Huge weekend in the Munster Championship
It’s another bumper weekend of Munster Championship action coming up including a spin across the county bounds for the footballers for a Munster final as the hurlers head east. It is also Cork v Kerry in the Munster Senior Ladies Football Championship.
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Cork v Waterford on Saturday in Walsh Park at 6pm
“It’s unfortunate especially for Ciarán (Joyce) with his season ending one, but at least Rob (Downey) will be back,” said Cork boss Ben O’Connor on the loss of two big central players for Saturday’s game against Waterford.
“There is nothing we can do about it now - injuries are part and parcel of sport and it’s just a case of next man up, that is why you need a big panel.”
He also sees this game as a semi-final. “Well that is the way we are treating it - win and we are into the Munster Final with a game to spare and that would give us a bit of breathing space, but look it’s not going to be easy down there.”
It’s a venue that he knows well, “played there often enough, not in championship mind but it’s a tough place to go, we know that.”
Even though they have only 1 point, Ben has seen enough of Waterford to know they are a good team. “Battled back to get a great draw against Tipp, scored 4-21 in Ennis so we need to be focussed and ready for a real battle, if not you will be punished.”
Waterford showed their resolve by the manner in which they battled back and rescued a point against Tipperary when it looked all over that a week after pushing Clare all the way in round 1.
Injuries have hit them but they have quality players in Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mahony, Sean Walsh, Jamie Barron, Dessie Hutchinson and Iarlaith Daly and with their championship ambitions on the line, expect a real battle from the Désie.
Of course the big question or questions will be who will replace Joyce and Downey in the centre of the defence?
Damien Cahalane looks the obvious choice for the number 3 jersey alongside the very efficient Niall O’Leary and Sean O’Donoghue.
In the half-backs, will they move Eoin Downey to replace his brother or will they reshape completely?
Options include Micheál Mullins who started the league final; put Tim O’Mahoney back - he has operated there before; Fitzgibbon to midfield where many feel he is more suited to, and that would put Robbie O’Flynn, Diarmuid Healy and Shane Kingston or Declan D’Alton and maybe the experienced Seamus Harnedy as possibilities.
Will Barry Walsh start given that he played in the under 20 game last night (Wednesday) - big ask for such a young but very talented player?
Whatever 15 is named, you can be sure they will go there intent on winning and maintaining their push for a place in the final.
In the wins to date, they have not really produced a consistent 70 minutes but they have determination and resolve to get the job done, especially in the Limerick game.
A similar display will hopefully get them over the line in what is sure to be a compelling encounter.
The match is live on C103 and the Onic Player.
Munster Senior Football Final
Cork v Kerry on Sunday in Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney at 1.45pm
“Very special and really looking forward to going there in what should be a great occasion,” John Cleary said on the trip on Sunday.
John has a lot of memories - some good and not so good - of his trips to Fitzgerald Stadium but one stands out.
In the “1987 final we drew in the Páirc and the view was we had lost our chance but we went down and won. It started a great run for the team and probably put an end to a great Kerry team.”
That though is history, Sunday is where we are at and John is well aware of what they are facing.
“Without doubt, they are a very good team, they are the All-Ireland champions and the Munster champions and will want to win on their own patch.”
John is pleased at the way his team has evolved over the course of the season to date. “We had a tough league campaign - 4 games away from home, okay we didn’t win the final but our objective was promotion and we got that.”
Just like the hurlers, injuries will impact selection, “Brian (Hurley) won’t make it and we will see nearer the day how Dara (Sheedy) is but not looking great right now.”
On injuries, the list in Kerry is a lengthy one but John makes the point they have depth and quality. “Ah sure look we know how strong they are I watched their win over Clare and despite being without a few players, they were always in control.”
Cork’s two wins over Limerick and Tipperary were patchy to say the least. “They were, at half-time against Limerick we had the job done and took the foot off the gas, while in the Tipp game maybe we were thinking of Kerry, but in fairness the lads got the job done and we are where we wanted to be since the draw was made last year.”
Jack O’Connor speaking to the media on Monday was not happy that the draw for the All-Ireland series was after been made ahead of the final. Kerry play Donegal and Cork play Meath - a repeat of both the Division 1 and 2 league finals, while he also outlined the lengthy injury list.
How many of them will play in the final he was unsure but they have an abundance of top class players.
The key will be can Cork contain them, in particular the Ciffords Paudie and David, so many have tried and failed such is their class.
Tom O’Sullivan although rated doubtful, Tadgh Morley, Paul Geaney, Diarmuid O’Connor, Gavin White and Micheál Burns are well versed in the art of winning Munster finals.
Cork are unlikely to change much from the semi-final win; Micheál Aodh will be the goalkeeper, with Daniel O’Mahoney, Luke Fahy and Tommy Walsh in defence and Sean Brady might come into contention and he was excellent in the game against the Kingdom last year.
As ever the midfield battle will be key and the Cork pairing will be the tried and trusted Colm O’Callaghan - what a season he’s having - and team captain Ian Maguire.
One thing they need to get right is the kick-out; it’s been an issue in recent games. You must at least win your own - let’s hope they can do that.
Cork have racked up big scores in their games but the Kerry defence will be a lot sharper than what they faced to date.
Steven Sherlock, Chris Óg Jones, Mark Cronin and Sean McDonnell will need big games if Cork are to prevail.
It’s a first Cork v Kerry final since 2021 and Cork have not won the title since 2012 and that is a very long time, and they are not fancied to end that long wait on Sunday.
Kerry need no motivation when facing their age old rivals in a final but on Sunday, the cup for the winners honours the memory of the late and great Páidí Ó Se they will want to keep it in the Kingdom and even more so when the captain Paul Geaney has strong connections to the Ó Se family.
Cork will certainly give it their best but it might come up just short.
The match is live on C103 and on the Onic Player.
Munster Minor Hurling Championship
Cork v Limerick on Friday in Páirc Uí Rinn at 7pm
Following on from their impressive win over Clare, Cork will be bidding to secure a place in the final if they can win this game. Limerick can also make the final if they win and the result of the other game that between Tipperary and Waterford goes their way.
It’s a funny Championship really with 4 of the 5 teams progressing. At this stage it looks like Clare are going to be eliminated.
The return of a couple of key players from injury for the win over Clare helped Cork notably captain Eoin Considine and forward Callum Coffey and with Sam Ring, Tadgh McCarthy, Bobby Power and Liam O’Regan all impressing, Cork look well placed to make the final against Tipperary.
Munster Minor Football Championship
Cork v Waterford on Monday Páirc Uí Rinn at 7pm
Having won their games against Clare and Kerry - impressively it must be said, Cork are already into the Munster Final and Waterford are out of the Championship; this game will afford manager Keith Ricken the opportunity to further test the depth of his panel.
Of course he might take the view that it is important to keep the winning momentum going but with a few injuries to contend with, that might influence his selection.
There’s a lot of quality in this team: Ben Hegarty, Riley O’Donovan 1-3 after coming as a substitute in Tralee, Peadar Kelly, Rory Twohig the goalkeeper is well able to kick two pointers and Gary Oronsaye.
Add in the injured Tom Hooley and Conrad Murphy who didn’t feature in the win over Kerry and this group have a long season yet, they will win on Monday and look set to face Kerry again in the final.
Camogie and ladies football
The curtain raiser in Killarney at 11.45am is also Cork v Kerry in the Munster Senior Ladies Football Championship. Cork with two defeats need a huge win to have any chance of making the final and that on the evidence of last week’s loss to Waterford, it looks unlikely.
Joe Carroll might look at the bigger picture and plan for the All-Ireland series, the groups for which will be determined after the provincial championships with Cork now likely a 3rd seed.
The inaugural All-Ireland Under 20 Ladies Football Championship gets underway on Saturday when Cork play Dublin in Cloughduv at 2pm.
A week on from having beating Tipperary easily in their final group game, Cork will once again face the same opposition the All-Ireland Under 23 Championship semi-final on Sunday at 2pm.
There’s some suggestion that with their place in the last four already secured, Tipp rested some of their players at the weekend, not sure if that was the case but they shipped a fair trimming from a lively Cork side.
It’s been a tough few weeks for the Cork camogie teams with little joy coming their way so it would be a nice boost if this team could reach the final, and a fit Orlaith Cahalane would be an addition.
Niamh Mac Nabola, Amy Sheppard, Millie Condon, Ava McAuliffe, Avril Cashman and Orla Cremin impressed in that easy win - a repeat could see them into the final.
The venue for the game will be confirmed later in the week.
Galway and Kilkenny meet in the other semi-final.