Shamrocks in clover again

THE Kilkenny SHC final certainly didn’t live up to its top billing before 8,000 spectators at Nowlan Park yesterday.

Yes, conditions underfoot were difficult, and the strong wind and heavy showers didn’t make things any easier; throw in the fact that Shamrocks were going for four-in-a-row, and that James Stephens were the team they had dethroned back in 2006, and you had the extra pressure that came with that.

Even when you put all of that together, however, it still doesn’t account for the poverty of play yesterday between two teams that are, inarguably, the two best in Kilkenny club hurling.