Galway rock, Kilkenny roll

THIS wasn’t Riverdance, this was rock’n’roll, hurling played to an incessant pounding beat, thumping bass matching every riff on the lead guitar.

There was soaring solos within a tight and healthy group ethos, enough chaos to keep any hardened rocker rolling yet never straying completely out of control. This was hurling played with joyous abandon, unrestrained, unfettered, hurling from the roots, free to find its own rhythm.

Yes there were flaws, yes there were errors, but two teams sharing an aggregate score of 9-36, two teams with just one score between them at the end of 75 high-powered, energised, energising minutes. What could you do but stand and applaud?