Deadly and dithery Cork make Munster final

For Nicky English, the last weekend of hurling’s provincial round robins proved to be a bit on the underwhelming side, not helped by two of the games being dead rubbers. He was, though, impressed by Galway, but he still has his doubts about Cork. Did their performance against Waterford “answer the file of queries raised by the disintegration in Limerick? No, absolutely not”.

Cork were, writes Denis Walsh, “slick and sloppy and deadly and dithery”, in keeping with “their bipolar performances in the championship” thus far, but job done, they’re through to the Munster final where they’ll get another crack at Limerick. They’ll need to work on their accuracy, though. “The scores we missed were brutal, for want of a better word,” as their manager Pat Ryan put it after the game.

An understrength Limerick lost to Clare, but it was too little too late for the All-Ireland champions, they were already out, but Galway booked their slot in the Leinster final, Seán Moran at Parnell Park to see them pick up their first away win against Dublin in the championship. Up next for Galway is Kilkenny who lost to Wexford in one of those dead rubbers, while Offaly retained their Leinster SHC status with a jittery win over Antrim.

In football, Monaghan brought newly crowned Leinster champions Louth crashing back down to earth in Newbridge, while Donegal had their bubble burst by Tyrone in Ballybofey. Armagh eased some of the pain of their Ulster final defeat by getting the better of Derry, while Meath bounced back too from their Leinster final loss by beating Cork in Navan. And on the women’s side, Galway and Kerry retained their provincial titles with victories over Mayo and Waterford, respectively.

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In soccer, Ken Early reflects on the Premier League campaign just ended. So much for it being “the season of the underdog” – “in the end the top five had a reassuringly familiar composition: two American-owned sports-groups, two clubs owned by Gulf states, and whatever the hell Chelsea are.” We also look back on how the Irish fared on “a weekend marked by joy for some and heartbreak for others”, no one experiencing more joy than Katie McCabe after Arsenal’s Champions League triumph over Barcelona.

In rugby, Gerry Thornley reports on Bordeaux Bègles’ Champions Cup triumph over Northampton Saints, hearing from their assistant coach Noel McNamara after the game, his CV looking “increasingly impressive”.

Declan Kelly has a heck of a CV too: “From Tipp to Salford via Wall Street.” Denis Walsh traces his remarkable career, the latest chapter his involvement in Salford City, the League Two side that was famously owned by Manchester United’s Class of ’92.

TV Watch: Tennis fans will be in heaven, it’s French Open time, TNT Sports bringing an entire 13 hours of coverage from Roland Garros today (from 10am). In the afternoon, TG4 has horse racing from Ballinrobe (4.15pm) and later, they have highlights from the GAA weekend (8pm).