time)

Kilkenny 4-26 Cork 0-11

HENRY SHEFFLIN returns to the Kilkenny side for his first appearance of the year in tomorrow’s NHL showdown against Tipperary. Shefflin comes in at centre-forward in place of Willie O’Dwyer, while Ballyhale Shamrocks clubmates TJ Reid and Michael Fennelly are also drafted into the team.

KILKENNY 1-20 GALWAY 0-12

Kilkenny 0-15 Limerick 0-14

FOLLOWING the fireworks in Croke Park on Saturday night, an occasion chosen by the GAA to mark the opening of its 125th year celebrations, Kilkenny and Galway served notice yesterday that hurling too is ready to play its part in what could yet be a really special year for the GAA.

Kilkenny 6-12 Dublin 0-12

Kilkenny 2-13 London 0-15

THE two recent Harty Cup games between Thurles CBS and Our Lady’s, Templemore, produced classic games and followers will be hoping for more of the same this weekend with the semi-finals down for decision.

This coming Sunday the TG4 Underdogs side, managed by former Offaly boss Pat Fleury, will take on the might of Kilkenny's senior hurlers on the hallowed turf of Nowlan Park (throw-in 1.45pm).

Cork 2-11 Kilkenny 2-11