Battling Shamrocks in clover

WHAT an absolutely magnificent game to start the hurling championship season.

Had justice been done, had this ended in a draw, then without a shadow of a doubt every one of the near 9,000 enthralled attendance would have returned to see these two superbly conditioned sides go at it again.

This All-Ireland Club senior hurling semi-final, played on a near-perfect pitch at Portlaoise on Saturday, had everything anyone could ask for — score-taking of the highest calibre, goals galore, points from all angles and distances, pace, power, precision, the full range of hurling’s wide array of skills were on fulsome display. And of course there was plenty of drama.