Cuala (Dublin) 1-23 Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly) 1-9: If it wasn’t for Mattie Kenny’s forensic attention to detail, we mightn’t read too much into the curious, 26-point score-lines that his Cuala team has been racking up lately.

Con O'Callaghan's early goal in Portlaoise set AIB All-Ireland club hurling title holders Cuala on their way to a big win and back-to-back provincial titles.

It’s probably a good thing that new Dublin hurling boss Pat Gilroy was in Boston and missed county champions Cuala’s latest outing.

When Colm Cronin hopped, skipped and jumped 15.89 meters on June 26th 1977, little did the Leevale man realise his Irish triple jump record would remain peerless some 40 years later.

On Wednesday night I took out a pen and paper and wrote down an alternative Dublin team to the one that is selected for tomorrow in Tullamore.

Cuala took the honours in the All-Ireland Club hurling final with surprising ease, easing past Ballyea of Clare in a dour struggle.

In-demand Dublin dual starlet Con O’Callaghan has revealed he won’t line out for UCD in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cup so as to ease his fixtures load.

Mattie Kenny may have thought he was onto a winner when he enjoyed a hole-in-one in Portumna Golf Club on Saturday. “The hole in one was a fluke – today was more crafted,” smiled the Cuala manager.

Cian O’Neill has reiterated his annoyance with the rescheduling of Kildare’s Leinster championship game against Wexford.

Ger Cunningham wouldn’t mind having more of his panel available to him against Wexford on Saturday but he agrees it feels more like his team this year.

Cuala (Dublin) 3-12 Clara (Kilkenny) 0-17: Galway hurling may be in limbo but, across the country in Dublin, one man is at least putting his hand up as a strong contender to lead them into a brighter future.

For the record, it took an exceptional save from Colm Callanan to deny Colm Cronin and Dublin a goal last week. But for that denial, we wouldn’t have a replay to preview.

Kilkenny 4-12 Dublin 2-16: Kilkenny advanced to the semi-finals of the Bord Gais Energy Leinster U21 Hurling Championship after defeating Dublin by 4-12 to 2-16 at Parnell Park last night.

Dublin 0-20 Galway 1-17: Rip it up and start again. 

In the stroll down Jones’s Road yesterday afternoon, the general consensus was that Dublin’s meeting with Longford in the Leinster football championship would be a rerun of Christians-Lions (Coliseum, vespers), with no guesses as to which side were going to be portraying the early converts, or the main course.

In the end, it seemed fair that this pair should get a second chance to redeem themselves after a disappointing showing.

Dublin edged out Tipp in an entertaining senior hurling challenge last night. 

Dónal Óg Cusack cut an exasperated figure when writing in these pages last June about the dearth of attacking talent in Dublin.

Stephen Cluxton is among six changes to the Dublin side for tonight’s Allianz Football League Division 1 clash with Tyrone in Croke Park (7pm).

UL 0-18 UCD 0-15: UL manager Brian Lohan hailed the second-half intensity shown by his charges, 10 unanswered points directly upon the change of ends laying the foundation for this quarter-final win.

Cork IT 1-14UCD 1-10 

Six-time All-Ireland winning minor hurling boss Mattie Murphy has joined the managerial ticket seeking to replace outgoing Galway senior manager Anthony Cunningham.

St Vincent’s booked their place in the Dublin SHC quarter-finals following an emphatic 6-21 to 0-13 victory over Parnells in Parnell Park on Saturday.

ALL-IRELAND SHC QUARTER-FINAL:

Wexford 1-20 Dublin 0-18

Kilkenny are built on their defence

That old saying about absence and what it does for the heart sprang to mind yesterday evening as members of Kilkenny’s backroom staff stood underneath the Hogan Stand having their pictures taken with the Bob O’Keeffe Cup.

Kilkenny 0-24 Dublin 1-9

Devotees of the traditional championship structure probably woke today with a thumping headache.

Kilkenny 0-24 Dublin 1-9

Dublin face long-time Leinster kingpins Kilkenny at GAA headquarters this evening looking to claim back-to-back provincial titles and in the process cement their place as the new hurling supremoes in the province.

Dublin 2-08 Westmeath 0-13

This weekend offers Wexford a chance to stake a claim at the top table of hurling with a win over reigning Leinster champions Dublin after years in the wilderness.

Dublin hurling captain Johnny McCaffrey is confident the reigning Leinster champions will not be hindered by an 11-week lay-off ahead of their provincial opener against Wexford on Saturday night.