Welcome along to today’s hurling coverage, we’re building up to the 3.45pm throw-in times for the following showdowns:
Allianz Hurling League
Quarter-finals
Wexford v Waterford, Wexford Park, 3.45pm
Clare v Tipperary, Cusack Park, Ennis, 3.45pm
Kilkenny v Offaly, Nowlan Park, 3.45pm
Relegation playoff
Galway v Cork, Pearse Stadium, 3.45pm
Before all those games, we can take a look back at last night’s key hurling action.
- Limerick booked their place at the semi-final stage of Division 1 with victory over Dublin.
- And after the victory, Limerick manager TJ Ryan took aim at the critics of his side.
- A good win for the Kerry hurlers over Laois as they ensured they’ll be playing in Division 1B of the league next season.
Some team news then. Here’s the sides named to start in Ennis.
Tipperary
1. Darragh Mooney – Éire Óg Annacarty
2. Cathal Barrett – Holycross-Ballycahill
3. James Barry – Upperchurch-Drombane
4. Conor O’Brien – Éire Óg Annacarty
5. Barry Heffernan – Nenagh Éire Óg
6. Ronan Maher – Thurles Sarsfields
7. Padraic Maher – Thurles Sarsfields
8. Brendan Maher (Capt.) – Borris-Ileigh
9. Michael Breen – Ballina
10. Noel McGrath – Loughmore-Castleiney
11. Dan McCormack – Borris-Ileigh
12. Niall O’Meara – Kilruane MacDonaghs
13. John O’Dwyer – Killenaule
14. Seamus Callanan – Drom & Inch
15. John McGrath – Loughmore-Castleiney
Clare
1) Patrick Kelly (Inagh-Kilnamona)
2) Ciaran O’Doherty (Crusheen)
3) Cian Dillon, Captain (Crusheen)
4) Paul Flanagan (Ballyea)
5) Brendan Bugler (Whitegate)
6) Conor Cleary (St Josephs Miltown/Kilmaley)
7) Pat O’Connor (Tubber)
8) David Reidy (Éire Óg)
9) Conor Ryan (Cratloe)
10) Aaron Cunningham (Wolfe Tones na Sionna)
11) Bobby Duggan (Clarecastle)
12) John Conlon (Clonlara)
13) Colm Galvin (Clonlara)
14) Darach Honan (Clonlara)
15) Conor McGrath (Cratloe)
The Kilkenny and Offaly sides that will do battle.
Kilkenny
1. Eoin Murphy (Glenmore)
2. Paul Murphy (Danesfort)
3. Robert Lennon (Bennettsbridge)
4. Shane Prendergast (Clara)
5. Conor O’Shea (Clara)
6. Kieran Joyce (Rower-Inistioge)
7. Cillian Buckley (Dicksboro)
8. Michael Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
9. Lester Ryan (Clara)
10. Walter Walsh (Tullogher-Rosbercon)
11. Colin Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
12. Kevin Kelly (St Patricks)
13. Liam Blanchfield (Bennettsbridge)
14. Jonjo Farrell (Thomastown)
23. John Power (Carrickshock)
Offaly
1. James Dempsey (Kinnitty)
2. Niall Wynne (St Rynaghs)
3. Dermot Shortt (St Rynaghs)
4. Chris McDonald (Brosna Gaels)
5. Pat Camon (St Rynaghs)
6. Conor Doughan (Shinrone)
7. Dermot Mooney (Seir Kieran)
8. Sean Ryan (Birr)
9. Kevin Connolly (Coolderry)
10. Padraig Guinan (Drumcullen)
11. Colin Egan (capt – Belmont)
12. Shane Kinsella (Kinnitty)
13. Shane Dooley (Tullamore)
14. Joe Bergin (Seir Kieran)
15. James Mulrooney (Seir Kieran)
Anthony Nash is back for Cork as the Rebels make six changes for the trip to Salthill.
Cork
1. Anthony Nash (Kanturk)
2. Damian Cahalane (St Finbarrs)
3. Stephen McDonnell (Glen Rovers) Captain
4. Conor O’Sullivan (Sarsfield)
5. Cormac Murphy (Mallow)
6. Christoper Joyce (Na Piarsaigh)
7. Lorcán Mcloughlin (Kanturk)
8. William Egan (Kilbrin)
9. Daniel Kearney (Sarsfield)
10. Brian Lawton (Castlemartyr)
11. Conor Lehane (Midleton)
12. Bill Cooper (Youghal)
13. Alan Cadogan (Douglas)
14. Seamus Harnedy (St Ita’s)
15. Patrick Horgan (Glen Rovers)
And here’s how they’ll line up at Innovate Wexford Park.
Wexford
1. Conor O’Leary (Oulart The Ballagh)
2. Liam Ryan (Rapparees)
3. Matthew O’Hanlon ( St James)
4. James Breen (Adamstown)
5. Eoin Moore (Oulart The Ballagh)
6. Paudie Foley (Crossabeg / Ballymurn)
7. Jack O’Connor (St Martin’s)
8. Lee Chin (Faythe Harriers)
9. Harry Kehoe (Cloughbawn)
10. Shane Tomkins (Askamore / Kilrush)
11. Podge Doran (Oylegate / Glenbrien)
12. Aidan Nolan (Halfway House / Bunclody)
13. Paul Morris (Ferns St Aidan’s)
14. Conor McDonald (Naomh Eanna)
15. Liam Og McGovern (St Anne’s)
Waterford
1. Stephen O’Keeffe (Ballygunner)
2. Shane Fives (Tourin)
3. Barry Coughlan (Ballygunner)
4. Noel Connors (Passage)
5. Tadhg de Burca (Clashmore/Kinsalebeg)
6. Austin Gleeson (Mount Sion)
7. Philip Mahony (Ballygunner)
8. Jamie Barron (Fourmilewater)
21. Maurice Shanahan (Lismore)
10. Kevin Moran (De La Salle)
11. Shane Bennett (Ballysaggart)
12. Michael Walsh (Stradbally)
13. Patrick Curran (Dungarvan)
14. Jake Dillon (De La Salle)
15. Colin Dunford (Colligan)
Hurling set to take centre stage now for the rest of the afternoon after the conclusion of the football ties.
Wexford 0-7 Waterford 0-1
17 mins – The home side have exploded out of the blocks, Ian Byrne with their latest point.
Clare 0-1 Tipperary 0-0
4 mins – Colm Galvin with the opening point of the day in Ennis.
Tyrone and Cavan promoted to Division 1
Wexford 0-8 Waterford 0-4
23 mins – Philip Mahony point for the Deise, cuts the gap to four.
Clare 0-2 Tipperary 0-2
14 mins – Fine John McGrath point and the teams are level again.
http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0403/779177-division-4-fl-round-up/
Kilkenny 1-5 Offaly 0-0
13 mins – All Kilkenny in the early stages with Kevin Kelly just after firing home a goal.
Goal for Clare from John Conlon!
Clare 1-3 Tipperary 0-2
20 mins – Clare in flying form now as Darach Honan bags a point.
Clare 1-6 Tipperary 0-3
24 mins – Six point lead for the Banner now thanks to a Honan point.
Second goal for Kilkenny from Colin Fennelly.
Kilkenny 2-9 Offaly 0-1
25 mins – Kilkenny in cruise control as Colin Fennelly finds the net.
Cork 0-13 Galway 0-10
26 mins – Three point lead in a high-scoring affair in Salthill.
Clare 1-6 Tipperary 0-7
28 mins – Ronan Maher hits Tipp’s fourth point on the bounce.
Half-Time: Clare 1-7 Tipperary 0-8
Half-Time: Wexford 0-9 Waterford 0-8
Half-Time: Cork 0-14 Galway 0-13
Half-Time: Kilkenny 2-11 Offaly 0-5
Wexford 0-11 Waterford 0-11
44 mins – All square thanks to a point from Wexford’s Harry Kehoe.
Waterford 0-14 Wexford 0-12
51 mins – Maurice Shanahan points to send Waterford two clear.
Goal for Kilkenny from Colin Fennelly!
Clare 1-7 Tipperary 0-9
45 mins – Michael Breen points to just leave one between them.
Goal for Kilkenny from John Power.
Kilkenny 4-12 Offaly 0-10
45 mins – Kilkenny are not relinquishing their firm grip on this match.
Clare 1-8 Tipperary 0-9
47 mins – Cathal O’Connell knocks over a free for the Banner.
Galway 0-18 Cork 0-17
45 mins – Galway ahead for the first time thanks to a point by Joe Canning from a free.
Clare 1-9 Tipperary 0-11
49 mins – Conor McGrath and Padraic Maher swap points in Ennis.
Clare 1-8 Tipperary 0-10
48 mins – Back to a one-point game as Noel McGrath points.
Galway 0-18 Cork 0-18
47 mins – Conor Lehane levels it in Salthill.
Goal for Wexford!
Waterford 0-17 Wexford 1-13
69 mins – Maurice Shanahan restores Waterford’s advantage.
Tipperary 0-14 Clare 1-11
56 mins – Conor McGrath splits the posts with a point for Clare.
Tipperary 0-14 Clare 1-10
55 mins – Point by the brilliant John McGrath sends Tipperary in front by two before Darach Honan hits back with a point for Clare.
Galway 0-22 Cork 0-19
56 mins – Canning creates a three-point advantage for Galway.
Tipperary 0-15 Clare 1-11
58 mins – John McGrath with his fifth point of the day for Tipperary, could well have been a goal though.
Full-Time:Waterford 0-17 Wexford 1-13
Tipperary 0-16 Clare 1-11
59 mins – Super run forward by Brendan Maher sets up John McGrath for yet another point.
It’ll be Waterford against Limerick in one of the Division 1 hurling league semi-finals.
Goal for Cork from Seamus Harnedy
Fifth goal for Kilkenny from Jonjo Farrell.
Tipperary 0-17 Clare 1-12
65 mins – Cathal O’Connell picks off a lovely point for Clare from a free.
Goal for Clare from Aaron Shanagher!
Cork 1-22 Galway 0-24
65 mins – Narrow lead for Cork as both sides battle furiously to avoid the drop.
Clare 2-12 Tipperary 0-17
66 mins – What an impact by the sub from Wolfe Tones! Shanagher fields a Honan delivery, charges through and keeps his composure to finish to the net.
Cork 2-22 Galway 0-24
68 mins – Cork may be on course to avoid relegation, huge score.
Goal for Cork!
Full-Time: Clare 2-13 Tipperary 0-18
Full-Time: Cork 2-22 Galway 0-25
So Kilkenny will face Clare in the league semi-final, Cork are safe in Division 1A for another year and Galway will play in Division 1B in 2017.
Full-Time: Kilkenny 6-20 Offaly 0-14.
Good piece Ciaran, sums us Mayo’s up to a tee.
It will be an epic, be it an epic fail or victory for the Red and Green.
Donegal all the way man
This study has clearly shown, that, based on the proportion of red to green thumbs, twice as many Mayo fans read the Journal than Donegal fans….time to blow the pr budget on the advertising in Donegal….
MAYO for SAM, donegal for catch!!!
we can do this… maigh eo abu… :-D
Evokes memories of childhood back home going to those galway matchs – great article! We’re just hoping they can do it, the hype of 1996/1997 has long since passed – Kerry’s cruelty in 04 & 06 put paid to that craze! Losing is unthinkable, but a rational person would have to pick Donegal to win I suppose. But maybe, just maybe Mayo are building quietly to a cresendo this year , and maybe Donegal peaked against Cork and the hype in that county is getting to the players (Apparently thousands turning up to training sessions!?). Surely that has to weigh on these players, no matter how much they’re drilled by Jimmy. Mayo have been in this situation before, hopefully that counts for something?
Am I clutching at straws? Once bitten, twice shy but F~ck it – MAYO FOR SAM!
Here is a bag of straws! :)
Last time GB won an open in the Tennis was 1936.
Andy Murray won the open in 2012.
On Sept 23rd 1936 the AI was contested between Mayo and Laois.
On Sept 23rd 2012 the AI will be contested between Mayo and Donegal.
A certain Henry Kenny (RIP) played that day, father of an Taoiseach.
Mayo came out as winners of the AI, their first. :)
Up mayo
who ever is victorious in this one, there wont be a cow milked for a month will the celebrations that will be had and many a person will be conceived because of Sam going north or west!!
Jimmy’s winning matches, Jimmy’s winning games. Donegal for Sam, Mayo for sandwiches.
Great piece Ciaran.
Maybe the famine ends Sunday?
Up Donegal!!!!!
Brighid, see ya outside coppers at about half 4 Sunday morning… I’ll have a mayo jersey on and a big smile…. I’ll take you for a snack box then we’ll had back to mine… sound??
I don’t think there has ever been a piece written that mentions St Jarlaths and Milltown so many times without mentioning John Scan Concannon …. could you not of stuck it in some how Murf ??
From a corkman, COME ON MAYO!!!!
Lmao fartbox, thanks but no thanks! Only one man for me-a Donegal one. There will be plenty of good looking Donegal dolls about coppers I’m sure. Go on Donegal ;)
“I’ve said in this column before I believe that no All-Ireland final in the 128-year history of the GAA has thrown up a pairing as emotive and unique as this one”
I dunno about that. In 1998 Galway & Kildare hadn’t won the All-Ireland in 102 years between them, compared to a mere 81 this time. That made it fairly emotional & unique. Imagine the emotion in Kildare after waiting 70 years & beating the three previous All-Ireland winners, including Micko’s win over Kerry.
The ’89 hurling final was certainly unique & emotional. It involved Tipp ending their All-Ireland famine against a team who had grown up hurling against the backdrop of the Troubles when, as Terence McNaughten said (I’m paraphrasing), walking to training with a hurl in your hand essentially put a target on your back. Wexford and Limerick were fairly into it in 1996 but that didn’t seem like such a big deal after the dam of emotion that burst in 1995. And what about the first all Munster final in 1997? Mutual loathing, the haves vs the have-nots, the country’s first taste of the back door – the lot!
What’s the big deal this time? Mayo have lost a few big games? Well boo-hoo, at least they got there. If they played in a tougher province then they’d have been culled before they got to the big stage in a lot of those years. A ratio of 3 All-Irelands from 51 Provincial titles tells it’s own story on that front. Losing some matches hardly compares to Tyrone’s emotional state in 2005.
Still, thanks for coming
Put us in a tough province then. We’ll happily go in. Or better still put the so called weaker counties in connacht, they wouldn’t have a hope of winning it. Leinster is full of weak teams and is a 2 team challenge-same as connacht. Ulster is a one county championship most of the time, or sometimes 2-same as connacht.
Munster with just cork and Kerry is the hardest province there is. So what’s your point?
When mayo get out of connacht they have to play teams from other provinces and quite often beat them. We beat the all Ireland champions 2 years in a row, is that because we have it easy?
Tomas, the Ulster Championship is far more competitive than it’s counterparts in Connacht and Leinster. It has very rarely been won by the same county back to back. Donegal made history when we lifted it this year, our 2nd is as many years, that win broke a record. That says it all.
I think throughout this season people have written off Donegal. They all said we’d never beat Tyrone and then we did, then they said we’d never beat Down and then we did, then they said we’d never beat Kerry and then we did, then they said we’d definitely get sent home by cork and we ran rings around them in the 2nd, albeit we dropped the ball towards the end, but we’ve no fear of being underdogs. We’ve spent the entire season proving the country wrong. We like a challenge and I’ve no doubt that Jim and the boys will prove everyone wrong again on Sunday. There’s only one place Sam’s going on Sunday and that’s to the fair hills of Donegal! Dún na nGáll abú!
Yeah except you’re not underdogs this time around! Its all different now, no critics to prove wrong, the weight of expectation on your shoulders. You’d nearly prefer Dublin to have something to aim at, but its Mayo, and we’re in your position now, underdogs, hungry to prove teh pundits wrong. Its going to be interesting thats for sure!
MAYO FOR SAM!