ENDA MCEVOY: Tribe have knack of hurting Cats

It leaps from the mind’s eye as one of the standout moments of the 2012 championship, as one of the standout moments of any recent championship.

Irrelevant in the long run, of course, because the house that Cody built won out in the end, as it usually does. But the emblem of the day that mighty fortress was shaken to its foundations nonetheless.

Two minutes into the Leinster final at Croke Park last July and Damien Hayes, foraging behind his own lines, lays off a ball to Iarla Tannian. What Tannian does is instructive. There is no attempt to put sliotar on stick, bring the ball into contact or take on Kilkenny physically. Instead, from inside his own 65, Tannian hits a left-handed delivery that goes high and....comes steepling down on the All-Ireland champions’ 14-metre line.