Kildare keep final focus

IT’S the All-Ireland championship, but not as we know it.

Kildare won’t care a jot about the bigger picture but their win over Meath yesterday ensured that there will be no provincial champions in either of the All-Ireland semi-finals for the first time in the competition’s history.

The provincial championships have been slowly losing their lustre ever since the GAA introduced the back door system in 2001 but that process has accelerated in dramatic circumstances this summer.