Worthy adversaries promise a real thriller

HOW do you predict a winner from these two? Three years ago, in 2006, a Ballyhale Shamrocks side whose talents had been flagged inside Kilkenny for some years finally made the breakthrough, winning the club its first county senior title in 15 years.

Already, however, they were three years behind the current Portumna outfit. In 2003, the Shannonside club, from the most eastern part of the county, made their own breakthrough and won a first Galway senior title.

They came a cropper in their first venture into the All-Ireland series, lost in Clones to Dunloy of Antrim.