Titanic clashes on the hurling field

What a weekend in store for hurling aficionados.

Two utterly compelling All-Ireland semi-finals, both to be played in Croke Park within 22 hours of each other. These are the best four teams in the country, all come into the weekend off the back of wins, some travel in confidence, all travel in justified hope. Cork and Galway are unbeaten this year, Clare and Limerick have eight championship wins between them.

Sunday’s Cork and Limerick clash will probably see the biggest attendance of the weekend, something in the region of 65,000. Hopefully it’s as good as these two already provided in a stirring Munster championship draw. The Rebels arrive as Munster champions, Limerick on the back of an unforgettable and overdue win against Kilkenny.

That match two weeks ago in Thurles was possibly the most enjoyable game of hurling I have ever witnessed as a neutral. It is that 75 minute performance that makes Limerick favourites in my mind. Here’s why.

A horse sometimes has excuses for a bad run which can only be believed when they put that bad run behind them and win next time out. Limerick have done that. Put to the sword against Clare in June, they were out for the dreaded third week in a row and already had qualification for the last six assured.

They left all that behind them in Semple Stadium. Make no mistake, Kilkenny gave their best display of the past two years but it still wasn’t enough. If Limerick are to end their 45-year famine in 2018, that is the day they will look back on as the key.

Hype is an intangible that some of their own feel has hurt them in the past but the wake up call was delivered in Ennis and it was answered. That put feet back on the ground and they have responded. While their character has never been in doubt, their hurling might have been. Not any more.

Limerick’s leaders

There is so much to like about this Limerick team. Tom Morrissey, Sean Finn, Declan Hannon, Darragh O’Donovan, Aaron Gillane, Peter Casey and Kyle Hayes are just some players who have grown into this summer. There are plenty more.

Against Kilkenny we saw them use the ball as cleverly as anyone has against the Cats. Declan Hannon showed the value of having a hurling centre back, his forwards constantly showed for the ball, the reborn Graeme Mulcahy displaying the touch and assurance quality teams need.

When they needed to just win their own ball at crucial times Tom Morrissey stood tall. Such bravery deserved its reward.

Their bench is the best of all the semi-finalists. Limerick probably have 22 players and they can inter-change seamlessly. When workhorses like O’Donovan and Gearoid Hegarty are emptied, Shane Dowling and Peter Casey come on and add to the mix.

Yes, that win against Kilkenny made me a believer!

Of course I have seen the coming of this Cork team with my own eyes for two years now. Their only championship loss in that time was with 14 men to Waterford in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. This year they won the best ever renewal of the Munster championship and did it by averaging 1-24 per game. They have pace to burn everywhere, especially in defence, they have an all time great in Patrick Horgan and potential great Conor Lehane is due a breakout game. So they have much to recommend them too, but this Cork side have a tendency to leave teams in games.

Better than Clare in round one, they were still level going into injury time. They drew with Tipp when they had them beaten, they also coughed up a draw to 14 man Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. They don’t put teams away and that could be fatal against a team like Limerick that is now oozing belief. It is that conviction, borne out of the Kilkenny win and bolstered by what will be huge support in the stadium, that can carry Limerick over the line.

Galway’s giants

Galway come into Saturday night the hottest of favourites against a rejuvenated Clare, back in Croke Park for the first time in five years. The Tribesmen looked imperious in the first half of their Leinster final replay against Kilkenny. That Galway win the All-Ireland, no question.

While much is made of the champions’ impressive physique, there is so much more to them. Any team that can drop Conor Cooney is stocked. But their hurling is also breathtaking at times, as it was when they racked up 1-15 in the first half an hour against the Cats. Glynn, Whelan, Cathal Mannion and Joseph Cooney are some compliment to ‘Joe’.

But there is always hope for the Banner. For starters they offer a much different proposition than anything Galway will have faced in the last year or so. Tony Kelly, Podge Collins and Shane O’Donnell are just three with the X-factor. If on their game, their pace and the space of Croke Park can cause Galway some problems.

We like to think that Clare take off when they get to Dublin. This team did so in 2013 and were a revelation at HQ. It is huge for the county that the senior hurlers are back in Croke Park. It is massive for the team also. There will be 50,000 on hand and more than half will be shouting for Clare.

We’re not a match physically for Galway, nor can we compete with their aerial ability, but there is a quiet confidence that Clare will deliver a performance based on some of their strengths. Do that and we’re in the match. The longer we are in it, the more we will believe. So we have a shot and it isn’t as long as the bookies think.

Common sense must prevail however, it suggests that the Galway forwards, if in the mood, will be too much for Clare. But this semi-final will entertain. It could be unforgettable!

Between the pair of games there will be well in excess of 110,000 spectators going through the hallowed turnstiles on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Many, like myself, will be counted twice. If only every weekend was like this.