Faltering standard of this year's championship brings Kilkenny into the frame
championship
has turned into some sort of black hole for anyone assessing form. The runners-up in both the
Munster
and
Leinster
finals have been beaten by the counties finishing third in the other province.
To put this in context, only two third-placed teams have reached the All-Ireland semi-finals in the five years of this format. Now, both have qualified.
So, it's hard to figure out any correlation between the form in the provinces. Are there any pointers from last year's championship?
The overriding question is, were
Limerick
worse than they were last year? Probably.
Clare
had a difficult season and went out. Is there any side as good as their 2024 vintage in this year's semi-finals? Possibly not.
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The point here is that
Kilkenny
, who have not really uncovered any new players, are back in the last four in much the same shape as a year ago but there might not be a team left in the championship as good as the one that beat them 12 months ago.
In other words, has the standard come back to meet Kilkenny because I'm pretty sure that the level this year is not as good as it was last year?
Logically, it was impossible see how
Dublin
could beat Limerick based on established form.
They obviously underperformed against
Galway
, which threw a lot of people off. It's likely that Parnell Park is not really a suitable venue for this Dublin team because they have a lot of pace and movement around the middle of the field, whereas the venue helped Galway, who don't have those attributes.
Dublin also brought spirit and energy against Limerick. It was visible all over the field but especially with Conor McHugh in the full-back line and Brian Hayes at midfield. Niall Ó Ceallacháin deserves huge credit for simplifying the team's hurling and approach.
At the same time, things went right for them in the quarter-final once they weathered Chris Crummey's sending off. He is suspended for this but
Cork
have lost the ultra-dependable Séamus Harnedy to injury.
Dublin's Seán Currie challenges Limerick's Seán Finn during the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
When Dublin stood up to Limerick,
John Kiely's
men wilted a little bit – everyone watching would have expected him and Paul Kinnerk to make short work of a 14-man opposition over that length of time.
Maybe they were even subconsciously complacent. Dublin hit them with serious and immaculately timed blows. Just as they were finally falling behind in the second half, they find two goals in about half a minute. They back that up with Seán Brennan's amazing save on Aaron Gillane. This was a high-quality ambush.
Cork, well rested after their Munster final win, look like far more dangerous opponents, but last year in Thurles they were run quite close by Dublin in the quarter-final. There were extenuating circumstances – the ridiculous lunchtime throw-in and a stomach bug in the camp – but the Dubs didn't prevent Cork doing a number on them in the early stages.
It was as if by the time Dublin realised they actually had a chance, the game was gone. They still cut the deficit to five by the end and had a handful of goal chances that were either saved by Patrick Collins or scrambled away. This was despite Dónal Burke's free-taking going awry before he was replaced by Seán Currie, who was excellent against Limerick two weeks ago.
Cork are not alone Munster champions for the first time in seven years but they also won the league in very impressive style. Their last couple of games in that competition, against Clare in Ennis and
Tipperary
in the final, were outstanding. Have we seen that Cork since though?
All of their Munster matches up to the final were marked with asterisks: losing a 12-point lead to Clare; looking porous in the big win over a Tipp team down to 14 from the throw-in; the meltdown against Limerick and a very jittery win over Waterford.
Credit to Pat Ryan for landing the Munster title after a penalty shoot-out, but although Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon and newcomer Diarmuid Healy were excellent, where was the league menace from their full-forward line? Limerick had the winning of that match but squandered it.
The genie Cork unbottled last year hasn't really been glimpsed since the first half in Ennis.
Ultimately, though, Dublin beat a Limerick team that simply didn't turn up for the quarter-final. One thing we can be sure of is that Cork will turn up, and I expect them to win even if Dublin are awkward enough to test them.
Sunday's semi-final is complicated because, as mentioned at the top, I have no idea what the 'relativities' between the provinces are at this stage. Kilkenny are Leinster champions and don't look to me like they have disimproved in any way.
Tipperary's Andrew Ormond in action against Galway's TJ Brennan during the All-Ireland quarter-final at the Gaelic Grounds. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho
You could say they have added a couple of players in Jordan Molloy and Shane Murphy, but they were panellists and the team is much the same as lost to Clare last year.
Mossie Keoghan has been in good form and Eoin Cody is back from injury so it's a recognisable package – extremely recognisable, as they have been on the road so long and there aren't many miles left for a lot of them.
So, it's now or never for a team that has been waiting to redeem what they see as a preventable defeat against Clare last year.
Apart from a brief spell against Dublin, they weren't really stressed at all in Leinster. They will, as ever, do what it says on the tin, but I think
Tipperary
are very dangerous opponents.
It has already been a successful year for Liam Cahill, almost regardless of this weekend's outcome. They are an improving team who came out of Munster and won their quarter-final against Galway.
They won't get the space they got that day in Limerick but I think they will continue to improve in Croke Park. I wouldn't be worried about their lack of experience at the ground because they do not have a whole lot to lose, and in that frame of mind, against Kilkenny, Tipperary are dangerous.
Tipp's biggest vulnerability is to pace but I'm not sure that Kilkenny, beyond Billy Ryan, bring huge amounts of that.
What Cahill's team have is a good crop of newcomers, with young players Darragh McCarthy, Sam O'Farrell and Robert Doyle at corner back finding their feet. Jake Morris has been truly outstanding and Andy Ormond is having a great first season.
Many of these players are completely new to this situation but this is an improving team with a lot of energy, who have been tempered by two torrid visits to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a win in Ennis and now getting to Croke Park for the first time in six years.
Their hurling is sharp and they are scoring freely, well capable of goals and using the ball really well. They can really rattle Kilkenny but Derek Lyng's team have a more pressing need.
There are good days ahead for Tipperary but maybe this Sunday is a little too soon.
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Sunday World
11 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Destiny calling for Cork as All-Ireland SHC final beckons after 20-point win over Dublin
latest | All-Ireland SHC semi-final: Cork 7-26 Dublin 2-21 Shane Barrett of Cork in action against Conor McHugh of Dublin during the All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile No Cork team will ever make an All-Ireland final unannounced but this one go into it with the expectation of not only their devoted public, but the general hurling proletariat. Patrick Horgan was substituted in the 56th minute this evening in their rout of Dublin. The ovation was a mix of appreciation and nervous tension. The message was clear: get him up the steps. The game was put to bed and fast asleep at that stage, but Cork were already in final mode. Best of luck to everyone getting tickets. Destiny. You can feel it. You can almost see it now. They brought something in the parish of 60,000 to Croke Park this evening to witness the penultimate phase of their mission. They were treated to some truly mesmerising hurling. Exhibition stuff. Cork have built, block by block, in Pat Ryan's three year tenure. What they have now is scintillating in these conditions. Dry day. Big pitch. All the room of Croke Park's open prairies. All week, the talk had been that Dublin could be dangerous if they started well. A team that has it in the locker to be as good as they had in beating Limerick don't require any unnecessary encouragement. Cork gave them none. They rattled the Dublin net four times in the first half. Every one was a thing of rare ingenuity, owing as much to the provider as the executioner. Alan Connolly finished with a hat-trick here. This is something he makes a habit of. You can't say that about any other hurler since Nicky Rackard. Brian Hayes hit 2-1 but that wasn't the half of it. His fingerprints were on another three goals and countless numbers of Cork points. In tandem, they are lethal. Hayes got the first after brilliant work from Declan Dalton. Connolly hit the second after just 12 minutes, popped a pass at close range but tuned in enough to expect it and exert the maximum damage. Cork's third was audacious. Darragh Fitzgibbon ate several solid dunts, tiptoeing along the endline like a tightrope. Somehow he managed to flick a pass in towards the edge of the square. There, Connolly flicked the ball one-handed and while having his other arm held, batted into the net. Ouch. 3-5 to 0-5. Just 14 minutes played. The ingredients for something messy. But Dublin responded almost immediately. Seán Currie got a sniff of a goal but had his angles closed off. Rather than accept the offer of an easy point, he picked out Cian O'Sullivan with an arrow across the Cork goalmouth. O'Sullivan smashed his shot into the top corner. A fleeting moment of Dublin energy. Let it be known that Dublin fought the good fight. They took Cork on. They went man on man. They hunted goals. They played big boy hurling. Ultimately though, Cork's inside forward line was too spicy. In hindsight, fighting the good fight might have been the wrong way to go. Two Dublin defenders were gone by the 21st minute; Andy Dunphy, who got booked after just nine minutes, and Conor McHugh, who started at centre-back but looked to have injured. Cork's interplay was just devastating. Dublin's other chief failing was on their puck out. They overloaded the right hand side of their attack but lost 11. Mostly, they were the ones Seán Brennan sent towards that space. When they won it, Dublin had the pace and ingenuity to open up goals. But too often, Rob Downey plucked floated restarts out of the air with the luxury of being judicious about what he did with it. Hayes got the fourth after 32 minutes. Dublin had pared it back to six points at that stage and Feargal Whitely had hit the crossbar. Dalton again surged down a channel of the Dublin defence and shifted possession to Hayes. He had the wherewithal to dummy the shot and fire home off his stick. That, largely was that. Cork went in ten again at halftime. No team is going to beat Cork from ten points back. Dublin resorted to long balls into John Hetherton but they got little return. Tim O'Mahony got in on the trick of surging forward from midfield. He was rewarded with two goals. Connolly, fittingly, got Cork's seventh. It was the first time a team has scored seven goals in an All-Ireland semi-final since 1986. They won the All-Ireland that year against Galway. Even the omens are lining up on Cork's side now. Scorers – Cork: A Connolly 3-2, P Horgan 0-8 (6f), T O'Mahony, B Hayes 2-1, D Dalton 0-5 (2f), D Fitzgibbon 0-3, S Kingston 0-2, C Joyce, D Healy, J O'Connor, C Lehane 0-1 each. Dublin: C O'Sullivan 2-5, S Currie 0-7 (7f), C Burke, F Whitely 0-3 each, B Hayes, J Hetherton, D Burke (f) 0-1 each. Cork: P Collins; S O'Donoghue, E Downey, N O'Leary; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O'Mahony, D Fitzgibbon; D Healy, S Barrett, D Dalton; P Horgan, A Connolly, B Hayes. Subs: R O'Flynn for Healy (50), S Kingston for Horgan (55), T O'Connell for R Downey (59), C Lehane for Barrett (63), J O'Connor for Dalton (67) Dublin: S Brennan; J Bellew, P Smyth, A Dunphy; P Doyle, C McHugh, C Donohoe; C Burke, B Hayes; R McBride, R Hayes, F Whitely; S Currie, J Hetherton, C O'Sullivan. Subs: D Lucey for Dunphy (14), D Power for McHugh (21), D Burke for McBride (h-t), D Ó Dulaing for R Hayes (46), C Ó Riain for O'Sullivan (66) Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)
Irish Times
14 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Pat Ryan pours cold water but the Cork hype train has left the station
Pat Ryan tends to try to find the holes in things when he talks about his Cork team. It's a defence mechanism, maybe. A way of keeping the great Cork glass elevator from spinning off into the sky. It's not the easiest trick to pull off when your team has won an All-Ireland semi-final by 20 points. He gave it a go, all the same. 'We're targeting goals all the time. We're targeting fast starts all the time. That's the goal of it. I think the lads were really clinical today. We left a few behind us and an awful lot of scores behind us from points. But that's me being a bit critical, I suppose. Maybe over-critical.' The last time Cork played in Croke Park, they lost the All-Ireland final by a point in extra-time. As if the torture of a result like that isn't bad enough, the next-day reality is almost as bad. You slide all the way back down to the bottom of the board. You go from being so close to the big prize you can almost touch it to being as far away from it as everybody else. They are the first Cork team to lose an All-Ireland final and make it back to the following year's decider since 2003/04. It's never a given. READ MORE [ Cork return to All-Ireland final after demolishing Dublin in Croke Park Opens in new window ] 'We came out of here 51-and-a-half weeks ago and for us to get back here to a final shows the strength of character and commitment to the jersey that the lads have,' Ryan said. 'We knuckled down, we got back, we refreshed the panel a bit more. We looked at the areas we didn't do well as a management. We spoke to the players about that. We really went after performances in the league and tried to make that as best we could. 'A small little thing, the weather was good. If you're not really involved in teams, you might not notice it and think the weather is always the same. But the weather has been great and the lads have really enjoyed coming to Páirc Uí Rinn and Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the year sort of flew.' They came here with murderous intent. Seven goals in an All-Ireland semi-final hasn't been done since 1986. Cork did it that time too, although it only washed out in a five-point win over Antrim back then. That this was a 20-pointer was down to the sheer intent and accuracy of Ryan's team. Tim O'Mahony scores Cork's sixth goal. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'The accuracy was very good. I thought after the first two or three goals we probably pushed it a bit too much. We should have been building the score. We left three or four points behind us that would have left the score tipping away and just kept making it difficult for Dublin. We gave away two soft goals then, which we were disappointed with. We came in at half-time and the lads were really focused. I thought maybe our work-rate was a bit down as well. 'But they're areas we'll go after. The commitment the lads have put in to get back to a final has been immense. We're back where we were last year and the ambition is to go one better. But we know the opposition will be really, really good as well.' For Niall Ó Ceallacháin, it was a chastening experience. His team were rinsed, even though they put up 2-21, a score they would have presumed could be competitive. To his credit, the Dublin manager didn't just throw up his hands and say there was nothing they could have done about it. But he did concede they were playing against the best team they've faced. 'By a long way,' he said. 'And I don't want to do Cork a disservice by hyping them up. Every game is different. But what I will say is that is by far the best performance over 75 minutes that I've seen this year by a long way. Alan Connolly scores a goal for Cork. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho 'They are going to take some beating, I would say. That's as good a team and performance from a sharpness perspective that I've seen in a long, long time. Their goals, we couldn't live with. Their pace and power inside. They were breaking the line, they had the composure and presence of mind in tight scenarios to be really aware of who was outside and just popped the ball outside. They did that extremely well.' Could Dublin have changed anything? Dropped a man back to protect the full-back line, maybe? 'I think it's a fair question. I think it's a fair question when you concede seven goals. Like I'll tell you straight out, we intentionally didn't. Straight up, we intentionally didn't and I've been proven wrong now, so I can be fairly criticised. But the way we see it is there's just no point in a zonal back six against a team like Cork. You won't concede seven goals, so you won't see a scenario like that. But you will lose the game. You will lose the game. 'So is it risky setting up like that? It absolutely is. Should I be criticised today? Absolutely. It didn't work. They were very sharp and they were excellent. But what I would say is with the alternative you won't lose by 20 points like what we lost there. But you will lose the game.'
The Irish Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Cork smash Dublin as rampant Rebels plant seven to stroll into All-Ireland final
CORK blitzed Dublin with a magnificent seven to march into another All-Ireland SHC final. A fortnight removed from their 2 Cork put seven goals past Dublin as they sealed another All-Ireland final date 2 The Rebels will now face the winners of Kilkenny and Tipperary in the final Alan Connolly bagged three goals, while Brian Hayes and Tim O'Mahony hit two apiece as the Leesiders earned a shot at atoning for the defeat to Clare in last year's decider. It was a statement win from Against a Dublin side who had kept clean sheets in each of their previous three outings, Victorious boss Ryan said: "Our preparation over the last three to four weeks has been excellent, which was a huge focus on what we wanted to do after coming off the Munster final. read more on gaa "Credit to the players, credit to their families, their spouses, girlfriends and all that side of it for giving the lads the space to be able to prepare in that four weeks and we got that performance we wanted." In their previous 28 games, the only game in which Cork failed to register a goal was last year's All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin. Backed by the vast majority of the spectators at a close-to-full Croke Park, they were ruthless and clinical early on here as the ball rattled the Dubs' net THREE times inside the opening 14 minutes. Hayes claimed the first when he did brilliantly to deceive Seán Brennan by flicking the ball onto his hurley before steering the sliotar past the keeper. Most read in GAA Hurling With O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon and Declan Dalton particularly influential in the middle third, Hayes then turned provider for Connolly to fire home emphatically. Back from injury for his first appearance in nine weeks, Dalton's long-range accuracy was typically impressive. Palestine GAA players watch camogie match on laptop The Fr O'Neill's man finished with 0-5, with three of those scores launched from inside his own half. O'Mahony did the heavy lifting for Connolly to score his second goal in as many minutes. But the finish from the Blackrock marksman was sheer artistry as he beat Brennan with the type of one-handed smash that would draw applause from the galleries at Wimbledon. Nevertheless, creating chances was not a struggle for Dublin either and it was Cian O'Sullivan who led their fight. The Naomh Bríd ace, whose father hails from Cork, finished with 2-5 from play. His first goal was timely, giving Dublin some hope as it arrived within a minute of Connolly's second. He rifled the sliotar to the roof of the Cork net after it was squared by Seán Currie. Dublin were inches away from raising another green flag later in the first half, only for Fergal Whitely to strike the crossbar with his attempt to cut the gap to five points in the 20th minute. By then, the Dubs had already replaced two of their starting backs. Andy Dunphy was called ashore after picking up an early booking for a foul on Patrick Horgan, before Conor McHugh was forced off with an injury. With centre-back and skipper Chris Crummey also missing through suspension, it was not the kind of start that Niall Ó Ceallacháin had in mind. The Dublin manager said: "We're very disappointed. The way it panned out was obviously not how we planned it or what we'd hoped for this morning, needless to say. "First of all, by far the better team won the game. Absolutely no question. No excuses. "We had to be better in lots of ways. I thought they were excellent though as well. "They were very well set up and were extremely sharp, full of energy, very aggressive. They were the better team throughout." Aiming to reach their first All-Ireland final since 1961, Dublin were also seeking to bridge a 98-year gap to their last Championship triumph over Cork. But the Munster champions looked capable of raising a green flag whenever the ball was delivered to the general vicinity of their inside line. And the fourth arrived in the 32nd minute when a sublime Horgan and Connolly combination teed up Hayes to do the rest. On a day when the Cork forwards hogged the plaudits, there were performances of the highest calibre from several occupants of their rearguard too. The man who stood out was Seán O'Donoghue. Trailing by 4-13 to 1-11 at the break, Dublin fashioned a goal chance within a couple of minutes of the restart. However, Ronan Hayes was foiled by a hook from O'Donoghue. It was one of many key interventions made by the Inniscarra man. Fine work from Horgan engineered Cork's fifth goal in the 42nd minute, with O'Mahony finishing neatly. But Dublin saw a chink of light as their opponents momentarily looked flat and listless. The centrepiece of an unanswered burst of 1-3 for the Sky Blues was a second goal for O'Sullivan. The Cork defence were caught napping when he netted following a quickly-taken Currie free. A point from John Hetherton, who was a late addition to the starting line-up, brought Dublin back to within nine points on 49 minutes. Yet Cork turned the screw in the final quarter as they surged home in style. The Dubs were hit for six when O'Mahony flicked home his second. And after a rampaging run from sub Robbie O'Flynn, Connolly wrapped up his fourth Cork hat-trick in 16 months with a lethal finish from a tight angle. Ryan added: "It wasn't perfect. There's lots of stuff we'll go after as regards what we want for the All-Ireland final. "But we're in the All-Ireland final tonight and we'll get to watch two great teams go at it tomorrow really hammer and tongs. That's a special place to be for us." CORK 7-26 DUBLIN 2-21 CORK: P Collins; S O'Donoghue, E Downey, N O'Leary; C Joyce 0-1, R Downey, M Coleman; T O'Mahony 2-1, D Fitzgibbon 0-3; D Dalton 0-5, 2f, S Barrett, D Healy 0-1; P Horgan 0-8, 6f, A Connolly 3-2, B Hayes 2-1. Subs: R O'Flynn for Healy 50 mins, S Kingston 0-2 for Horgan 55, T O'Connell for R Downey 59, C Lehane 0-1 for Barrett 63, J O'Connor 0-1 for Dalton 67. DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, J Bellew, A Dunphy; P Doyle, C McHugh, C Donohoe; C Burke 0-3, B Hayes 0-1; R McBride, C O'Sullivan 2-5, F Whitely 0-3; S Currie 0-7, 7f, J Hetherton 0-1, R Hayes. Subs: D Lucey for Dunphy 14 mins, D Power for McHugh 20, D Burke 0-1 for McBride h-t, D Ó Dúlaing for R Hayes 46, C O'Riain for O'Sullivan 66. REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick)
