Category: Hurling

It’s probably only right that Galway and Dublin will have to do it all over again. Neither side really got going and it seems correct that neither side will be dumped out of a provincial championship without at least showing up for their first match.

Elsewhere, what the hell happened to Kildare?! Whatever it was, they fall to 15th in the rankings with Kerry rising to 11th after their massacre in Newbridge – making it clear now that they fully merit a spot in the Liam MacCarthy Cup assuming they win against Derry on Saturday. More of that on Thursday.

Though the Munster championship is far the one with the greater place in the public heart, the ‘catch all’ championship in Leinster is worth a particular look this year. The structure of the draw means Kilkenny get the ‘softer’ semi-final against either Wexford or Westmeath, but the other side – Dublin/Galway versus Offaly/Laois – could also throw up its own healthy fixtures.

Leinster SHC quarter-final

Dublin (6th, 1914) v. Galway (7th, 1858)
Sixth plays seventh in one of the closest games we’ll see in the provincial championships this weekend. It’ll be one of a Croke Park double-header which means the home venue advantage is particularly profound – there’ll be a decent crowd in Headquarters hoping for a sky blue Sunday. Galway are always on the cusp of something decent but (2012 aside) never seem to get any closer to the precipice. The Dubs are 67.2% favoured to make it into a semi-final. Continue reading Hurling preview: Is the West Awake?

It’s one of the curiosities of Irish sport that the nation’s favourite sporting competition consists only of four matches – but such is the magic of the Munster senior hurling championship that it more than merits its special place in the Irish sporting psyche. Every game – literally, every game – is an epic.

But the clash of Clare and Limerick isn’t the only clash this weekend (it isn’t even the only clash between Clare and Limerick this weekend – though in football the Banner get home draw, so the Semple Stadium hurling clash is not a double header). There’s two make-or-break Leinster clashes, four lower-tier quarter-finals, two lower-tier relegation games, and two critical games in the Lory Meagher Cup.

So let’s get to it… Continue reading Hurling preview: A Monster quarter-final

After a week where all three reigning champions were beaten, this weekend the two competing champions both came out on top. Kildare got their Christy Ring campaign back on track by disposing of Mayo, while Warwickshire won in Sligo.

Despite there being six games this weekend, the overall standings in the Elo ratings are exactly as they were on Friday.

Leinster’s taking a week off this week, so the only hurling action is in the lower-tier competitions, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a decent dollop of subplots and storylines to keep fans amused.

For many of the sides involved this weekend, it’s do-or-die: lose on Saturday and it’s back to club hurling for the reason of the year.

Continue reading Hurling preview: I Walk the Line

 

It’s almost as if the Kildare hurlers are following the lead of their footballing counterparts. After a spring where their naturally talented athletes continually failed to deliver with the big ball, the Lilywhite hurlers are now facing a surprisingly early exit from the Christy Ring Cup of which they are the incumbent champions.

We remarked ahead of their visit to Ruislip that the home side would get a significant advantage from their home venue – but conversely expected that taking a replay to Newbridge would suit the champions to get the job done and progress onwards. That was not to be the case, and now Kildare find themselves with only one chance left to salvage their silverware. They travel away to face Mayo – a game where they ought to be strong favourites, but we’ve said that about them already this year.

In the Leinster championship Antrim could not repeat their heroics from their clash with Laois – collapsing to a horrendous defeat against Westmeath, who are now safe from relegation. Westmeath will face Laois in a fortnight to decide the top two places in the round-robin stage (winner plays Offaly, loser plays Wexford; a draw leaves Westmeath on top) while Carlow and Antrim will meet to decide to decide who faces relegation (a draw will suffice for Antrim).

On the rankings front, Laois’s win over Carlow sees them jump to 11th place, over Kerry who gained comparatively little from a narrow win over Meath. Lower down, Armagh jump two places to 22nd after a strong win over Tyrone. Lancashire prop up the table after losing their inaugural outing to Fermanagh, but their strong performance suggests they’ll make hay if they can match the standard of the other sides they’ll face in the next few weeks.

We’re back on Thursday to profile the next round of games in the lower-tier championships as Leinster takes a week off.

With the League off the table for a while, and football taking a breather for a week, the stage is set for hurling’s less glamorous sides to take a turn in the spotlight.

After the Waterford-Cork clash last week overshadowed the opening stages of the Ring, Rackard, Meagher and Leinster championships, it’s time to pay a little bit more attention to the 18 sides lower down the pecking order.

Let’s not forget, by the way, that this weekend also sees a little bit of hurling history made across the water. Read on to find out exactly what… Continue reading Hurling preview: And I would poc 198 miles

You’d never have known it from the coverage on RTE’s League Sunday – which amounted to a single on-screen graphic with two results casually displayed – but the summer’s hurling Championships exploded into life on Sunday with 24 of the 36 senior inter-county sides getting their summers going. So paltry was the coverage that there wasn’t even a passing mention of the Ring, Rackard or Meagher contests – and RTE did not see fit to send a camera to Ballycastle or Mullingar for the two All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship matches that took place there.

They missed out. The match up north was a barnstormer – Antrim emerging on the right side of an eight-goal thriller thanks to a penalty with the last puck of the game – while Westmeath got their own season off to a good start with a tense two-point win over Carlow, 2-19 to 2-17. Elsewhere, Kerry cemented their great season so far with a solid seven-point win over the 2013 Christy Ring champions, Down, and Kildare and London played out a magnificent draw – 2-23 apiece – after 80 minutes in Ruislip.

Oh, and the League final happened. Without being dismissive to the Deise’s magnificent win in Thurles, it’s gotten plenty of coverage by comparison to the paucity of coverage you’ll have seen for the thrillers in Ballycastle, Mullingar, Ruislip and Owenbeg. The Waterford hurlers won’t mind being overlooked on this single marginal occasion.

Waterford’s League title – only their third! – sends them up to fourth, overtaking Dublin; Cork remain third but fall out of striking distance from Tipp in second. Kerry are up to 11th thanks to their beating of Down; Antrim jump to 13th with their win over Laois, who fall to 12th as a result. Westmeath, Meath, London and Roscommon also do well with their week.

We’re back on Thursday to profile the second round of Leinster, Ring, Rackard and Meagher championships.

As Semisonic once sang, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. As the National Leagues wrap up with the meeting of Munster rivals Waterford and Cork, the Leinster provincial championship and three lower-tier competitions all get into gear on what’s actually one of the busiest weekends of the hurling year.

And that being the case, let’s get to it…

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National Hurling League Division 1 final

Cork (3rd, 2032) v. Waterford (5th, 1900)
Well now, what have we here? Cork have amazingly not won a National Hurling League since 1998 – though it’s now a decade since the Rebels won any national hurling silverware at all. Waterford won the second of their two leagues in 2007 and have almost nothing to lose after unexpectedly making it to the final from the backroads of Division 1B. (There’s hope for Clare next year after all.) Cork are 64.7% favourites to win in Thurles but nobody should be too surprised if the 35.3% underdog turns it into a Deise day.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Westmeath (16th, 1315) v. Carlow (17th, 1322)
Ah, the smell of championship hurling… and although it’s the less-glamorous end of the Championship, there’s two good games on the menu this weekend. These two teams are the most evenly matched this weekend – and given the stakes in the Leinster round robin stage, it’s crucial that no inch is given as the four participating sides strive to avoid the slide into the Christy Ring. Westmeath will be delighted to have home advantage, which gives them a 60.5% chance of defeating their southern rivals.

Antrim (14th, 1344) v. Laois (11th, 1474)
Antrim are a little further down the pecking order than their visitors but also have the benefit of home advantage – and Laois will not relish having to make the trek up to Ballycastle for their opening game. The home advantage means the two sides are almost equalised, but Laois are the slightly stronger after defeating Antrim in a Division 1B relegation playoff. Indeed, the fact they’re already facing Division 2 means Antrim can ill-afford to go into the Christy Ring Cup too (particularly if they end up playing Kerry in another promotion play-off). Laois get Elo’s nod but not by much: 53.4%.

Christy Ring Cup

Kerry (12th, 1443) v. Down (17th, 1251) 
The opening game of the 2015 competition pits together the winners of the 2013 and 2014 competitions. Kerry are the reigning champions and ought to be strong favourites after their barnstorming League campaign that brought them all the way up to Division 1B. Down had a so-so campaign in Division 2B and suffer under Elo’s watch as a result. Kerry the favourites, by 79.3%.

Meath (18th, 1221) v. Wicklow (20th, 1075)
Meath have been defeated semi-finalists for the last three years and will know they’re capable of putting up another good go – but with London dropping down from the Liam MacCarthy, the quality in this tier is perhaps higher than ever before and it’ll be a tough start. They’re somewhat lucky to find themselves coming up against a Wicklow side that came out on the wrong end of some batterings in the League. Meath, with the home advantage, come out 75.6% favourites.

Derry (19th, 1161) v. Mayo (24th, 941)
Mayo are the most likely candidates to find themselves facing relegation to the third tier – a fate they can instantly avoid if they can manage to get a win against Derry, who held their ground in Division 2A in the League and made a decent push for promotion. That means the hosts are 81.4% likely to emerge.

London (21st, 1071) v. Kildare (13rd, 1346)
Kildare were last year’s beaten finalists and are regularly knocking on the door of emerging to the big-time. This offers them a good start in doing so: even having to go to London doesn’t stop them from being 69.1% favourites in getting their campaign off to a win. That said, London almost certainly deserve a higher Elo rating than they have, but suffer simply from an underwhelming 2015 League and an even worse 2014 Championship. They almost surely deserve to be higher than 21st on the overall standings.

Nicky Rackard Cup

Armagh (23rd, 958) v. Louth (29th, 702)
Armagh were relegated from the Christy Ring last year but, on an Elo basis, are almost the strongest side within the grouping. Louth are among the weakest and would have hoped, if they were going to face the Orchard men, that they would have gotten home venue. As it stands, Armagh are 83.7% likely to emerge on top.

Donegal (26th, 890) v. Tyrone (22nd, 937)
Tyrone are the reigning champions at this grade and, nominally, the competition’s strongest side – buoyed by a near promotion to Division 2B. Who was it that stood in their way? Oh, yes: only this Saturday’s hosts from Donegal. There’s previous, a decent match, and a home venue that almost equalises the sides. Donegal are favourites but only by 56%.

Fingal (27th, 794) v. Roscommon (25th, 925)
These two were among the middle-ranking teams in Division 3A and, as their ratings suggest, are fairly evenly matched – even more so when Fingal get the home advantage for the opener. In a format where a winning team can’t be relegated, a good result today is crucial. Roscommon are the narrow favourites by only 53.6%.

Monaghan (28th, 775) v. Longford (30th, 635)
These two are among the weaker sides in the competition, but the nature of the format means either could mount a decent challenge for silverware – and flex their muscles into the upper tiers – if they can start off on the right foot. Monaghan are already a stronger team and getting to play the game at home means they’ve a 75.1% chance, in Elo’s eyes, of prevailing.

Lory Meagher Cup

Fermanagh (31st, 577) v. Warwickshire (32nd, 572)
This year’s Lory Meagher Cup is most notable for the entry of a side from Lancashire – the first time that a group of Mancs have taken part in an All-Ireland competition. They’re sitting out the opening weekend, though, so the sole representatives from Britain this weekend are making the not-too-glamorous journey to Fermanagh who are almost an equally accomplished team. It’s the home advantage that makes all the difference in that case – the Erne-men are 61.9% likely to outcome.

Leitrim (34th, 281) v. Sligo (33rd, 320)
THE GRUDGE MATCH OF THE WEEKEND… for no reason other than the fact that the loser will remain the ‘weakest’ side of the 34 active hurling counties, ahead only of a Lancashire team that haven’t actually played at all yet. Leitrim are the slightly weaker of the two but home advantage in a derby may make all the difference and grants them a 57% advantage on this occasion.

Well, how’s about that? A feast for fans in Nowlan Park at the weekend – Cork coming back from 12 points down to defeat Dublin (a perverse revenge for last year’s Football clash at the same stage of the National League perhaps?) while Waterford continued their impressive run to see off Tipp by the minimum. Perhaps Clare need not be so annoyed at the idea of getting a clear run through Division 1B next year.

Donegal, meanwhile, inflicted Tyrone’s first defeat in over a year to maintain their status in Division 2B – though they don’t get any higher than 26th, and nor do Tyrone fall below their existing 22nd. Form is temporary, etc etc.