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Southern Gael's juvenile teams savoured a week to remember with victories in their respective grades in the Westmeath hurling championship.

The LIT Gaelic Grounds will host a fascinating All-Ireland senior club hurling semi-final this Sunday afternoon as St Thomas’ bid to reach a third final in eight spectacular years for the club, but they will have to pull out all the stops to derail the challenge of Tipperary and Munster champions Borris-Ileigh (throw-in 4pm).

It does not get any easier for the Galway hurlers. After last weekend's 2-16 to 1-16 loss to Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, they now face Tipperary in Pearse Stadium on Sunday (2pm) in round four of the 1A league.

Last Sunday’s All-Ireland minor semi-final turned decisively in Tipp’s favour when Galway fullback and captain Paul Killeen was controversially dismissed midway through the second half.

The only silver lining that the Mayo minors could take out of their Connacht final defeat to Roscommon a little under three weeks ago was that they were going to get a second chance. If Tony Duffy’s side are going to take that second chance, they will have to seriously up their performance against the rising kings of underage football in Munster, Tipperary.

It was a strange sight not to see the Liam MacCarthy Cup being hoisted aloft on the stage while standing in the Market Yard on Monday evening among the masses of proud Kilkenny hurling fans waiting to welcome home our gallant heroes. Unfortunately Sunday’s game didn't pan out the way we would have hoped, and for that we must ‘tip’ our hats to the Premier men for a job well done.

Last Sunday Tipp took to the game like a team possessed. They hurled out of their skin in front of a crowd of 81,765. Kilkenny on the otherhand looked a little tired and with the recent bad luck with injuries it was always going to be an uphill battle.

Twelve months ago Kilkenny entered Croke Park knowing a victory over arch rivals Tipperary would see them lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup for a record equalling fourth time in a row. After a pulsating battle they emerged victors a feat that put them beside the great Cork team of the ‘40s.

Tipperary's emphatic semi-final victory over Waterford last Sunday guarantees us another mouth-watering All-Ireland final. Hurling fans worldwide will be looking forward to September 5 for Kilkenny v Tipp Part II. During the noughties it was Kilkenny and Cork who went head to head on a couple of occasions. The Cats are still going strong but the Rebels have passed the baton onto the Premier county. This is the first back to back final between these two counties. When you talk of sporting rivalries they simply don't come any greater than Kilkenny and Tipp. The colour, excitement and raw emotion of last year’s decider is a testament to this.

Good. Very good in fact. Just not good enough. That was the story in a nutshell from last Sunday’s epic encounter between a courageous Galway side and an ever so slightly superior Tipperary outfit.