Cork will struggle if Cats play up to form

FORGET all those side issues of how Kilkenny are attempting to become the first team in 10 years to put All-Ireland hurling titles back-to-back, or how a resurgent Cork have the motivation to stay ahead in the roll of hurling honour.

Tomorrow's Guinness championship final in Croke Park has a special appeal all of its own because of the age-long rivalry between the counties and the mutual respect for each other's traditions.

It's a pairing that few people could have anticipated at the start of the season. Certainly, there would have been hopes in Cork of a renewal of spirit and a return to form after the blood-letting of last year, precipitated by the humiliating defeat against Galway in the qualifier competition.