Kilkenny will shine in the final, says Hickey

SUNNY days for Kilkenny full-back Noel Hickey. The recent upturn in the weather has taken a lot of pressure off the young Dunamaggin farmer, and suppressed the doomsday talk that was as depressing in rural communities as the daily downpours.

“It’s not too bad now, but in June and July, it was a disaster, everything affected, crops, the whole lot,” the 21-year-old agrees. “It’s improving a bit, but the harvest this year will be back an awful lot.

So, was that bad weather a distraction earlier in the summer? Easy - this is Kilkenny, where priorities are a little different. “When I’m training, I’m not thinking of a field of corn at home.”