The agony and the ectasy

IT’S Kilkenny’s hurling world. Everyone else just lives in it.

The Cats won their third All-Ireland title in a row yesterday, annihilating Waterford by 3-30 to 1-13 in front of 82,186 spectators. It was the Déise’s first All-Ireland final appearance in 45 years, and their inexperience showed, with Kilkenny “relentless”, as their captain James “Cha” Fitzpatrick put it later.

A bad day for the romantics, then, but a good day for Kilkenny, as their minors showed the conveyor belt is in good nick by picking up the U18 title also.