IN ALL FAIRNESS - The same again

So, Limerick and Kilkenny are to meet in a third national hurling final in a row, and yet you couldn’t even class it as a rivalry, but it could be after the July 23rd final.

The debates were plentiful in advance of last weekends semi-finals of what the ideal All-Ireland final line-up would be, but the least spoken of them was a repeat of last year’s decider which is what we have.

First of all, it pairs the two provincial champions which is ideal in terms of retaining the importance of winning those competitions, and it could be the manner in which they won them gave them the added belief needed to beat Galway and Clare respectively.

In doing so, for the second year in a row, the teams that come in with the four week break as provincial winners have progressed to the final and in the four iterations of the current hurling championship format, only Limerick in 2018 and Tipperary in 2019 have reached the final, and ultimately won it, via a quarter final route, so the shorter route to the final by winning their province is the best.

Reflecting on the Limerick v Galway semi-final, it reminded me a lot of the 2021 Munster Final against Tipperary when Limerick overturned a ten point half time deficit to win by five. While the turnover in margin was a lot smaller in this game, there we a lot of similarities in terms of how Limerick completely smothered their opponent in the second half, taking away their long puckout option, from where they counter-attacked in numbers with men off the shoulder which is Limerick at their very best.

There’s no doubt it was helped by a Galway capitulation where they had no Plan B when their long puckout was taken away. They tried to go short, but Limerick are well adept at dealing with that as well as working the ball through the middle they are able of containing.

However, it was galling in that Galway didn’t really know how to play that type of game. Once Plan A went out the window, they looked bereft of ideas. In that scenario you need leaders to step up and without the injured David Burke, Galway remain short in that category.

For Limerick, when they get to Croke Park, 2019 semi-final excepted, they do look a different animal and with Declan Hannon likely to be fit for the final, they look in rude health, apart from Sean Finn who hasn’t been missed. Cian Lynch will have benefitted from getting a full game under his belt while Gearoid Hegarty has yet to fully fire and All-Ireland Finals have proven to be his stage in the past.

In the second semi-final, I felt after the quarter finals that Clare couldn’t beat Kilkenny with the full-back line struggling as they were, even after beating Dublin so convincingly. Coupled with Conor Cleary, John Conlon, and David McInerney all able to start but not one hundred percent fit, Clare manager Brian Lohan probably felt he needed some extra cover there to start off with, which is the only reason why I can think he changed script at this stage of the season and play an extra defender in the form of Seadna Morey.

For all the criticism the move has gotten, it worked to a certain extent in that the Clare goal was more secure in the first half, giving up just the one goal chance with Eibhear Quilligan’s superb save from TJ Reid. Still, they conceded fifteen points but only managed ten themselves at the other end, however, considering they were fourteen points adrift at half time twelve months before, they were certainly in a much better situation and five points is a nothing lead in hurling

The plan seemed to be working as after half time Clare went back to a conventional man on man which served them well up to Sunday and when they went in front with twenty minutes to go, you could only see one winner.

But then again, you are playing Kilkenny who never know when they are beaten in a battle and once Clare handed them the initiative with the defensive mistake pounced upon by TJ Reid and Eoin Cody for the goal, you couldn’t see them being reeled in for a second time, despite it taking the best save I have ever seen in hurling from Eoin Murphy to deny them possibly taking the game to extra time.

The manner of their second half performance against Galway will see Limerick go into the final as worthy favourites but Kilkenny have a cracking chance. They were well beaten by the Shannonsiders in the league final in March, but they weren’t at full tilt with the Ballyhale players not long back after their club exertions, while Derek Lyng was still getting his message across to the players, which is very similar to that of Brian Cody.

Kilkenny are the team most adept at being able to compete with Limerick in the long-ball game, as well as being able to take them on physically in the middle third, plus they also have a strong bench. Kilkenny will fully believe they can win this All-Ireland Final and they can.