Air of ’93 about Clare and Waterford's war of attrition

John Mullane and I have had this ‘friendly’ €20 bet over the last few months on the outcome of the Clare-Waterford championship match in June, but we decided live on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday to bring it forward by five weeks. Now it has turned into a rolling bet, the money still sweating in the pot until next Sunday. We hope.

Mullane has enough euros to keep him sweet in the interim anyway because he was one of the many to cash in on the 9-1 odds of no goals. Some people thought the goal drought was over after the 10 green flags raised in the semi-finals, but it was unrealistic to expect an oasis to appear yesterday, with both teams grinding into each other hard enough to turn grass into a desert. Mullane has always been a cute boyo.

Anthony Cunnigham and Tomás Mulcahy were also on the radio with us. I said to Mul afterwards that this had an air of 1993 about it, when Cork and Wexford played out a three-game epic league final saga and then we came along a few weeks later and ambushed Cork in a Munster semi-final.