Hungry Déise to pip Cork and then push on for Munster

Growing up a kid, as mad as it sounds, I had an obsession with Clare hurling. In the late nineties, as I became a fanatic of the game of hurling, I had Clare flags hanging out the front windows of the house.

No doubt my father was wondering what he was rearing, and it probably killed him at the time, but I guess once I was happy, he was happy. Thankfully, it didn’t last too long! My mother by her own admission, didn’t, and still doesn’t, know much about the game, but she used to get a great kick out of Davy coming up the field for any penalties that Clare would have got. That made two of us.

Dalo, as captain of that Clare team, would always have been a huge favourite of mine. And like that, it's amazing how time passes and where you end up. On Saturday evening, I found myself in the company of Dalo with team-mates as we headed back to Murty Brownes for a few pints.

For the Cork and Kilkenny game, I watched the lot with Dalo. On Sunday, somewhat shook I might add, I spent the day with Davy analysing the league semi-finals and the relegation final. It's always great to have role models and heroes growing up, and I am fortunate that I get to work beside a lot of them now.

What impressed me the most about the Cork boys is that they dug out the game. At no stage watching the game did I think they were going to come out on top. They struggled to claw the Cats back after a sluggish start, and it looked like Kilkenny were going to cling on by a few points.

On Kilkenny, I have been so impressed by them since the Dublin game. Admittedly, I thought after the Tipperary game that they would struggle. Since then, they have changed 33% of their team, and also have to welcome back TJ Reid and Adrian Mullen, which will bring it close to 50%.