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The schedule is busy as ever this weekend, with the hurling quarter-finals and the Super 8 finally getting under way too.
Both Saturday and Sunday are jam packed and those worried about a clash with the World Cup final really need to get a grip.
Limerick and Kilkenny is probably the game of the weekend. The Cats playing for their third week in a row, Limerick looking to record their first championship win over the Black and Amber since 1973. This will be some contest.
After 25 minutes in Thurles last Sunday I would have had Limerick winning this game pulling away. Not any more.
It is easy to be a Cats supporter in Cody’s time because the team gives everything.
When did a Kilkenny supporter last walk away from a match thinking his team had more in them, or could have won a game that they lost?
Under Brian Cody I cannot remember that happening. They simply give everything and on willpower alone, they are never beaten. Galway were phenomenal yet still struggled to put Kilkenny to bed. Galway will be very hard to beat, but they won’t want to see the Cats again.
It is unlikely however, because Limerick’s time is now. Before their poor (third week in a row) performance against Clare they were the form team in Munster.
They have much more in them and that flat display could yet be the making of them.
They are a young side, filled with underage winners and the demands placed on them in Munster took a toll. They’re in a better place now.
While the Treaty side could cruise home against Carlow, the Cats were dealing with the ferocity of Galway. I know which warm- up I’d have preferred.
Of course Kilkenny won’t get the same physical intensity that Galway brought, but they’ll get close to it. A slow start and they could be chasing for the second Sunday in a row, it’s always harder the second time.
For all their undoubted spirit there are holes in Brian Cody’s line-up. The fitness of Walter Walsh will be key for Cody, the inability to win ball in the half forward line gave Galway the platform for their domination of last weekend’s first half.
The left side of their defence on Sunday was in trouble throughout, both Paddy Deegan and Enda Morrissey struggled hugely – Limerick will look to make hay there.
Hope
There is hope though for the Cats, thanks to the cameos from Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly. Both made a difference yet neither look fully cocked.
For every good thing that Richie did on Sunday, including 1-1 from play, he did some most un-Richie like things as well, including being blocked down while standing to hit the ball. That would be okay if this was the spring, but time is not on his or Kilkenny’s side.
Thurles will be hopping and as a neutral I am really looking forward to this one.
My instinct tells me that Limerick will have more than enough to win, but the Cats being the Cats, that will only be just good enough. But Limerick nonetheless.
Tight tussle
The day before, the unfortunate Wexford and Clare supporters will be trying to get into Pairc Uí Chaoimh on a Saturday afternoon in Cork, and then trying to leave it while thousands of music fans descend on the Marquee for a music concert that evening right beside the stadium.
God help us if there’s extra time, it will be chaos altogether!
And that is a distinct possibility because this could be an arm wrestle. In all likelihood not a classic, but for intensity and tension it could be up there.
Much of what will happen is entirely predictable. Wexford will play at least one sweeper, they will surround John Conlon when Clare have the ball and take their chances.
If their team is right, if the likes of Rory O’Connor, Lee Chin, Conor McDonald and sweeper Shaun Murphy can have big games, then Wexford will be well in this.
The hope in Clare is that the forwards will have the speed and skill to negate the extra attention. Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly need to have serious games, both are due. One surely will.
Like most potentially close championship matches, heart and character will be tested and the side that keeps its nerve in the last five or ten minutes will see this out. Fingers crossed it is Clare!
Nothing brings you down after a good hurling match like a medium-paced football match. With no musicians bar perhaps the Artane band, Croke Park will host two double headers on Saturday evening and Sunday. In fairness to the GAA, there is much to recommend them.
Dublin and Donegal top the Saturday night fare and as per usual, the Dubs are warm order. If as we expect, these two are to emerge from group two, then Donegal will need to show something in defeat here.
For starters they will have to score a little easier than most other counties find it against the champions and they’ll have to do it without the injured Paddy McBrearty.
One of those rare natural scoring forwards, his loss removes one of Declan Bonner’s main attacking tools and one that didn’t need much space or invitation to shoot effectively. The great teams lay down markers, expect the powerful team in blue to do just that and win well.
Kerry and Galway is top of the bill Sunday in group one and again, this pair are favourites to progress. The Kingdom have rearmed this season and all we need to see from them is their newer players fare in Croke Park.
Keep an eye out for wing back Gavin White, he looks like the real deal, while their entire forward unit have danger etched all over them. They will burst the Galway balloon.
Tyrone and Monaghan might do the same to Roscommon and Kildare, although all four come into this weekend with some momentum.
If Mickey Harte’s team have any serious ambitions to put last August behind them, then they have to beat the Rossies. It shouldn’t be forgotten however that Kevin McStay’s team are getting used to the big stage. Tight and low scoring springs to mind.
Monaghan have cruised through the backdoor to get here, I think they have a right chance of making an All-Ireland semi-final, something they’ve been threatening for five years now. If this is their year, they have to win this.
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