Kearney grows into Rebel role

Has the era of the hurling behemoths passed? Over the last 13 seasons of Kilkenny dominance the increasing size, strength and power of hurlers was becoming more and more of a factor.

Conventional wisdom was that to beat the Cats you would first have to match them physically. Galway, Dublin and Limerick all went down that route, all were seen as the sides most likely to topple the Marble citadel.

Well, Galway did it last year, in the Leinster final, Dublin this year in the provincial semi-final, but the team that finally drove the stake through Kilkenny hearts? Cork, with the tidy (5ft 9ins) Daniel Kearney and the taller (6ft) but more slightly-built (11st 7lbs) Lorcán McLoughlin alongside him. That day they were up against the powerful Eoin Larkin and the even more imposing Michael Fennelly, but in a triumph of the rapier over the broadsword, it was victory to Cork.