Kilkenny vs Tipperary All Ireland Qualifier 7pm Saturday
It’s amazing to think that the novel pairing of Dublin & Galway in a Leinster final has to play second fiddle to an All Ireland qualifier the previous night, but this is no ordinary qualifier. Kilkenny & Tipperary face the possibility of their earliest exit from the All Ireland series since 1996 & 1999, respectively.
It’s a rarity to see Kilkenny bossed physically, but Dublin did just that over the past two weeks, eventually bullying The Cats into submission. Dublin did to Kilkenny, what Cody’s teams have been doing for years, ferocious tackling and immense work rate. The quality of the delivery from the Kilkenny backs was questioned last weekend, but Kilkenny have always played a direct long ball game, and asked their forwards to go and win it. The quality of the balls is only now being questioned because their forwards are failing to compete in the air. Tipperary faced similar issues against Limerick, it looked like the Tipp backs were pucking the ball against a wall, such was the regularity with which it came back at them. Lar Corbett is not your typical ball winner, but his movement and pace gets him a yard and he will be a vital outlet for Brendan Cummins on Saturday evening.
The Tipperary mentality was questioned in the wake of the defeat in the Gaelic Grounds, but I think that does Limerick, who were outstanding that day, a great disservice. There is some rational in this argument, as they wilted in the last fifteen minutes, but I think this has more to do with not being allowed play, than mental fragility. Tipp need to get the ball into Noel McGrath’s hand as often as possible and he will likely line out on the 50, where he was easily Tipp’s best forward. The Tipp forward line was almost shut down en masse and it’s hard to imagine Kilkenny will be able to keep them as quiet as they were in the Gaelic Grounds.
The home comforts of Nowlan Park will offer some encouragement to the Kilkenny faithful. But I wonder have the famed intense training matches at the same venue begun to take their toll? Kilkenny have looked jaded and listless throughout the championship and need a huge improvement to trouble Tipperary. Interestingly, Dublin didn’t have to be at their absolute best to beat The Cats, highlighting just how much of a step up is required from them. Tipperary have had four weeks since their loss to Limerick in which to lick their wounds. They will be itching for championship hurling having sat idly by as hurling has lit up the Irish summer. The quick Kilkenny turnaround will go towards offsetting that home advantage.
Any team would struggle without their two best hurlers; Shefflin & Fennelly, but when those hurlers also happen to be the best hurlers in the country, the size of the task facing Kilkenny becomes even more apparent. Rumours are rife that Shefflin will be risked this weekend and I just cannot envisage a way Kilkenny can win this game without at least one of the aforementioned duo. The Kilkenny forwards are in a funk without their talisman, one goal in three games is an amazing return for a team so usually hell bent on raising the green flag. It feels like a seismic moment in Kilkenny hurling, a defeat Saturday could spell the end of an era, which makes the risking of Shefflin seem all the more likely. His participation will give Kilkenny every chance, but even still, he will have to be at his exceptional best to drag Kilkenny over the line, failing that, Tipp will advance to the next round and in the process, put their name firmly back in the reckoning for All Ireland glory.
Kerry vs Cork Munster Football Championship Final 2pm Sunday
Sunday’s Munster Final between Kerry and Cork is the most balanced of the four provincial deciders. Since the introduction of the qualifiers, it is an early summer ritual for the two to meet without the pressures of straight knockout hanging over them. The two sides have met ten times in Munster since 2005 with Kerry winning five, Cork winning three and two draws.
Those that think Sunday’s result will have an affect on either sides All Ireland credentials should take a brief scan of recent history and the correlation between success in this fixture and glory in September. Kerry’s last All Ireland win came in 2009 when they beat Cork comfortably in the final. Two months previous they lost heavily to their near rivals in a Munster Semi-Final Replay 1-17 to 0-12. That result had little bearing on a rejuvenated Kerry side come the All Ireland Final.
Cork’s most recent All Ireland success came in 2010 when they beat Down in the final. Earlier that summer they were beaten by Kerry in the Munster Semi-Final. In fact 2007 is the last time a team that has won Munster went on to win the All Ireland.
Now this is not to suggest that both teams should be aiming to lose on Sunday, if you analyse where both Cork and Kerry are coming from then it suggests quite the opposite. Kerry are only beginning the Eamonn Fitzmaurice era and thus far not much can be read into how they have performed. They had a poor league campaign dotted with excellent spells, namely their first half against Tyrone. Their two championship outings to date have been non-events, beating Tipperary by 15 points and Waterford by 26 points.
Their scoring has been impressive, averaging 29 points per championship game and already hitting the net six times. The big team news is the dropping of Kieran Donaghy, with dummy teams we cant be sure if this is the case, but were they to line out as selected it would be a forward line relying on pace to break down the Cork defence. None of James O’Donoghue, Donnchadh Walsh, Colm Cooper or Darren O’Sullivan are big men. Paul Galvin and Declan O’Sullivan add some meat to the forward line but neither will play in a target man role, so what Fitzmaurice is aiming to do is to beat Cork on the ground.
As pointed out on Off the Ball last night, Cork are also a team in a cycle of transition, with five new faces settling in to their first fifteen this season. Conor Counihan has achieved a good balance in bringing in these new players with one new face in every line besides midfield. It might seem elementary but this does take some pressure of the newcomer as he has two relatively experienced men flanking him and getting him through the 70.
Cork’s league form was indifferent and similar to Kerry they have strolled through the summer thus far. This is the first indicator for both about where they are. The strength on the Cork bench would suggest that they are in the slightly better position on Sunday, with players such as Ciaran Sheehan, Noel O’Leary, Aidan Walsh, Alan O’Connor and Donncha O’Connor all available if needed. But the bookmakers don’t see it that way with Kerry favorites at 8/11, and with home advantage in Killarney it may just be foolish to bet against them.
