Classic clash — rivals ready for historic final

THE thunder and lightning final. The Ring goal final. The ‘Pilltown’ final in ’66. The Cats’ comeback in 1972. The ’78 three-in-a-row decider. DJ Carey’s penalty in 1992. Setanta.

When Cork and Kilkenny meet in the decider, there’s usually something to mark the occasion.

Tomorrow, it’s the old firm again. The stakes are a touch higher than normal, given Cork’s pursuit of a three-in-a-row and Kilkenny’s determination to stop them.

The roles were reversed in 2004, when Cork brought the Cats’ treble bid to a grinding halt, but all week players and management on both sides have been sticking scrupulously to the agreed line — the three-peat didn’t matter then and it doesn’t matter now. Yeah, right. Methinks they doth protest too much and all that.

It’s a traditional final, even though a lot of traditions have changed.

You don’t get people cycling all night from Cork to make it to Dublin, while you do have people flying up on the morning of the game.

You’re unlikely to see a Kilkenny player slip out of the dressing-room after the game for early mass as Fan Larkin used to do in the ’70s — and by that we mean no slur on the spirituality of the men in black and amber.

But some traditions don’t change. The questions that were posed by the breathless cyclists of 60 years ago will get an airing in departure lounges tomorrow.

The names are different, that’s all: will Shefflin play full-forward? Who’ll mark him? Will Cork get goals?

There’s been a murmur or two that the return of the old firm isn’t good for hurling, that spectators could be in for a lacklustre final compared to the operatics of the ’90s.

We’re not inclined to worry. Cork and Kilkenny will give you something to remember all right.