There was always going to be a certain fascination with seeing what this young, fresh-faced Kerry side could produce in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday, considering so many had never been on the senior championship stage before.

CORK 1-25 LIMERICK 0-28: The capacity of hurling to enthral knows no bounds as this wonder of a game demonstrated on Saturday evening.

New jersey, new training centre, younger squad. Kerry football is moving in a new direction, on and off the field, part of the three-year plan to stimulate success and close the gap on Jim Gavin’s Dublin.

By his own admission Kieran Kingston finds the role of spectator a tricky one.

My week unfolds like most others in that it follows a routine of sorts, writes Dr Ed Coughlan.

France 2 Rep Ireland 0

It won’t stimulate anything like the debate over Kerry’s defence for Sunday’s Munster SFC semi-final in Killarney, but it should.

Magnificent Longford’s long wait for a Leinster championship win finally ended when they created a massive shock with a thoroughly deserved victory over 14-man Meath before an attendance of 5,591 at Pearse Park yesterday.

Ciaran Fitzgerald was captain of the Ireland rugby team back in 1985 when they were going for the Triple Crown. Ireland and England were deadlocked at 10 points apiece and a draw would have ended Ireland’s ambitions. Fitzgerald famously asked his teammates “where’s your ‘effing’ pride” before an important lineout. 

Tipperary 2-20 Cork 1-23

Cork 1-17 Tipperary 0-9 

A young man who denied murdering his mother thinking he was setting her free from the cruelty of life was found guilty of murder yesterday.

A damning investigation into the State’s child protection agency Tusla has identified 65 cases where the group failed to protect children who are at “potential risk” of abuse.

The curtain fell on the Derek McGrath era in Thurles last Sunday, but Ennis offers a more fitting set of bookends to his term in charge of Waterford, writes Michael Moynihan

Brazil 1 Switzerland 1: Steven Zuber denied Brazil victory in their opening game of the World Cup last night, as Switzerland fought back to snatch a famous 1-1 Group E draw in Rostov-on-Don.

This is a huge step forward for Shane and for Galway’s chances in the Super 8s, writes John Divilly.

CLARE 0-26 LIMERICK 0-15: Sometime before the final whistle here, neutrals’ attentions turned to the more dramatic developments in Thurles but the more Clare supporters see of this team of theirs, the more they are convinced of their virtues.

So, not all Munster Championship games come with a ticket to the pantheon after all. Yesterday in Thurles the 14,737 in attendance for Cork-Waterford saw a procession of fumbles and fluffed pick-ups, wayward passes and intercepted clearances.

I’m not sure if I ever noticed before that Father’s Day falls around Bloomsday.