Young Irelands 3-14 Dunnamaggin 1-15

TO SAY that this Kilkenny SHC final at Nowlan Park yesterday was the DJ Carey show would be unfair on what was a magnificent team effort by the whole of Young Irelands. And yet........

The man is genius, sheer genius, and yesterday’s man-of-the-match performance only added to the legend. Two goals and seven points, 2-5 of that from play, while being marked by no less a luminary than Noel Hickey, his inter-county colleague, the full-back who should win this year’s All-Star award for that position.

From the outset, DJ was on fire. There were those who wondered at the wisdom of starting him on Hickey, risking your most potent offensive threat on their most powerful defender, but two rapid-fire points from play from the Gowran Genius to open the scoring in the 5th and 6th minutes (the first of which could have been a goal, rocketed just over the bar) set the tone for the game. Like never before, Noel Hickey was in trouble.