Banner ready to storm the Rebels

All roads lead to Thurles, Croke Park, maybe even a few to Newbridge this weekend as we get down to serious business.

They don’t come more important to hurling counties down south than the Munster final and naturally there will be a huge crowd in Semple Stadium. A sizeable portion of them will be from Clare too – tickets sold out within four hours of going on sale in the Banner county. There were queues out the door of Centra stores. A massive vote of confidence in the new format if ever there was one.

There’s a quiet confidence that Clare have rediscovered their mojo – I believe this side can win. The reasons are many, not just instinct. The difficulty facing Cork is one that many teams struggle to deal with in this age of backdoors and qualifiers, namely beating the same team twice in the space of a few weeks.

That’s never easy because you generally learn more in defeat than victory. The Rebels showed their full hand in knocking off Clare by five points in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and did so with a clinical late burst, back-boned by an excellent defensive display. Their pace and discipline that afternoon impressed me greatly, Cork went into the notebook as All-Ireland contenders.

Since then they have improved slightly, but really should be killing teams off quicker than they have been doing, allowing both Limerick and Tipperary to snatch draws when Cork were the better side for long periods.

The main point in Cork’s favour is that while they are being dragged into tight finishes, they aren’t losing any. Remember, they haven’t lost a game in Munster for over two years. Their big players are delivering, with Seamus Harnedy, Shane Kingston and the rejuvenated Patrick Horgan showing up at crucial stages of recent games.

I have a fear that Conor Lehane might get in on that act Sunday, he seems to like playing against Clare!

In the other corner, Clare have improved hugely since that Cork clash. They have a much better balance with John Conlon at full forward. The playing style is a little more direct, and the return of the Podge Collins of old has added some creativity.

There should be a full house, 46,300 on hand to witness the culmination of the greatest Munster hurling championship ever played.

Should Clare win their first Munster crown since 1998 then there will be some symmetry to the win, coming as it will after victories over Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick already.

Sure, Cork are all that’s left!

Yes, you can sense the growing optimism down here. Semple Stadium will move beyond the electric come 2pm. I am counting down the hours. This will be old school. Clare to win, all to be right in my world.

Leinster

Brian Cody’s world tends to move on an even keel. Having had three weeks to regroup his forces, I’m expecting the Cats to give Galway a proper test. The Tribesmen will face Cork’s issue in looking to beat a team twice in the space of a month, a Cody one at that.

Galway, unlike Cork, should still have enough to win though.

This All-Ireland championship is about to get interesting because at 6pm on Sunday evening we could be looking at Limerick versus Kilkenny and potentially, Wexford versus Clare in two quarter-finals (barring a Carlow or Westmeath shock). Davy versus his old team, Limerick with a chance to get right back on the horse. Tasty stuff.

This may sound like it is paying no respect to the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists, but they will have their 70 minutes in Croke Park on Sunday too. However, neither are ready for the next step up, this year at least. The winners of Carlow and Westmeath will replace Offaly in the Leinster championship next year and that makes it an important game to each county.

How telling it is that Antrim (All-Ireland runners-up in 1989) are battling relegation the night before. Laois only avoided that fate when they beat Meath. The O’Moore came within two points of Galway in the Leinster championship as recently as 2014, now they are no longer in the same conversation.

For the high that hurling is enjoying this summer, we must acknowledge the losses the likes of Laois, Offaly and Antrim are to the top table.

So Galway can win another Leinster championship, something none of their players really grew up dreaming about. Beating Kilkenny twice in the championship is something else entirely and that is a real prize.

Their earlier win in Pearse Stadium meant something to them, this could again.

The defending All-Ireland champions look the part this summer. They’re everyone’s favourites, a mantle that doesn’t always sit well with them. I think they will be vulnerable at least one afternoon this championship.

This final is the last time they can lose with a parachute. That’s usually the best day to be a little off-form. Throw in the Cats resilience/stubborn streak and we should see this contest go into the last few minutes.

Galway, but only after a struggle.

By the way, it’s a little unfortunate that the two hurling finals clash. As a supporter who has attended both showpieces for the last decade, the GAA are losing my ticket money. Considering that Leinster’s round robin started a week before Munster, this is something that should have been avoided. I’m sure that will be part of next year’s tweaks.

Newbridge or nowhere

The biggest battle of the week though has been between Kildare and Croke Park. At the time of writing the game of chicken was ongoing. Fair play to the Lillywhites, but good luck fighting the establishment.

There’s likely to be only one winner here in the end – game on in Croke Park.

The paucity of the provincial runners-up in the football makes Saturday’s games crucial. All four winners will have eyes on the Super 8. It won’t work out that way of course, but counties like Clare, Armagh, Cavan and even Leitrim can hope.

By Sunday we’ll be into July. If you’re still involved in either championship then your hope is real.