Galway look ready to threaten Kilkenny’s Leinster dominance
No matter how decimated Kilkenny were by illness in the camp – and to be fair to Derek Lyng, he was very strong on not presenting it as an excuse – Galway running up 0-35 in Salthill on Saturday night is a jaw-dropping total. Kilkenny lost by 18 points. Kilkenny don’t lose matches to anybody by 18 points, much less the opposition they have routinely beaten for most of the past decade.
Even if, to use Cheltenham parlance, this doesn’t turn out to have been Kilkenny’s true running, it’s indicative of a really good spring campaign for Galway. Though they lost their first two matches, they showed up in both of them, bringing both of last year’s All-Ireland finalists down the stretch. Since then, they reeled off three wins in a row against Waterford, Offaly and Kilkenny and have given themselves a mathematical shout at least of making the league final.
That Limerick are unlikely to be in any mood to wave them through on Sunday week is neither here nor there. Micheál Donoghue has made them solid, first and foremost – they have the best defensive record in Division 1. Aaron Niland has obviously caught the eye in attack, but Rory Burke and Cillian Trayers have come into their own too.
Best of all, they have a flinty look about them for the first time in years. It’s ludicrous at this stage that Kilkenny have won every Leinster title since the start of the decade. Galway won’t beat them by 18 points in the championship but Donoghue looks like he’s building a side to challenge them, finally. – Malachy Clerkin
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Long live the Quaid dynasty
In the back of their minds Limerick must be thinking about a day without Nickie Quaid, however much they dread it. On Saturday night one of the greatest goalkeepers of this or any era made his 171st competitive appearance for Limerick, surpassing a record that his father Tommy established in 1993.
Extraordinarily, the Quaid family lineage in the Limerick goal stretches back to the 1950s when Nickie’s grandfather Jack wore the jersey. Jack’s twin brother Jim also played for Limerick, and the gap between Tommy’s retirement and Nickie’s emergence was largely filled by Nickie’s cousin Joe. Essentially, the Limerick number one jersey has been in the Quaid family for eight decades.
Limerick currently don’t seem to have a clear line of succession. Quaid will turn 37 a few days after this year’s Munster final, which doesn’t necessarily mean that this will be his last campaign. His father’s Limerick career spanned 18 seasons, and Nickie would reach that milestone next year if he was minded to do so.
At the moment, though, nobody is really pushing him for the jersey. Both of last year’s reserve goalkeepers were cut from the panel at the end of 2025, and neither of this year’s reserve goalies have appeared in the National League yet. Only three players have started every one of Limerick’s league games so far: Quaid, Aidan O’Connor and Adam English. The other two were still in primary school when Quaid made his Limerick debut in 2010.
Stephen Cluxton played until he was 44. Maybe none of this is urgent. – Denis Walsh
Clare go deep
As a player and manager, Brian Lohan has seen enough good times and bad times with Clare hurling to not get too caught up in either. Their unbeaten run through Division 1B has left them in a good place for now, although there are bigger tests to come.
Sunday’s three-point win over Wexford completed their six wins from six games, ensuring a prompt return to Division 1A and booking their place in the Division 1B final. That’s a comfortable four weeks away, set for April 4th/5th, two weeks before they begin their Munster Hurling Championship at home to Waterford.
Dublin will likely be their 1B final opponents, assuming they beat Carlow in their last game on Saturday week. That will be another timely test. All of which is the sort of schedule Lohan would have wished for ahead of those Munster showdowns to come.
Lohan spoke of other positives after Sunday’s win over Wexford, including that he’s be able to test a wide range of players over their Division 1B campaign. Mark Sheedy made his league debut in goal on Sunday and certainly looked the part, as did debut corner back Ronan Kilroy, who scored a point.
Diarmuid Stritch scored three points before coming off at half-time and has been one of the standout players of the campaign. Lohan also got to welcome back John Conlon on Sunday, in one of seven changes from the side which started the win over Carlow the previous week.
That sort of rotation afforded Lohan the chance to learn about the depth of his panel, even if their Division 1B opposition wasn’t always of the same quality they would have got in Division 1A. That’s a trade-off he’s good with, even if it leaves somethings yet unanswered.
“I suppose that’s the big question now, how will the fact that we’re not exposed to the same kind of intensity that is there is 1A, how will that affect us going forward?” Lohan said after Sunday’s win in Ennis.
“We’ll just have to see. In Division 1B it’s nearly two divisions in the one division, with the top three I suppose being the better teams, and other than that there’s a bit of a gap.
“But I think we’ve used certainly in excess of 30 players, maybe 34, 35 players in the league, and realistically you couldn’t use that many players if you were in 1A, so it’s given us an opportunity to give players game time. Because certainly you won’t win matches in 1A if you’re being that experimental.” – Ian O’Riordan
Dublin’s vital point
With 74 minutes gone of Dublin’s Division 1B fixture against Wexford in Croke Park last month, the home side trailed by one point and had been reduced to 13 men. For the second consecutive season, Dublin’s promotion push was about to come undone.
On the sideline, Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin and his Wexford counterpart Keith Rossiter were squaring up and roaring sweet nothings at each other. It had become chaotic. With the seconds ticking away, Dublin looked all at sea. But then Dublin captain Chris Crummey brilliantly won a dropping ball inside, turned and flicked over an equaliser. It was a score that changed everything.
With the momentum of earning a draw behind them, Dublin have since beaten both Antrim (1-31 to 1-16) and Down (6-32 to 0-18) to all but secure second place in the division. After the draw at Croke Park, both Dublin and Wexford had the same scoring difference, but two games on and the Dubs now hold a 49-point advantage in terms of scoring difference over Rossiter’s men – +59 to Wexford’s +10 – entering the last round of games.
If they care of business against Carlow, and barring Wexford put up an incredible tally against Kildare, Dublin will be back in Division 1A. But had it not been for Crummey’s injury-time score against Wexford, nothing that has happened since would really have mattered. – Gordon Manning
Kildare earning their keep in Division 1
In many ways, Kildare have been the story of the hurling league. Their first time playing in Division 1 and they’ve taken to it with far more alacrity and purpose than a few of those more familiar with the surroundings. There’s a relegation dogfight going on and they’re having no part of it.
Sunday’s beat-down of Carlow in Newbridge secured their Division 1B status for next year with a game to spare. It means Brian Dowling’s side have beaten Carlow, Antrim and Down by an average of just under nine points a game. Division 1B has been a free-scoring bonanza but only Dublin have conceded less than them in their five games so far.
There’s even a world in which they could grab a promotion place in a fortnight. Now, it would take a wild combination of results – they’d need to beat Wexford and Carlow would need to beat Dublin – but the fact that it’s even possible is not something the prognosticators were suggesting before the league began.
Kildare have shown they’re here to stay. Whatever happens in the championship, this has been a vital step forward for them. – Malachy Clerkin
