Kilkenny’s hunger for success is back

All eyes turn to Páirc Uí Chaoimh again this Sunday for the Munster hurling final, but it will be a contest shadowed by the suspicion that a feared foe is waiting on the far side of the provincial border.

Kilkenny’s improvement this summer has been obvious, even if Galway rallied from nine points down the first day in Tullamore and last Sunday’s defeat of Dublin in the Leinster decider was solid rather than spectacular. TJ Reid, pictured, accepted both points yesterday after being named as the Opel GAA/GPA player of the month for June, but still offered the noteworthy observation that Brian Cody’s men were purring along in, not fifth, but sixth gear.

“It’s happy days,” he said. “Leinster final, we hadn’t won it since 2011 and we didn’t get to Croke Park last year so there was a lot of soul-searching last year, a lot of heads down. We’re very grateful we have the Bob O’Keeffe at home again.