Dermot Crowe

Dublin have recalled Evan Comerford in goal for the win-or-bust All-Ireland series meeting with Cavan in Kingspan Breffni on Sunday. He replaces Hugh O’Sullivan who stood between the posts for the recent loss to Louth in Croke Park.

The winner takes it all. At the final whistle, and for a good while before, Galway hurlers had made an emphatic claim on that privilege in a Leinster hurling final that collapsed under the weight of rising expectation. Dublin, unbeaten in the competition, having won on consecutive weekends in Wexford, in Galway and in Parnell Park against Kilkenny, came with a run of form that had stirred a sense of justifiable optimism.

Are we allowed feel a little bit excited about Offaly? Would we be getting ahead of ourselves? Maybe. But it’s been a long time.