FANS LICKING THEIR LIPS AFTER SEMI DRAW
THE All-Ireland Hurling Championship semifinal draw went along the lines of a boxing promoter who decided a box-office rematch was in order. And so Munster champions Cork have to do it all over again against Waterford, the team they took apart in such style in the provincial semi-final. Leinster champions Galway also have a glamour rematch against Tipperary, the team they ambushed in ruthless fashion in the National League final. It’s the third summer in succession these meet at the same stage. A 16-point League final hammering is one thing — the recent Championship meetings suggest this will be a very different affair. It’s the perfect set-up for Tipperary: All-Ireland champions, and yet already installed as slight underdogs. In 2015, it took the dramatic intervention of a Galway player making his debut from the bench — Shane Moloney — to tilt a thrilling game his team’s way by the narrowest of margins. Twelve months later, Galway were left to rue the double injury blow of losing Joe Canning and Adrian Tuohy which required a large-scale reshuffle. This time, it was an off-colour Tipperary who squeezed through by the narrowest of margins to clinch a place in the final. And everybody knows what happened from there. There’s a bit of history attached with no Leinster team as such represented in the semifinals for the first time, provincial squatters Galway being joined by three Munster sides. And it says everything about how Galway’s season has gone that, after failing to secure promotion from Division 1B — that honour went to Wexford — they are now firm favourites to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the first time since the double-winning days of 1987-88. Beating a team twice in the same year on high profile occasions is never easy though. Cork know that Waterford have all the motivation in the world after the flat, outof-sorts showing in the Munster semi-final. On a day when so much went wrong for Derek McGrath’s team, they know they have so much more to offer. They have proven it as well by breaking the 30-point barrier against Offaly, turning Kilkenny over in the Championship for the first time since 1959, and quashing the Wexford revolution. Meanwhile, every county bar Kilkenny has found it hard to come to terms with the long gap between provincial honours and turning out in a semi-final. Cork will try to learn the lessons from 2014 when they blew up in spectacular fashion against Tipperary, a result manager Kieran Kingston has already referenced. One thing at least is clear: the four best teams in the Championship are left standing. ALL-IRELAND SHC SEMI-FINALS Sunday, August 6: Galway v Tipperary, Croke Park, 4pm (RTÉ/ Sky Sports) Sunday, August 13: Cork v Waterford, Croke Park, 3.30pm (RTÉ/Sky Sports)