Waterford & Tipp Teams Named

In this the 125th year of the GAA, the Munster Hurling Championship Final could take place in no town other than Thurles.

Tipp haven't won a Munster Final on their home ground at Semple Stadium since 1989, when Waterford were the opposition that day. A bloodied affair (the Déise finished with 13 men), Tipp ran out fairly convincing winners. However, the Waterford team of this decade are a far different affair, and have been very much Tipperary's bogey team.

The teams for both teams were announced last night. As predicted here yesterday, Tipp have made no personnel changes from the team that defeated Clare in the Semi-Final, with a couple of positional switches in the forwards that'll make no real difference given manager Liam Sheedy's tendency to continually change it around anyway.

A big boost for Waterford comes with the news that captain Stephen Molumphy is fit enough to start, which means no place in the starting line-up for former hurler of the year Dan Shanahan or Eoin McGrath who was a thorn in the side of the Tipperary corner-backs in last year's All Ireland Semi. Interestingly, Mount Sion and Ballygunner, traditionally the two heavyweights of Waterford club hurling have just a sole representative each on the starting 15.

Waterford Team: C Hennessy (Ardmore), E Murphy (Shamrocks), D Prendergast (Ardmore), N Connors (Passage),T Browne (Mount Sion), M Walsh (Stradbally), A Kearney (Tallow), S O'Sullivan (Ballygunner), K Moran (De La Salle), J Nagle (Dungarvan), S Prendergast (Ardmore), S Molumphy (Ballyduff Upper, Captain), J Mullane (De La Salle), E Kelly (Passage), J Kennedy (Ballyduff Lower)

Tipperary Team: B Cummins (Ballybacon-Grange), P Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh), P Curran (Mullinahone), C O'Brien (Éire Óg Annacarty), Declan Fanning (Killenaule), Conor O'Mahony (Newport, Captain), P Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), J Woodlock (Drom & Inch), S McGrath (Ballinahinch), P Kerwick (Killenaule), S Callanan (Drom & Inch), John O'Brien (Toomevara), Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney), Eoin Kelly (Mullinahone), Lar Corbett (Thurles Sarsfields).

Prediction Time: Trying to shade off any personal bias, I still think Tipp have just about enough. A win for them against Waterford in a Munster Final will be a massive monkey off their backs, and if the Waterford full-forward line can be contained sufficiently, Tipp should do it by about two or three points. It's going to be another tight one, I reckon

Teams for Munster Final Expected Tonight

With three days to go to the Munster Hurling Championship Final, both Waterford and Tipperary are expected to name their starting 15 tonight, with the Tipp selection unveiled at 9pm after training in Thurles.

Ken McGrath and Gary Hurney are definitely out for the Déise, while captain Stephen Molumpy is a major injury doubt, according to today's Irish Examiner.

Tipperary, on the other hand, could very well start with the same 15 that disposed of Clare in the Semi-Final. Shane Maher still doesn't appear to be quite fit after the injury he picked up in the League Final in May, and lack of game time will go against him also. Worryingly for the Premier County, new hotshot Noel McGrath (pictured against Cork) and old hotshot Eoin Kelly both sat out training on Tuesday night, with thigh and back strains respectively. However, both are expected to be fit for selection tonight.


Other rumours emerging from this writer's home county include a possibility of an introduction of Hugh Maloney to the half-forward lines, and Brendan Maher to the backs, but as aforementioned don't be surprised to see the same 15 that lined out against Clare.

Update on teams will follow tomorrow.

When You Miss A Potential Classic

Apologies for a complete lack of any hurling guff last week, in the busiest and best weekend for the sport of kings thus far this year. Wins for Waterford, Tipp, Kilkenny and Dublin seems them all progressing to inter-provincial finals (particular kudos to the Dubs for their first appearance since '91), as many would have predicted. Kilkenny must be delighted that Galway are in Leinster this year, as that's as good a game as they've got prior to July in many years, while Tipperary again looked as if they were passing around a bottle of whiskey at half-time, given their tendency to try and throw away leads.


Speaking of comebacks, a classic encounter took place in Pairc Uí Chaoimh on Wednesday night last, as Tipp and Cork Minors played out what seemed like an exhilirating 5-17 each draw. On account of work, I couldn't make it down to Cork, but accounts filtering through over the airwaves seemed to make it seem like one of the best games played at any grade in a long time. Disgracefully, no local radio station seemed to carry live commentary of the game. Anyway, onto the game: Cork led at one stage in the second half by five or six points, only for Tipp to claw their way back and go three points up, before Cork managed an injury time equalising goal (2-15 to 3-12 at that stage).

Tipp came out of the blocks in extra time with two goals in the first half, racing into an eight-point lead. Cork incredibly pegged them back, scoring two more goals themselves, and leading by two, when John "Bubbles" O'Dwyer came off the bench (he started the game, was substituted in the second half, came back on at end of second half, was subsituted again, and came back on again, scoring 2-6 in the process) and netted a Tipp goal, before a Cork 65 in injury time deservedly sent the game to a replay next Wednesday in Thurles at 7.30pm

It has the potential to be another absolute cracker.

Waterford V Limerick - Munster Hurling Semi Final Preview

Surprisingly, the first Munster Senior Hurling Semi Final of the year has crept us on with barely a whimper until the last day or two. Perhaps, the somewhat poor form of both Waterford and Limerick in the league with both teams finishing on just six points had something to do with it, but when the draw was made for this tie, it had all the ingredients for a real humdinger.

And do you know what? It still has. If you asked me before the league campaign got underway, I'd have slightly favoured Limerick in this affair; the Justin McCarthy factor and the fact that if Limerick turned up like they did for the 2007 Championship swung it for me. And while both teams finished level on points in the League - Waterford actually beating Kilkenny by four points, and Limerick running the Cats extremely close and losing by just one - Waterford's form has been slightly the better of the two, and they even managed to catch Bernard Dunne's fight prior to their defeat to the Dubs.

McCarthy doesn't seem to have discovered a number of new players since taken over the reigns for the Treatymen this year; then again, he may not have needed to, given that the nucleus of the three-in-a-row U21 team should be still in their prime. However, that team has become one of the most underachieving proving that underage success doesn't always indicate similar honours at Seniors grade (see also the Tipp U21 team of 79-81 who had to wait until '87 before even gaining Munster Senior success).

Nonetheless, McCarthy has quality players at his disposal, and runs with a fairly experienced line-up - Damien Reale at corner-back is as tight a marker as there is, Brian Geary is at Centre-back, and former Young Hurler Of The Year Seamus Hickey has recovered from injury to be moved out to Centre-Field. In the forwards, the Moran brothers (Ollie and Niall) and Andrew O'Shaughnessy is where Limerick will be expecting to garner some scores.

However, there are times when Limerick seem completely lacking on the scoring front, relying on free-taking or O'Shaughnessy turning on the style; "Shocks" probably best sums up Limerick's forwards, in that he can blow as hot and cold as a Triton in need of desperate maintenance. Yet, Limerick did manage to score five goals against Waherford just two years ago in the All Ireland Semi.

This, you can beat your bad debts on, is the stick that Davy Fitzgerald is hitting the Deise players with in his dulcet tones in the run up to this tie. John Mullane has just about recovered from his hamstring injury to assume his place in a forward line more than capable of scoring, particularly if Eoin Kelly is in form. Throw into the equation Ken McGrath starting at Centre-Forward (will he?) and you've one heck of a match up with Geary.

Waterford's backs can still be a little bit suspect, even if they had made improvements in this area in the last year or two - will Michael 'Brick' Walsh have the same impact at centre-back as Ken McGrath? Time will tell.

Thurles will be a melting pot come 4pm on Sunday, and this game really could go either way. For some bizarre reason, I've a sneaky feeling this one could end all square - now that's sitting on the fence. Making a prediction on this just seems too tricky, but if I had to, I'm going to say Waterford by two points.

Limerick: B Murray; D Reale, S Lucey, M O'Riordan; S Walsh, B Geary, M Foley; D O'Grady, S Hickey; J Ryan, O Moran, N Moran; A O'Shaughnessy, J O'Brien, D Ryan.

Waterford: C Hennessy; E Murphy, D Prendergast, N Connors; K Moran, M Walsh, A Kearney; S O'Sullivan, S Molumphy; S Prendergast, K McGrath, J Nagle; J Mullane, E Kelly, E McGrath.

Have We Finally Got A Leinster Championship On Our Hands?

Wanted: One competitive Leinster Hurling Championship

Last Seen: The 2004 Wexford V Offaly final after the Yellowbellies shocked Kilkenny in the last few minutes of the Semi Final.

Reward: A possible Leinster Championship if Kilkenny are caught off-guard, or even a sliver of hope for hurling folk in other parts of the country if somebody manages to run them close.

While yesterday’s Semi-Final draw threw up two potential crackers, with Wexford facing Dublin, and Kilkenny facing Leinster newbies Galway, the likelihood of the Cats not claiming their 11^th Leinster Championship in twelve years is pretty, pretty slim. So slim, in fact, that the good burgers at a renowned bookies chain have Kilkenny at 1/4, Galway 4/1, Wexford at 10/1 and Dublin 16/1.

However, anything can happen on any given Sunday. Galway are something of an oddity in Leinster, and previous years would have had them at this time of the year preparing for a Connaught Final against Roscommon, or awaiting life straight into the qualifiers. Their league form this year was somewhat average, but do remember that they had their Portumna contingent out until after March 17^th on club duty. Also, perhaps new manager John McIntyre didn’t put as much emphasis on the league as previous regimes, given that they actually had a provincial championship ahead of them.

Nonetheless, there isn’t a lot that the Tribesmen could have learned from their inaugural Leinster drubbing of Laois by 27 points. In all fairness, Kilkenny’s last game, the League Final against Tipp, was played at more of a Championship pace than the Laois game. Actually, scratch that; a game of tiddlywinks between Tipp and Kilkenny would have been more at Championship pace than that game. However, they must be pleased that Niall Healy and Damien Hayes showed up and took some of the scoring burden off Joe Canning’s big shoulders.

Galway rely hugely on Canning, obviously so given his immense natural talent, but like Tipperary with Eoin Kelly for many years, there may not be sufficient quality in the supporting cast. No better way to find out than a Championship game against Kilkenny, and if Noel Hickey is fit, his battle with Canning could possibly be one of the most intriguing contests of not just the year, but the decade.

On the other side, Dublin eased past Antrim yesterday by ten points, but some wayward shooting led to seventeen wides. Anthony Daly really seems to have Dublin believing in themselves this year, and their fantastic league performances need to translate into a big championship performance. Dublin have some nippy, good scoring forwards like David O’Callaghan and midfielder Alan McCrabbe is something of a talisman also. They ran Wexford, who have the hulking Stephen Banville (pictured) in their ranks, close last year and could just do enough this time around to make a Leinster Final.

The two games take place on the weekend of the 20^th and 21^st of June, and after a decade of Munster Championships where it seemed just about anybody could win it, we may finally get a few classic Leinster games.

Preview To Thurles Thriller: Tipperary v Cork

Ciarán Ryan is one of our new writers. The Tipperary native (and devotee) works as a journalist for radio and for print and he's an all-round nice guy. In his first post for The Almost Daily Sports Blog, Ciarán previews this Sunday's Munster Hurling Championship clash between his native Tipp and their bitter rivals Cork.

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The smell of fresh grass, three bars of chocolate for a pound, pipe bands, farmer tans, straw hats, glorious summer days that came out of nowhere, plastic caps, and a vendor squealing “who is for the last of the ices?”; it could only be the allure and beauty of that most holy of Irish sporting events – a Munster championship game between Cork and Tipp.

While times have changed – fancy baseball caps and coffees have replaced their eighties equivalents, you’d hardly get a club milk for under a Euro, and the opening of that back door twelve years ago has taken some of the jizz out of it, this is still very much a glamour tie in GAA circles. Even more so now, considering all the shenanigans that have gone on Lee-side this year, that unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, or indeed “The Rock” O’Sullivan, you know all about.

For me, as a noble son of Tiobraid Árann , these games represent torture and exuberance in equal measures. My first ever championship game, at the age of five, was the classic drawn Munster Final of ’87. I recall listening to another draw in ’91 while on holidays with my family in Spiddal, and finishing our game of pitch and putt early to get the coverage. Again, it was the airwaves that were my only solace last year, when marooned in Zambia with only a dial up internet connection for company, the might tones of Tipp Fm legend Paddy Finucane boomed across the room as Tipp claimed a historic scalp in Cork. I had to be careful, mind you, not to move, as any slight jump in celebration forced that internet connection down. On the other side of the fence, I’ve suffered the heartbreak; numerous defeats in this decade (curbed by the ’07 qualifier win for Tipp) rank amongst them.

On to this year, and Sunday’s clash. Tipperary will have to deal with the unusual position of being hot favourites, but Cork’s recent form in challenge matches shows that they are still a veritable threat. A couple of retirements mean Cork have a depleted stock this year, and particular interest will be paid to the new additions in the middle of their full-back and full-forward lines, Eoin Cadagon and Aisake O’hAilpin respectively. Another oddity will be Tipp’s entrance as the neutral’s favoured team, given much of the disdain shown by hurling folk around the country to the antics of the Rebels this year.

Tipperary welcome back talisman Eoin Kelly and All-Star centre-back Conor O’Mahony , the only two changes from the team that lost the League Final to Kilkenny four weeks ago. The return of Kelly, in particular, is an interesting one. Many from within the county hadn't expected the Mullinahone forward to even play this year after suffering a fairly significant back injury. If he is able to bring an iota of his previous form into this game, it will be a huge boost for Tipp.

Cork will be looking to their elder statesmen, who might just have a few kicks left in them. For them to win, the likes of the O’Connors, Tom Kenny, Sean Óg, and John Gardiner need to be at the top of their game. Timmy McCarthy has traditionally gone well against Tipp, and may have an impact in the forwards. Ronan Curran, at centre-back, needs to rediscover some of the form that made him the best in his position in the country just a few years ago.

It may be Tipp’s young players, on the other hand, that tip the balance in their favour. Eighteen-year-old wonderkid Noel McGrath has stepped up to the mark with his displays in the forwards, and Paudie Maher of the famed Thurles Sarsfields club exudes confidence in the backline. Considering his performances last year, we better not forget that Seamus Callinan is still Under-21 also.

Strangely for me, both head and heart are saying the same thing – a Tipp win, but just about. Don’t expect there to be much more than three or four points in this. Either way, expect sunburn, melted chocolate, and some eejit sitting in front of you with a straw hat. Hey, it’s Munster Championship day folks, not a fashion parade.