All Ireland Hurling Final: Preview

Offaly dispose of Derry in the quarter-finals

One of the two premier occasions in the Irish sporting calendar takes place on Sunday in Dublin when Kilkenny take on Offaly in the Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Final at Croke Park.

The hurling decider's only rival in Irish sporting consciousness is the All-Ireland Football final which takes place at Croke Park a fortnight later.

But die-hard hurlers fans scoff at the mere suggestion that gaelic football can rival the skill level and passion of the world's fastest field game.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash and his compatriot Steve Waugh, more familiar with tennis rackets and cricket bats than the hurling caman, have been among the foreign celebrities in recent years whom have marvelled at the skills on display during All-Ireland Hurling Final occasions.

Difficult sport

Batsman Waugh admitted that the exponents of the caman game appeared to have chosen a much more difficult sport than himself.

Some 50,000 people, many of whom will have travelled from overseas, will cram themselves into Croke Park for Sunday's match.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody

The sport's governing body, the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) could sell as many tickets again although ongoing redevelopment work at Croke Park means future All-Ireland Finals will be able to accommodate over 90,000 spectators.

Strong favourites

The Irish Diaspora worldwide will also tune into TV and web broadcasts of the decider with the overall audience certain to run into millions.

Brian Cody's Kilkenny team, led by the greatest hurler of the modern era DJ Carey, go into the decider as strong favourites - particularly given that they hammered the Offalymen in the Leinster Final earlier in the season.

But revenge will also be on the minds of the Kilkenny team after surprisingly losing to Offaly in the 1998 final.

Offaly manager Pat Fleury

Until four years ago, defeat at the provincial stage would have meant an exit from the Championship but the GAA in a bid to revamp the competition, took the decision to re-admit the beaten Leinster and Munster Finalists to a play-off stage.

Experience

Offaly, managed by Pat Fleury, have already benefited from the highly-controversial backdoor rule to claim the All-Ireland crown in 1998.

Offaly's Johnny Pilkington is an inspirational figure

They were described as an ageing team then and such has been the discussion in the Irish media this year about the `experience' in the Offaly side, that one almost expects them to be holding onto zimmer frames when they make they way out onto the pitch on Sunday.

Offaly, after being hammered by Kilkenny in this year's Leinster Final and struggling past Ulster Champions Derry, weren't given any chance of upsetting defending All-Ireland Champions Cork in the semi-final.

Below-par display

DJ Carey: the greatest hurler of the current era

But upset them they did which left many media hurling analysts squirming with embarrassment.

Carey, despite his undoubted status as the most gifted player of his generation, has much to prove after a below-par display in last year's decider when Kilkenny were defeated by Cork.

Three defeats in a row would be a huge burden for the Kilkenny team to take into the remainder of their lives and while the pressure will be huge, they should send several Offaly players into retirement.