Focusing the Minds
KILLINAN END
If we are infer any reliable messages for championship from league matches played in wintery conditions, next weekend might be one where the future reality begins to emerge properly.
All three pairings in the hurling league division 1A will be repeated in the championship. The weekend matches bar Limerick v Cork even taken place at the championship venues, and a possible Munster Final between those two would be in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. We may not see Limerick v Kilkenny, Tipp v Galway, or Cork v Kilkenny in the summer but we are guaranteed all three weekend pairings cropping up. As well as that with four counties all on four points – Tipp, Galway, Kilkenny and Waterford – the losers of these games will be flirting with relegation. Early days but still plenty on the line here between points gained and potential head-to-head advantages.
Kilkenny have been getting mixed messages from the league. A decent competitive display against Limerick – albeit a losing one – was interspersed with a hard-earned win over Waterford which might have been lost, while another home match with Cork which could have been a heavier loss. With an eye on avoiding a potential relegation struggle the Black & Amber will travel to Salthill. They will also look for positive signs ahead of their trip to the seaside in April for the first round of the championship.
Galway’s home turf has not been a happy hunting ground for Kilkenny who have failed win there since the round-robin system began. Not since 2015 have they played at this venue in the league when they lost by two points and ended up in a relegation play-off against Clare. Eoin Murphy is the only plausible remaining starter from that day for Kilkenny, while the Mannion brothers are Galway’s likely overlap. Remarkable that they have met only once since, that when Galway won in Nowlan Park last year. There has been some low-level excitement about Galway’s new blood but this will be well tested by a dogged if limited Kilkenny. Confidence ahead of their opening-day showdown at the same venue would be a valuable takeaway.
Despite the great achievements of Tipp and Clare in the last couple of years Limerick-Cork remains the flagship rivalry of the sport right now. Even a routine league match between them should have plenty of cutting. At Nowlan Park last weekend Cork showed a grit which they have maybe been accused of lacking but they will need that as an entry level requirement for any clash with Limerick. For the Shannonsiders, it is a tricky game in that winning it might lean them towards a league final which perhaps a team such core mileage could do without.
Limerick’s challenge this year will not be raw ability on a given day; it will be the ability to produce again and again. They may not want to start that cycle so early in the year but on the other hand it is a game in which their supporters and their own pride will demand a performance. Cork, down a few players against Kilkenny, will have their depth tested at a different level. It is worth noting that Limerick’s last seven championship games has seen them win just twice, and Cork’s last seven has produced just three wins for the Rebel County. Perspective is no harm.
Perspective should be no challenge for Tipp under Liam Cahill heading to Walsh Park. It has always been a difficult venue even if technically Tipp have quite a good record there. The Déise showed in patches against Kilkenny that they can do damage and will take some beating in a game Tipp could do with winning. A potential dogfight with Kilkenny in the last round might fill seats in anticipation but after a decent start to the league dropping down would be, if not quite a disaster, very undesirable not just for next season’s fixtures but also for what it might say about current form.
It's always difficult to speak with confidence on the psychological backdrop to these matches. However, a win for the home team in a fixture to be repeated a few weeks down the road at the same venue would surely boost confidence. Nipping all of that in the bud would do Tipp no harm with an eye on bigger tests ahead. Waterford’s performances have been wavering – not great against Cork or Galway, more than decent against Kilkenny and Limerick. No prizes for correctly guessing which version will show up for us in front of a home crowd in Walsh Park.
Maybe we should appreciate this. Some forty years ago, Tipp toiled in Division 2 and failed to get promoted – little more than twelve months on from Richard Stakelum and Killarney. At the same time, our south-eastern neighbours had the culture shock of hurling in division 3 where they came second to Mayo. The current challenges of Tipp-Waterford are indeed first world problems.