All-Ireland is ‘wide open’

THE rest of the hurling world may need a bit more convincing after the epic Allianz National Hurling League final, but former goalkeeping star Noel Skehan is adamant that this season’s All-Ireland championship is not a straight head-to-head between Kilkenny and Tipperary.

Skehan, part of the Kilkenny management set-up, believes that five or six other counties will be in serious contention. From their perspective, the concession of such a high score in Monday's game in Croke Park would be a concern just as it would obviously be for the Tipperary selectors.

Agreeing that they were in trouble after falling behind by eight points, Skehan pointed to the fact that two goals resulted directly from mistakes on their part once when a player was blocked down around midfield and another time when a good run at goal ended with possession being conceded needlessly.