I was going to write a match report on this game but in all honesty what is the point?
What happened in Semple Stadium on Saturday was an absolute joke.
And may I add that Derry were in no way at fault for what happened in Thurles.
They were simply out of their depth against a ruthless Kilkenny side who never took the foot off the pedal at any stage.
And why should they? At the end of the day there are lads fighting for places in that Kilkenny panel and this was one of the final opportunities they will get to stake a claim for a place in the starting team for the Final against Limerick.
But what happened to Derry yesterday is pitiful, outrageous and absolutely 110% wrong.
Aside from Antrim’s shock win over Wexford a couple of years back, no Ulster team has ever really troubled a team from the other provinces and the writing was on the wall a long time out before yesterdays massacre.
How long more do the likes of Derry have to suffer this sort of humiliation before the GAA make a change?
Donal Og Cusack made a suggestion a few years back that an Ulster amalgamation might be a possible solution at Senior level and the same could be said for under 21.
Having spoke to members of the media yesterday it was suggested that an All Ireland knockout themed format would benefit the competition and that’s something I agree with personally.
Imagine how Galway in particular would benefit from a potential game or two ahead of an All Ireland Semi Final?
What cost Galway yesterday was the fact that they had no competitive game time and that told near the end.
It wasn’t that they were an inferior side by any means and they genuinely could have won that game yesterday despite not having games.
That game yesterday was of no benefit to either Kilkenny or Derry and it’s as simple as that.
The moral of the story is that something has to give here or the game of Hurling will suffer for many more years to come.
Enough is enough.
