Sky’s the limit for Cats

LEINSTER SHC QUARTER-FINAL:

The difference of course is that Kilkenny juggernaut doesn’t stop, the Kilkenny assassins show no mercy. So it was that Offaly were annihilated, so it was that even James was beaten, twice in the first half as Kilkenny raced into a game-ending 2-22 to 0-6 half-time lead, then thrice more (Mark Kelly with a brace) as they continued their bombardment into the second half, all the way to the death.

You couldn’t but feel for the many tricolour-clad Offaly supporters lost in the midst of the 11,841 who had turned up; most especially, you couldn’t but feel for the 15 on the field and most of all, for the man on the sideline, Brian Whelahan. Under Brian, their greatest ever player, this was to be a new era for Offaly hurling — hell, it was to be a new ear for hurling itself, the Sky cameras in position for the first time at a GAA match. Oh, the disappointment, not least for Brian.