Thrilled Larkin savours Cats’ ‘special’ achievement

IT was the great cop-out; the highlight of the Sunday Game on All-Ireland final day is the announcement of the man-of-the-match award, and the packed hall at the Kilkenny celebration banquet in the Citiwest was agog.

There was lots of speculation on what was admittedly going to be a very tough decision. Noel Hickey? Michael Kavanagh? JJ Delaney? Tommy Walsh? The midfielders? Henry Shefflin? Eoin Larkin? Two-goal hero Eddie Brennan?

Then came the envelope and the announcement – Brian Cody. Brian Cody? Manager-of-the-match without question, manager-of-the-year even, but man-of-the-match?