Cruise Control

KILKENNY v Tipperary, Cork v Wexford, August 10 and 17.

No bean-counter at Croke Park will ever admit it, but you can bet the house, the wife and the offspring that this was the final four the GAA had in mind when they introduced the All-Ireland qualifier back-door system.

All it required was yesterday's quarter-final formalities. Did we say formalities? Apologies to the brave men of Antrim, because where the even braver bookies of this island were offering 6/1 against the men from the north upsetting Wexford yesterday, they put up the fight of fights.