Talk of All-Ireland title a joke, says former star

NOEL SKEHAN isn’t just amused by the talk of Kilkenny winning the All-Ireland title and of Cork being the second favourites. He regards it all as a bit of a joke.

The former Kilkenny goalkeeping star, holder of nine medals, is sticking to a view which he expressed in public earlier in the year, claiming any one of five or six teams can take the Liam McCarthy Cup in two months' time.

"This championship is wide open," Skehan continued this week. "First of all we have to win Leinster and if we do that, then we'll think about the rest of them," he said. "It's a joke to say Kilkenny will automatically win the All-Ireland. With Cork winning Munster, they are saying they are second favourites and that's an even bigger joke. Remember Tipperary are there, that Galway, Waterford, Offaly and Limerick are still in contention. It's not as if they have disappeared.