Mattie Kenny's Dubin side have booked themselves a Division One league semi-final spot with a richly-deserved victory over Tipperary in Thurles this evening.

You might have noticed the scoreline of the Dublin-Laois Allianz NHL Division 1B encounter at the weekend and wondered if Dublin were improving at all under Mattie Kenny.

It wasn't always pretty from Dublin at rain-drenched Parnell Park but Mattie Kenny's men dug deep to secure the win and top spot in Division 1B of the Allianz NHL.

This was a convincing and routine win for Galway as they easily bettered Dublin to claim both the league points on offer at Pearse Stadium.

Dublin nearly stunned the All-Ireland champions in Salthill but Paul Winters two second-half goals were not enough to edge victory for Pat Gilroy’s side in Pearse Stadium.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium director Bob Ryan says “there’ll be no issue with the pitch” for tomorrow week’s Munster SHC opener between Cork and Clare at the venue.

Jason Flynn's 1-9 haul eased All-Ireland title holders Galway to an anticipated victory at Parnell Park, setting up an Allianz hurling league promotion shoot-out with Limerick next weekend.

Limerick remain on course for a winner take all final league game with Galway on March 4 after John Kiely’s side made it three from three with a comfortable win over Dublin at the Gaelic Grounds.

Goal drought continues

Limerick 1-26 Dublin 0-17: Limerick maintained their 100% record in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B by comprehensively beating Dublin 1-26 to 0-17 at the Gaelic Grounds.

Former All-Star hurler Danny Sutcliffe has admitted a tightening of US visa regulations contributed to his decision to return to the Dublin setup.

Dublin 1-15 Offaly 2-25: Kevin Martin reckons resurgent Offaly can be ‘quietly confident’ of keeping their winning run going at the expense of old rivals Limerick.

Offaly 2-25 Dublin 1-15: Talisman forward Shane Dooley crowned his 100th Offaly appearance with 1-5 as the Faithful County pulled off a surprise Allianz hurling league win.

Every year the comparative article here on this day constitutes a variation on a familiar theme. We have, oh dear, had precious little to talk about since last September. We have, oh woe, been living on processed meat. Now proper hurling — real beef — is back again. Yay! Rejoice and be glad. Etc.

Wexford 1-20

Pat Gilroy’s new-look Dublin ended a mixed weekend on a high note with a big win over Antrim to move confidently through to the last four of the Bord na Mona Walsh Cup.

New Dublin hurling coach Anthony Cunningham has raised the exciting possibility of sharing dual prodigy Con O’Callaghan with the county footballers for “part of a season”.

Dublin hurling has been handed a boost with the news that Danny Sutcliffe is set to rejoin the panel next year.

Conal Keaney has been pained to watch the Dublin hurlers sink to a level where they have been “laughed at” but the former dual star believes a big-name managerial appointment would soon turn things around.

Dublin GAA chairman Sean Shanley has admitted that the county’s strict policy on not paying managers has led to some figures being turned away in the past.

Waterford should win but might not. Their main difficulty is their convex tradition against Kilkenny in championship encounters, writes PM O’Sullivan.

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.

A one-point defeat by Roscommon brought a mix of pride and bitter disappointment to New York’s Gaelic football family last year, and it has whetted appetites for Sligo’s visit to Gaelic Park in Sunday’s Connacht SFC preliminary round tie.

Imagine for a moment what it feels like to be the Dublin hurling manager watching Cormac Costello sitting on the footballers’ bench. The sight of Ciarán Kilkenny ripping it up on a more regular basis can’t be much more palatable.

Liam Dunne is talking about Wexford’s future. Happily. Comfortably. His fifth season in charge was brought into question by some a couple of months back but here he still stands.

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.

Heedless/headless hurling

John Fogarty sees Kilkenny and Tipperary renewing rivalries at the head of a competitive Division 1A

Walsh Cup - Galway 1-16 DCU 0-17: After all the turmoil of the last few months, there was an air of relief around Duggan Park in Ballinasloe yesterday as Galway got back out on the pitch for their first match since the All-Ireland final loss to Kilkenny.

Dublin hurler Shane Durkin is officially the GAA’s most attractive player.

Waterford 2-21 Dublin 1-19: An unstinting work-rate complimented by the occasional passage of sweeping brilliance.

Galway prosper without Joe show and four other talking points...

Waterford crashed out of the Munster senior and U21 championships in the space of four days, yet the 14 Déise players involved in both defeats were keen to reload immediately for Sunday’s All Ireland quarter-final, according to selector Fintan O’Connor.

A technical oversight was apparent in two of the big hurling games over the weekend.

THERE are times when you go into a big game as manager knowing the gun is to your head, when you can almost feel the cold steel pressed against your temple.

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.