On this All-Ireland Hurling Final week, we are taking a look back at some of the personal favourite pictures of our photographers from finals past.  Now it’s the turn of Brendan Moran.

I’ve photographed many All-Ireland Finals at Croke Park but this shot from the 2008 final between Kilkenny and Waterford is one of my personal favourites.

It shows the exact moment when Kilkenny corner back Michael Kavanagh tipped the ball away from Waterford’s John Mullane as he was about to take aim at the Hill 16 goal.

Kavanagh was one of the most important players for Cody during his management,  and went on to win an All-Star that year – and Mullane, one of the best forwards in the game at the time, and scored three points from play in this final.

It was a comfortable win for Kilkenny in what was described by some as the ‘perfect All-Ireland Final performance’. The Cats lead by 2-16 to 0-05 at the break before earning a twenty three point margin of victory by full-time.

I shot this from the Hill 16 end but not in the corner as I had done before. It gives a nice angle, showing the full house at Croke Park, and it captures the determination on both of the players faces, of course in a time before helmets were compulsory.