Opinion- Limerick loss will only add to the Kilkenny agony over the winter months

For the first time since Tipperary in 2019, there will be a new name on the Liam MacCarthy Cup after Limerick’s history making five-in a row bid hit a massive roadblock on Sunday afternoon.

If anybody knows anything about that particular milestone it’s certainly Kilkenny and after losing out to the Treaty County in the last two All-Ireland finals, the pain will only grow on Noreside as they watch on with envy at what unfolds when Clare and Cork meet at the big dance. There will be a huge feeling of what might have been for the Cats.

To add insult to injury, the winner of this year’s title will join Limerick, Galway and Tipp as the four counties to taste All-Ireland glory in the time since Kilkenny’s last success on hurling’s biggest day.

The sight of Joey Holden lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup on the steps of the Hogan Stand in 2015 is something of a distant memory at this stage and it will be a decade-long memory come next year’s championship, so desperation and hunger levels are reaching a near record high in the Marble City.

It’s not been a total barren spell as Kilkenny are coming off winning the last five Leinster titles but locals will tell you the Bob O’Keeffe Cup is just a footnote when the ultimate prize eludes you.

Cork have had to wait even longer than Kilkenny to taste All-Ireland glory with their famine stretching all the way back to 2005, but such is the confidence and belief on Leeside that their manager Pat Ryan said it’s a failure any year you don’t win the All-Ireland with the Rebels.

Quite the statement, perhaps, but it’s that type of swagger and belief that saw Cork get the better of Limerick last weekend and they’ll fully believe that their time has come when they take to the field on July 21.

It’s not all doom and gloom as Kilkenny aren’t that far away and they just need to keep knocking on the door but patience is needed as the star power coming through the ranks ain’t what it once was.

The Cats won an All-Ireland under-20 title in 2022 and have been in two of the last four All-Ireland minor deciders but, as of yet, the success rate to the senior team is still in its infancy stage.

Intercounty retirement may not be too far away for a couple of the older Kilkenny stars so the influx of new blood can be expected. In many ways it will be welcomed too as a new generation of stars aim to make the team their own.

Two players to really make their mark this year have been Cian Kenny and David Blanchfield as they’ve graduated from breakout stars to being established on the starting 15. Don’t be surprised if one or both are close to All-Star selection in the next few weeks.

Both players were on the same Kilkenny underage side when coming through the ranks and are a firm example that it can take a few years to flourish at the top level.

Expect them to step into the leadership roles that the likes of Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan, John Donnelly and Adrian Mullen have made their own. The future still looks bright, even, if there is a feeling of a bit of transition at the moment.

Replacing the likes of Richie Hogan and Padraig Walsh was never going to be easy, but if Kilkenny can unearth more players similar to the likes of a Mikey Butler, Tom Phelan or Shane Murphy that they have found in recent years then they will be on an upward trajectory.

Such is the current championship structure that it’s hard to imagine Kilkenny being in anything less than an All-Ireland quarter-final in 2025. The Cats won’t be going anywhere but as the likes of Eoin Murphy, Eoin Cody, TJ Reid and Richie Reid stood dejected on the Croke Park’s turf last Saturday, you could really feel the sense of a missed opportunity.

So close but yet so far!