Eamonn Cregan has called on Limerick to “stop bloody hand-passing the ball out of defence” and operate a more direct style of hurling ahead of Saturday’s Division 1 quarter-final against Dublin.

Na Piarsaigh manager Shane O’Neill said the club’s defeat by Loughgiel of Antrim in the 2011 All-Ireland club semi-final had forewarned them about Northern teams.

KARL McKEEGAN stands just 60 minutes away from a potentially perfect end to a 21-year senior hurling career. And as twilight settles on all those seasons in the sun and wind and rain, the former Antrim skipper is in a mood to reminisce.

AIB All-Ireland Club SHC semi-final - Ruairi Og, Cushendall (Antrim) 3-12 Sarsfields (Galway) 1-6: Earlier this year, when Neil McManus and his girlfriend sat down to book their flights to Asia for the beginning of a six-month round the world trip, they picked May as their travel date.

Antrim ace Neil McManus was the hero with an impressive 1-7 as Ruairi Og, Cushendall pulled off a shock AIB All-Ireland club hurling semi-final win in Navan.

Neil McManus knows it’s high time Cushendall’s litany of hard luck stories ended on All-Ireland semi-final day.

Sarsfields 2-10 Craughwell 0-14: And so the cycle of history goes on. It wouldn’t be a Sarsfields success in Galway without the Cooneys at the forefront.

Astrange thing happened to me this week. While reading my two Monday newspapers; I discovered that I was totally and utterly engrossed.

Antrim 2-18 Laois 2-16

WHAT is it about Kilkenny teams, be they club or county, that once in the national arena and no matter what the circumstances, they just don’t panic?

To lose a county final, at any level, is a huge blow, especially when your club has been in the doldrums for a while; to lose two, devastating, surely. To lose six, then, and to lose those six in succession, how must that feel? How do you come back from that?

DEREK MCGRATH may be just 34 but he has already enjoyed an impressive coaching career.

There was plenty of county final action in Gaelic football and hurling yesterday, with nine finals down for decision - including six football deciders.

DE LA SALLE’S Stephen Brenner isn’t sure how he will react when walking out in Croke Park next month for the club final clash with Portumna, returning to where he last played in goal with Waterford in the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final against Clare.

VICTORIOUS captain John Mullane provided the best summation of yesterday’s mammoth contest in Parnell Park.

De La Salle 1-21 Cushendall 1-19, Parnell Park (after extra-time)

FOR the time being, it will matter little to either surprise Munster champions De La Salle or experienced campaigners Cushendall that the conventional view is that the All-Ireland club hurling champions will come from the other semi-final.

Despite some observers pointing to a current crisis in Clare hurling, Antrim half-back Ciaran Herron has a different perspective on today's All-Ireland SHC qualifier between the Glensmen and the Banner at Casement Park (throw-in 2.30pm).

Loughrea 1-11 Cushendall 0-9

New Antrim manager Jim McKernan wants retired midfielder Jim Connolly to go back on his decision to quit the inter-county hurling.