Already counting down to next year

IT might seem a bit sacrilegious, perhaps, in the week of the All-Ireland senior football final, but even as the fans of Kerry and Tyrone countdown to Sunday, I’m already looking forward to next year’s inter-county hurling fare.

Sunday’s last-gasp U21 win for Galway over Kilkenny closed the book on this year’s championships, but it also left us with so much to which we can look forward.

Some of the bigger questions: can Cork keep it going, add another bit of three-in-a-row history? Can Kilkenny re-group after a championship season that ended empty-handed for them for the first time in years? Will defeat in this year’s All-Ireland senior final set Galway back, adversely affect their always-fragile confidence, or will it spur them on?