Well, the nerves are all a flutter for the Kilkenny team. The atmosphere is tense and the there is a palpable sense of excitement around Kilkenny city and county. And the county in particular has come up trumps with showing its support for the Kilkenny team.
However, there have been complaints that there has not been enough colour around the city and that the council has not done enough to show the city’s support for our hurling heroes. But thankfully the local businesses have done their best to lend their support to the team and almost every shop window on the High Street is donning the black and amber in some shape or form.
There could have been more of an effort made to put some bunting up across the High Street, but I think that maybe we have become a little bit complacent about displaying our support — and this is because Kilkenny has come to expect that the team will be in the final on an annual basis and have almost tired of the effort to show support although the support is very definitely there.
Kilkenny fans are the best in the world and it’s not our fault that our team is so good that we end up in the final every year and expect to do so. But it must get harder for the team if the support isn’t glaringly obvious in the form of flags and bunting etc. If the fans get complacent, well the team might well follow suit...
So what to expect from this year’s final? The word on the street (according to our recent survey published in our supplement ) is that the Cats will do the job and bring the Liam McCarthy back home. However, nobody appears to think that the win is a given - moreso that this is going to be a tough game and one that the lads will have to put their all into in order to win.
A lot of hope is being placed on Henry Shefflin’s game and the fans are ecstatic that he is back and ready for action — this, they believe, is Kilkenny’s trump card.
However, find out more about the big game in our supplement edited by Sam Matthews, where you will find interviews with all your favourite team members, manager Brian Cody and even interviews with the Tipp captain Eoin Kelly. Your views are there too along with in-depth analysis from our own Charlie Carter and Pat Treacy.
There is not much left to say other than best wishes to the Cats this weekend. You have the county behind you - let’s take two out of three. As the saying goes — two out of three ‘aint bad!
