5 FORWARDS TO LIGHT UP THE SUMMER

THERE is nothing like a goal in Championship hurling. On a hot summer’s day, when the action is ratcheted up to a frightening level of intensity, the forward who can stoop and finish the ball to the net will likely get spectators out of their seats and electrify the atmosphere.

Here we list the five forwards who will conjure up some jaw-dropping moments over the course of the next few months.

Tony Kelly (Clare)

There’s every chance that Clare’s management team of Donal Maloney and Gerry O’Connor may decide that they will get the most out of Kelly by playing him midfield, but wherever he is positioned in the middle third, the likelihood is that Kelly will be the main figure on the scoresheet for the Banner.

In the golden generation of gifted hurlers that they have produced in Clare over the past six years, Kelly stands out as the sparkling gem. Blessed with incredible balance and a wonderful touch, watching Kelly glide across the field when he is at his best is like poetry in motion and serves as an illustration why hurling afficandos consider it the greatest game in the world.

Clare played Kelly way too deep last summer, which led to the country tearing its hair out watching him. But once he is within 70 metres of the opposition goal, it is a scoring chance for his team. Hopefully, this summer, we will get more ample opportunity to observe his genius.

Joe Canning (Galway)

The sense is that his county no longer lean on him as they once did. The emergence of Conor Cooney, Jason Flynn and the industrious Conor Whelan in Galway’s full-forward line has allowed Canning to come further out the field and he has flourished around the 40. He took Ronan Maher for a spin around the Gaelic Grounds in the Allianz League final, while still managing to score four of his nine points from play, and is thriving in providing ammunition for the likes of Cooney and Whelan.

Of course, if there comes a time during the summer when Galway are malfunctioning in front of goal, they know they can rely on their talisman to do a stint at full-forward and conjure up a moment of spellbinding brilliance, as he has done so often in the past – think his wonderful goal in the 2015 Leinster final against Kilkenny.

There’s a more even spread of talent around this current Galway team, but when it comes down to the crunch, it may still be about the Joe Show.

John McGrath (Tipperary)

Up until the League final, McGrath was the player of the spring. Following Tipperary’s All-Ireland title last year, former manager Eamon O’Shea claimed that the arrival of McGrath into the team as ‘a topclass corner-forward’ was the biggest difference between that team and his side that just came up short.

O’Shea had big plans for the talented attacker in 2015, only for injury to intervene. But in the past 18 months, McGrath has gone from strength to strength.

While Seamus Callanan remains the focal point of the Tipperary attack, having such a gifted forward as a supporting act has benefitted the Premier County.

And McGrath displays a real lust for goals. He wants to find the net with almost every opportunity he gets. Even when his team failed to perform in the League final, McGrath was still able to engineer a goal-scoring chance for himself, which soared over the crossbar.

Tipperary’s ability to find the net is what separates them from most of the chasing pack and nobody better exemplifies this desire for goals than McGrath, who may yet eclipse Callanan as their main man over the course of their Championship campaing.

TJ Reid (Kilkenny)

One of the reasons that some observers feel Kilkenny are in decline is that Brian Cody hasn’t unearthed any attackers who can lessen some of the scoring responsbility on Reid. But it is not as if the Ballyhale mastero is weighed down, or hunched over, by the responsibility.

He gave a finishing master-class in that breathless Division 1A encounter with Tipperary in Semple Stadium, hitting a hat-trick. His reliability from placed-balls is a thing of wonder and when the Cats are in desperate need of a goal, chances are Reid will be involved in getting that crucial score.

His performance in the 2015 AllIreland final underlined his importance to the Kilkenny cause, not missing a shot from placed-balls while also popping up to get the goal when Kilkenny’s need was at its greatest.

And if Kilkenny are down in Wexford Park on June 10, and find themselves in a spot of bother and in need of a goal, Reid is likely to be the man who will find the net.

Conor McDonald (Wexford)

The gifted Gorey native first came to promience as part of the Wexford Under-21s who captured three Leinster titles in a row, but even though he is still only 21, McDonald has been thrusted into being one of the main figures on the Wexford senior team for the past couple of years.

Last year, he nailed 13 points in a wonderful display as Wexford beat Cork in the Championship for the first time in 60 years and during this year’s League Division 1B campaign, it was McDonald, again and again, who found the scores to ensure that the Davy Fitzgerald revolution remained on track, scoring the vital goal in the League opener against Limerick and once again, reminding everyone of his talent in the League quarter-final victory over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.

If Wexford are to maintain their progress this summer, much will rest on the broad shoulders of McDonald.

In a golden generation of gifted hurlers, Kelly is Clare’s sparkling gem