As it was with the All-Ireland hurling final, so it was with the football final:  The perennial favourites have stuck to their experienced guns and come through.

Cork will be wondering at what might have been while Kerry were the ones who showed how its done – put the head down and stick to the task at hand.

The one positive (and not the only one) that Waterford hurling can draw from their experiences is that they have adapted that sort of attitude to matches – the one of rolling up the sleeves and keep working to the final whistle.  The loss of Justin McCarthy as their coach has left them a little rough around the edges – they were a much more polished team with him in charge – but if that issue of their play can be addressed, then they will be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Now that there’s virtually no more inter-county fun to be had for the rest of the year, it’s the season of talking about it all and observing how the county finals pan out.  After that, it’s the run-in to Christmas and hurling books.

“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.  Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.