It will be interesting to see who will be given the job of replacing Martin Storey

A fantastic seven-day period for the game of hurling.

First we had the Kilkenny/Waterford semi-final in Croke Park and for 65 minutes of this game I have never witnessed such an exhibition of hurling as Waterford produced.

Their intensity, their first touch and their score taking were simply out of this world and for them not to finish the game off was, for every neutral, extremely disappointing.

However, you just have to hand it to Kilkenny. What a fantastic team they are, they are never beaten and even when some of their more important players don’t reach their normal high standards, their work rate and their ability to get the all-important scores when they badly need them is just astonishing.

Then we marched on to Thurles for the replay and more jaw dropping brilliance. Cody again showed his ruthless side by dropping three players. Four excellently taken goals, and what intensity.

Three points from debutant Liam Blanchfield but despite Waterford’s outstanding bravery Kilkenny held out for a two-point victory and yet another final for Cody and his men.

Then last Sunday it was back to headquarters for the Tipperary/Galway semi. A lot has been written about Galway hurling since Anthony Cunningham was shown the door by this group of Galway players.

The players subsequently put a lot of pressure on themselves to win the Liam McCarthy Cup and following their one-point defeat to the local rivals Tipperary another year will now pass without a Galway man getting his hands on this prized cup. Nobody can in anyway question Galway’s application in this game. They gave it all they had. They are at least two scoring inside forwards short and despite their savage intensity, the amount of poor decision making and even more so the amount of unnecessary handling errors were the reasons, I believe, that cost Galway a place in the final and a chance to put the record straight.

This was a game Galway could and should have won. Tipperary were not at full tilt and the five-week break (which is crazy in any sporting competition) did show.

The loss of Joe Canning for the entire second half was enormous. The Tipperary full-back line didn’t look comfortable under the high ball and you could be assured that if Joe Canning had a period of time at the edge of the Tipperary square in the second half he would have created at least the very least one goal scoring opportunity.

With a thriving and intense club scene in Galway at both underage and Senior level they will continue to be a force at the elite end of the hurling world. Galway’s underage teams, and most probably the other hurling counties in Leinster, would undoubtedly improve if Leinster Council permitted the Galway Minors and Under-21s to join their Senior team in the the Leinster championship.

So after all the excitement of the semi-finals we have a Tipperary/Kilkenny final. The extra game for Kilkenny will be of benefit to them. The injury to Michael Fennelly will be a worry as his absence, in what will no doubt be a huge physical battle, could be costly.

While still on hurling it was proud day for one young Wicklow hurler last Sunday in Croke Park. Willie Cash from Kilcoole Primary School and Kilcoole GAA Club was selected to play in the mini games at half-time of the Senior game. Willie is an exceptionally talented young hurler who is well known to all the Under-12 defences in the county. Willie featured on the Tipperary side last Sunday and when I spoke to him after the game he said he had a tremendous day and it was such a special feeling to play in Croke Park before such a huge crowd. Willie’s teammates and mentors from Kilcoole attended in great numbers to support him. Like any superstar Willie duly found time to wave to his supporters from the pitch. It was disappointing that the programme on the day printed the wrong school and county beside Willie’s name but not to worry, knowing the talent Willie is I am sure there will be many more programmes that his name will appear in and hopefully they will get it right next time.

Following the Wicklow Minor hurlers heavy defeat to Meath last Saturday I am sure the people involved in Wicklow hurling will be delighted to see the back of Meath for the rest of the year as we have now shipped very heavy defeats at Minor, Under-21 and Senior level to them, and all in Trim. Meath hurling is certainly on the up and they could well add Minor and Under-21 ‘B’ titles to their recent Christy Ring success.

This Wicklow Minor team had a very difficult year and the latest comprehensive defeat following limited preparation was unfortunately expected.

As this will be the last Wicklow Minor hurling team to take the field it was a very sad way to finish at this level. From the team that was selected to start the number of actual Minors was very small and questions have to be asked about this. The players who did commit to this team should be congratulated and respected.

The other big news in Wicklow hurling was the stepping down of Martin Storey as Senior team manager. I had heard rumblings of this for a few weeks but I was still surprised when the announcement came.

I thought Martin would have given the job more time as from his interviews he often intimated that he was building a team for the future.

No matter what way one looks at it the results were poor and we were very lucky that we faced Donegal (a county not noted for their hurling prowess) in both the league and Christy Ring relegation play-offs.

It will be interesting to see who is given the task of replacing Martin. One thing is certain, any new manager will need greater support in the line of selectors from the stronger hurling clubs in the county.

This Saturday evening in Arklow we have the Junior ‘A’ and ‘B’ hurling championship finals. First up at 5pm are old rivals Glenealy and Avondale in the ‘B’. I have seen both teams in action and from what I saw I would make Glenealy slight favourites to take the title.

In the ‘A’ final we have Kiltegan and St. Pat’s. Kiltegan had an excellent victory over slight favourites Carnew in the semi-final.

This Kiltegan team have all the qualities you expect from such a successful club - hunger, excellent team work, tenacity, will to win and sportsmanship.

If St. Pat’s are to win they will have to match Kiltegan in these areas. What fantastic contributors both Christy and John O’Toole have been to Kiltegan and for such a long period and with the youthful Seanie Germaine, Steven Coogan and Jonathan Tallon on board they have a very balanced effective outfit.

St. Pat’s after a slow start finished strong against a gallant Arklow Rocks team in their semi-final and will be looking for big performances from Eoghan O’Mahony, Terry Healy, Stephen Morris, Gerry Connors and James Byrne to take the cup back to the county town.

This promises to be a cracking game and with both sides able to call on players from their top teams. I expect a very entertaining and close game. Hopefully all four teams will be well supported in Arklow on Saturday night.