Saturday
All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals
Clare v Dublin, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 4.0 [Live on RTÉ2] – On one level, Clare enter this in better shape than last year’s quarter-final when they were still wheezing from the prolonged Munster final and made heavy weather of Wexford – who were missing a key forward. This time around, there isn’t the same physical fatigue as extra time was avoided mainly due to referee Liam Gordon not awarding a free but also Clare’s own wastefulness. So that’s to their advantage.
Otherwise, there are issues. The match wasn’t as operatic a spectacle as last year but neither did they play as well. Tony Kelly wasn’t in the same sort of zone although he also missed frees in Thurles a year ago and the failure to take scores that could have bettered the one-point defeat must have frustrated manager Brian Lohan.
Elsewhere Conor Cleary’s injury left them exposed against Limerick and he hasn’t recovered but Seadna Morey who did well when he came on, is named to start. Aidan McCarthy has had no luck and having returned this season after a serious leg injury and impressed, he has been troubled with different ailments and misses out this weekend.
He wasn’t there last year but had been a significant addition when fully fit.
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Dublin have some concerns about top scorer Dónal Burke’s fitness but he proved accurate on frees last week against Carlow and they will be hoping he can bring a bit more from play.
[ GAA fixtures, TV details and team news ahead of the weekendOpens in new window ]
Under Micheál Donoghue, Dublin have freshened the playing stock and improved, being competitive against Kilkenny and well placed to beat Galway before falling away and having to settle for a draw. They beat Wexford as well, so it hasn’t been a bad campaign against the top counties in the province.
This is sure to be more testing again. Carlow showed in the first half of the preliminary quarter-final that Dublin can be hustled when playing out from the back and this weekend’s opponents will bring that pressure.
Dublin’s athleticism and pace can bother teams but and their tendency to tune out of matches can be costly. Clare are well-placed to counter those virtues and exploit the lapses. Verdict: Clare
Galway v Tipperary, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 6.15 [Live on RTÉ2] – This has been an amazingly rich fixture this century, a succession of almost unfailingly narrow margins and exhilarating contests. Once again, they are well matched and the consensus is that either can win.
There would have been more force to Tipp’s first season under Liam Cahill had they reached a Munster final rather than fizzling out against Waterford but twice, All-Ireland champions have concluded their provincial campaign with heavy defeats in the round robin, Limerick in 2018 and Tipperary a year later.
An unexpected reverse – or unexpectedly severe – can function as a reset for a team and Tipp are in a good position to do this given the players who have come back on board since losing to Waterford. Primarily, Jason Forde’s return is welcome news and affirmation of the team’s ability to function in a couple of high-intensity matches in his absence.
He and Jake Morris, another influential forward, returned for then turkey shoot against Offaly whereas Cathal Barrett, their most effective man marker, is listed to start this weekend.
That too is welcome because Galway could do a decent job of in football parlance ‘mirroring’ Tipp with their similar proclivities for high-octane attacking and highly permeable defence.
Would the view of Galway be rosier had they not conceded that daft goal at the end of the Leinster final? Possibly in that they would be happier with themselves, having finally landed a bit of silverware but the good things they did still count.
Riddled with Kilkenny goals, as they tried to get on top of the match, they persevered and with seconds left, had apparently bent the champions to their will with Conor Whelan exceptional and Kevin Cooney as good as we’ve seen. Brian Concannon scored well and Evan Niland continued to deliver.
Were they to replicate that form and not contrive to lose in the dying seconds, it wouldn’t be a big surprise but Tipperary also have great firepower and use it to get goals whereas Galway were in difficulties because they concede too many.
They have however, developed a bad habit of losing the initiative in matches and that has proved costly.
It’s also a statistic that over the 36 years and 15 matches of the modern rivalry between then counties, neither has ever won three in succession. Galway have won the last two. Ergo? Verdict: Tipperary
