Lester Ryan’s performance at midfield against Galway yesterday has given stand-in managers Martin Fogarty and Michael Dempsey plenty of food for thought ahead of the Allianz National Hurling League final against Tipperary on 5 May.
Even when the Cats were not going well early in the season, Ryan was motoring along at a steady pace. And the Clara man has now put his hand up for a summer championship place with his marauding display in Thurles.
He picked off three points from midfield and sent in the long ball that allowed Colin Fennelly to pounce for Kilkenny’s crucial second half goal. Typical of a Kilkenny midfielder, Ryan is well able to get around the field, dropping back to assist his half-back line while also carrying an attacking and scoring threat at the other end.
Dempsey admitted: “He (Ryan) was good and it’s great to see a young guy coming in and playing with such confidence and such work-rate.”
Ryan dovetailed superbly with Michael Rice in the Galway match, with Cillian Buckley’s return to fitness following injury emerging as another major positive for Brian Cody’s All-Ireland champions. And with Dempsey revealing afterwards that Michael Fennelly could also be fit for the Division 1 final, Kilkenny could have the option of picking from two from four top class midfielders.
The centre-field pairing that Kilkenny eventually plump for will make for interesting reading and the Noresiders also have the option of placing two of the four in the half-forward line, if needs be.
2. The areas that need attention for Galway
A number of Galway weaknesses were exposed against Kilkenny, raising long-term concerns about their ability to go one step further this year by landing the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Kevin Hynes is an extremely game and committed full-back but Richie Hogan provided him with so many problems when he slipped into full-forward. Galway boss Anthony Cunningham will have noted but so too will Brian Cody as he watched on TV. Full-back remains an area of concern for Galway and Kilkenny now know that Hogan can cause big problems for Hynes on the edge of the square.
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That’s extremely valuable information ahead of the championship as it’s almost certain that last year’s All-Ireland finalists will meet at some point, either in Leinster or later in the All-Ireland series. At the other end, Joe Canning scored eight points for Galway – but the Portumna superstar was held scoreless from play.
And with Canning failing to impose himself on the game from general play, the rest of the Galway attack failed to function. Cyril Donnellan scored 1-3 from play and that was a most noble effort on the day, while Damien Hayes buzzed to good effect and picked off a point.
But David Burke, Canning, Davy Glennon and Conor Cooney did not raise a flag between them and Galway need these players to step up to the mark in the heat of championship battle.
3. Tipperary are Kilkenny’s biggest threat again
So far, Eamon O’Shea has tried to downplay Tipperary’s progress throughout the season. He’s urged supporters to judge his team later in the year and while he’s right, expectation levels are now rising at a rate of knots in the Premier County.
Dublin provided feeble resistance but there were signs of the brilliant movement that was a hallmark of Tipp’s play when O’Shea was coach from 2008-10. Even without Eoin Kelly, Gearoid Ryan, John O’Dwyer, John O’Brien and Brian O’Meara, Tipp still had more than enough firepower to clinically dismiss Dublin.
Throw in another player alongside that quintet and you have a second forward line to choose from. The strength in depth in O’Shea’s squad is impressive and the way he shuffled his pack on Sunday showed how sharp his mind is. O’Shea knows that Paul Curran can do a job at full-back but now he’s sure that Conor O’Mahony can do. He’s also safe in the knowledge that Brendan Maher can operate in the half-back line or at midfield and Noel McGrath can drift seamlessly between midfield and attack.
O’Shea has a myriad of options at his disposal and not only does he have a plan A, he has plans B, C and D to call upon if required.
And now, he’s faced with the enviable job of picking a starting 15 for the trip to Nowlan Park. That’s another test of Tipp’s credentials and O’Shea, who targeted League success this year, will demand further improvement.
4. Next year’s League system requires urgent review
The massive gulf in class between Divisions 1A and 1B of the Allianz National Hurling League was cruelly exposed as Tipperary obliterated Dublin. Tipp finished top of 1A and Dublin won the Division 1B title but 15 points separated the sides at the final whistle.
And the routine nature of Tipp’s victory should set alarm bells ringing in Limerick, who are the Premier County’s Munster SHC opponents on 9 June. If Tipp can beat Dublin by 15 points, what does that say about beaten Division 1B finalists Limerick? Of course, League and championship mindsets and pace are chalk and cheese but Dublin had nothing to lose last Sunday and could have had a real go at Tipp.
After all, they had already achieved promotion to Division 1A and this was bonus territory for the Sky Blues.
‘Throw off the shackles and have a cut’ was Anthony Daly’s midweek mantra to his players but they flopped in spectacular fashion and fell to another heavy defeat against top-class opposition.
Dublin appear to have slipped badly since their 2011 League success and the loss of Tomás Brady to the footballers hasn’t helped a porous defence. But in an overall context, the bigger issue is how the top four in Division 1B are going to cope against the Division 1A’s leading four in next year’s quarter-finals.
On yesterday’s evidence, the potential consequences for hurling’s emerging teams don’t bear thinking about.
5. An interesting Cadbury Munster U21 football championship final is in store
As two counties with strong underage records, it’s remarkable to think that Galway and Cork have not contested an All-Ireland U21 football final since 1989. Cork, who lead the way in the all-time roll of honour with eleven titles, edged the last final meeting between the sides by just a single point.
The Rebels are back in a first U21 decider since beating Down in 2009 while Galway will contest their second final in three seasons. Two years ago, they beat Cavan by 10 points and while they kicked some wonderful scores against Kildare in last Saturday’s semi-final, the Lilywhites shot themselves in the foot by registering almost 20 wides.
The worry for boss John Cleary is the concession of a six-point lead as Cavan drew level late on. Dan MacEoin’s late point settled it – as Enda Reilly missed a free that would have taken the game into extra-time.
5 things we learned from the weekend's GAA action
1. Kilkenny’s midfield options
Lester Ryan’s performance at midfield against Galway yesterday has given stand-in managers Martin Fogarty and Michael Dempsey plenty of food for thought ahead of the Allianz National Hurling League final against Tipperary on 5 May.
Even when the Cats were not going well early in the season, Ryan was motoring along at a steady pace. And the Clara man has now put his hand up for a summer championship place with his marauding display in Thurles.
He picked off three points from midfield and sent in the long ball that allowed Colin Fennelly to pounce for Kilkenny’s crucial second half goal. Typical of a Kilkenny midfielder, Ryan is well able to get around the field, dropping back to assist his half-back line while also carrying an attacking and scoring threat at the other end.
Dempsey admitted: “He (Ryan) was good and it’s great to see a young guy coming in and playing with such confidence and such work-rate.”
Ryan dovetailed superbly with Michael Rice in the Galway match, with Cillian Buckley’s return to fitness following injury emerging as another major positive for Brian Cody’s All-Ireland champions. And with Dempsey revealing afterwards that Michael Fennelly could also be fit for the Division 1 final, Kilkenny could have the option of picking from two from four top class midfielders.
The centre-field pairing that Kilkenny eventually plump for will make for interesting reading and the Noresiders also have the option of placing two of the four in the half-forward line, if needs be.
2. The areas that need attention for Galway
A number of Galway weaknesses were exposed against Kilkenny, raising long-term concerns about their ability to go one step further this year by landing the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Kevin Hynes is an extremely game and committed full-back but Richie Hogan provided him with so many problems when he slipped into full-forward. Galway boss Anthony Cunningham will have noted but so too will Brian Cody as he watched on TV. Full-back remains an area of concern for Galway and Kilkenny now know that Hogan can cause big problems for Hynes on the edge of the square.
That’s extremely valuable information ahead of the championship as it’s almost certain that last year’s All-Ireland finalists will meet at some point, either in Leinster or later in the All-Ireland series. At the other end, Joe Canning scored eight points for Galway – but the Portumna superstar was held scoreless from play.
And with Canning failing to impose himself on the game from general play, the rest of the Galway attack failed to function. Cyril Donnellan scored 1-3 from play and that was a most noble effort on the day, while Damien Hayes buzzed to good effect and picked off a point.
But David Burke, Canning, Davy Glennon and Conor Cooney did not raise a flag between them and Galway need these players to step up to the mark in the heat of championship battle.
3. Tipperary are Kilkenny’s biggest threat again
So far, Eamon O’Shea has tried to downplay Tipperary’s progress throughout the season. He’s urged supporters to judge his team later in the year and while he’s right, expectation levels are now rising at a rate of knots in the Premier County.
Dublin provided feeble resistance but there were signs of the brilliant movement that was a hallmark of Tipp’s play when O’Shea was coach from 2008-10. Even without Eoin Kelly, Gearoid Ryan, John O’Dwyer, John O’Brien and Brian O’Meara, Tipp still had more than enough firepower to clinically dismiss Dublin.
Throw in another player alongside that quintet and you have a second forward line to choose from. The strength in depth in O’Shea’s squad is impressive and the way he shuffled his pack on Sunday showed how sharp his mind is. O’Shea knows that Paul Curran can do a job at full-back but now he’s sure that Conor O’Mahony can do. He’s also safe in the knowledge that Brendan Maher can operate in the half-back line or at midfield and Noel McGrath can drift seamlessly between midfield and attack.
O’Shea has a myriad of options at his disposal and not only does he have a plan A, he has plans B, C and D to call upon if required.
And now, he’s faced with the enviable job of picking a starting 15 for the trip to Nowlan Park. That’s another test of Tipp’s credentials and O’Shea, who targeted League success this year, will demand further improvement.
(©INPHO/Cathal Noonan)
4. Next year’s League system requires urgent review
The massive gulf in class between Divisions 1A and 1B of the Allianz National Hurling League was cruelly exposed as Tipperary obliterated Dublin. Tipp finished top of 1A and Dublin won the Division 1B title but 15 points separated the sides at the final whistle.
And the routine nature of Tipp’s victory should set alarm bells ringing in Limerick, who are the Premier County’s Munster SHC opponents on 9 June. If Tipp can beat Dublin by 15 points, what does that say about beaten Division 1B finalists Limerick? Of course, League and championship mindsets and pace are chalk and cheese but Dublin had nothing to lose last Sunday and could have had a real go at Tipp.
After all, they had already achieved promotion to Division 1A and this was bonus territory for the Sky Blues.
Dublin appear to have slipped badly since their 2011 League success and the loss of Tomás Brady to the footballers hasn’t helped a porous defence. But in an overall context, the bigger issue is how the top four in Division 1B are going to cope against the Division 1A’s leading four in next year’s quarter-finals.
On yesterday’s evidence, the potential consequences for hurling’s emerging teams don’t bear thinking about.
5. An interesting Cadbury Munster U21 football championship final is in store
As two counties with strong underage records, it’s remarkable to think that Galway and Cork have not contested an All-Ireland U21 football final since 1989. Cork, who lead the way in the all-time roll of honour with eleven titles, edged the last final meeting between the sides by just a single point.
The Rebels are back in a first U21 decider since beating Down in 2009 while Galway will contest their second final in three seasons. Two years ago, they beat Cavan by 10 points and while they kicked some wonderful scores against Kildare in last Saturday’s semi-final, the Lilywhites shot themselves in the foot by registering almost 20 wides.
Cork won’t be as profligate in front of goal and the Leesiders, three-in-a-row Munster champions, showed true grit as they edged past Cavan at the weekend.
The worry for boss John Cleary is the concession of a six-point lead as Cavan drew level late on. Dan MacEoin’s late point settled it – as Enda Reilly missed a free that would have taken the game into extra-time.
HL Division 1 semi-final: Dublin have no answer as Tipp fly out of traps
HL Division 1 semi-final: Kilkenny school Galway at Semple Stadium
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