Today’s PREVIEWS
Leinster SHC Galway v Kilkenny, Pearse Stadium, Sunday, 4.0, Live RTÉ 2
SALTHILL finally gets a Leinster Championship game and they couldn’t have hoped for a bigger opening show. The reality is that Kilkenny travel west in a comfortable position. They can afford to lose here and still have a decent chance of making the provincial final. But Brian Cody will want to lay down a marker as it won’t have escaped his attention that the Tribesmen finally captured the big prize without beating his team. Galway scored five goals and created another four chances against Offaly, which indicates that they have added that to their armoury. If they maintain that clinical form, there will only be one winner.
Verdict: Galway
Munster SHC Tipperary v Cork, Semple Stadium, 2.0, Live RTÉ 2
NOT for the first time, the identity of the Tipperary starting 15 has kick-started a national discussion. After discovering that the world loves to hear him speak, Michael Ryan no doubt wants his players to do the talking for him when the ball is thrown in. Cork showed what picking players in their best positions can do, Mark Coleman an inspired presence on his return at wing-back and Darragh Fitzgibbon a driving force around the middle. With so much at stake, Tipperary to find the necessary response.
Verdict: Tipperary
Clare v Waterford, Cusack Park, 3.30
NO home advantage. No Austin Gleeson. No Pauric Mahony. No Kieran Bennett. No Shane Bennett. No hurling in Division 1A next year. No Championship opener to knock the cobwebs off. It’s the sort of cocktail of circumstances that stack the odds against Waterford. Yet, it’s worth remembering that this is a hardened, unified squad, littered with All-Star talent, that were within a puck of a ball of the All-Ireland champions last September and have a tactical setup designed to frustrate the Shane O’Donnells of this world. A vociferous home crowd to roar Clare over the line. Just.
Verdict: Clare
Leinster SFC quarter-final Carlow v Kildare, O’Connor Park, 2.0
IT is odd, given the intimacy which the provincial system facilitates, that these teams have only met twice in the last 50 years. Then again, reaching a provincial quarter-final was a rarity for Carlow, although their sights are set a little higher these days, but this looks a bridge too far. They made light work of Brendan Murphy’s absence against Louth where Eoin Ruth teamed up impressively with Sean Murphy in the middle, but Tommy Moolick and Kevin Feely represent a very different challenge. And with ball-in-hand, Kildare’s class, underlined by Daniel Flynn, will tell. Verdict: Kildare
Leinster SFC quarter-final Longford v Meath, Pearse Park, 3.0
IT is 36 years since Longford last defeated Meath in summer ball but this represents their best chance in an age. They may have been operating at a lower level this spring but Denis Connerton’s side displayed a level of consistency which outstripped that of their Division 2 opponents. However, consistency has been fleeting at best for the home team in Leinster, and they tend to reserve their best work for the qualifiers. That being the case, the best thing Meath can do is show them through the back door.
Verdict: Meath
Leinster SFC quarter-final Wicklow v Dublin, O’Moore Park, 4.0
LET’S kill the pretence that we will witness a contest here. When one team is 1/500 and the other is 33/1 then we know that we are watching a rerun of the hare against the tortoise. It is shameful, if only to invite some badly needed intrigue, that the Leinster Council did not have the vision to schedule this clash for Aughrim. Still, they will justify their decision on the basis that the Dublin support base needs to be accommodated and it is merely a happy coincidence that their purse will be fattened as a result. Yeah, that makes sense alright.
Ulster SFC quarter-final Derry v Donegal, Celtic Park, 4.0
THIS was a genuine derby once upon a time which lit an unforgettable flame. Donegal beat Derry in 1992 on the way to winning the All-Ireland for the first time, while Derry repaid them in full by taking the same route 12 months later. Little chance of that now as, rather than a battle of equals, this game is being sold on the curiosity of Derry’s status as a Division 4 team. There really is not much to sell and Donegal’s quality in the likes of Ryan McHugh, Michael Murphy, Odhran MacNiallais and Paddy McGrath is almost certain to be decisive against a home team shy of the services of the injured Benny Heron.
Verdict: Donegal