Saturday
All-Ireland SHC Round 1: Clare v Laois
Throw-in: 1.15pm. Venue: UPMC Nowlan Park. On TV: Live on GAAGo. Referee: Thomas Walsh (Wicklow).
Brian Lohan shuffles the deck for this with four changes from the side overpowered by Limerick in the second half. Aidan McCarthy’s recovery from a broken thumb adds some presence and athleticism to the team. They should negotiate this straightforwardly, as Laois looked very inhibited against Dublin and will find Clare equally hard to shift – never mind keep an eye on Tony Kelly and Shane O’Donnell up front.
Team news: Clare manager Brian Lohan has changed his team, bringing in Paul Flanagan and Colin Guilfoyle for debuts and recalling Aidan McCarthy after a broken thumb as well as Aron Shanagher.
Opposing manager Eddie Brennan recalls All Star nominee Jack Kelly as well as last year’s top scorer Mark Kavanagh, who is recovering from injury, in place of Ronan Broderick and James Ryan, who started the Leinster quarter-final defeat against Dublin.
Clare: Eibhear Quilligan; Rory Hayes, Conor Cleary, Paul Flanagan; Stephen O'Halloran, Aidan McCarthy, Séadna Morey; David McInerney, Tony Kelly; Cathal Malone, David Reidy, Colin Guilfoyle; Shane O'Donnell, Aron Shanagher, Ryan Taylor.
Laois: Enda Rowland; Lee Cleere, Sean Downey, Donnchadh Hartnett; Jack Kelly, Padraig Delaney, Ryan Mullaney; Fiachra C Fennell, Patrick Purcell; Aaron Dunphy, Willie Dunphy, James Keyes; Mark Kavanagh, Ross King, Stephen Maher.
Verdict: Clare.
All-Ireland SHC Round 1: Cork v Dublin
Throw-in: 3.45pm. Venue: Semple Stadium. On TV: Live on Sky Sports Mix. Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow).
The statistics tell us that Dublin haven’t beaten Cork in championship since 1927 and even that was a galactico team with no Dubliners and mostly comprised of gardaí from other counties conveniently serving in the city that year. Back in the - ahem - real world, Cork were very poor in Thurles last week, evincing no signs that Kieran Kingston’s resumption of management duties had whipped them into shape whereas Dublin, if flattered by the scale of the epic comeback against Kilkenny, at least stopped behaving like rabbits in oncoming headlights. They have the physical presence in the middle third to put Cork under pressure and with Donal Burke in prolific form, they’re scoring well. The problem is that we can almost guarantee a Cork rebound and, whereas that won’t turn them into contenders, it should carry them through this provided they don’t allow Dublin to get a run on the match.
Team news: Cork show five changes from the team that lost disappointingly to Waterford in last week's Munster semi-final. Out go Seán O'Leary-Hayes, Chris Joyce, Conor Lehane, Daire Connery and the injured Alan Cadogan.
Colm Spillane returns to the full-back line, Luke Meade is named at centrefield, Robbie O’Flynn is back from suspension, Jack O’Connor, who came on in the Waterford match starts at corner forward and Declan Dalton, another replacement then, is chosen at full-forward.
Mattie Kenny’s Dublin make two changes to the team that started badly against Kilkenny before wiping out a 16-point deficit only to lose in injury time. In the full forwards, Ronan Hayes returns and Eamon Dillon starts after two high-profile contributions off the bench against Laois and again last week.
Cork: Anthony Nash; Damien Cahalane, Colm Spillane, Seán O'Donoghue; Tim O'Mahony, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Bill Cooper, Luke Meade; Séamus Harnedy, Shane Kingston, Robbie O'Flynn; Jack O'Connor, Declan Dalton, Patrick Horgan.
Dublin: Alan Nolan; Paddy Smith, Eoghan O'Donnell, James Madden; Conor Burke, Daire Gray, Cian O'Callaghan; Seán Moran, Riain McBride; Cian Boland, Chris Crummey (capt), Danny Sutcliffe; Donal Burke, Ronan Hayes, Eamon Dillon.
Verdict: Cork.
