Who did I meet on the road to Kilkenny...
When I drove in the gate, lo and behold, who was coming against me?
After running me off the hurling roads and driving me and my teams into the ditch on so many occasions, I got directions off Brian Cody.
I was rushing but we still had time for a quick chat. Cody was asking me how I was getting on above in Limerick. I was asking him how he was getting on below in Kilkenny, as if that ever needed answering.
Cody was disappointed Kilkenny were already in a relegation final but he was clear in his mind of the path he and his team wanted to take – a good performance yesterday before gearing up for a massive performance next Sunday.
Their display was even more impressive when you look at the team Kilkenny had out and the players they have to come back next week. It looks very daunting for Clare now and the toss of the coin for home venue has never been more important. Cody said he was resting Richie Hogan and Cillian Buckley yesterday but when you add in the Ballyhale crew, that’s at least six quality first team players added to a side that will want to avoid Division 1B like the plague.
In a perverse kind of way, losing yesterday might not have done Clare any harm, especially when a win would have meant nothing anyway with Dublin’s victory.
It might steel them even more because this will be the ultimate test of where Clare really are at the moment. They played some good stuff yesterday and had some decent chances to win the match but they are still leaking way too much.
The majority of that Kilkenny forward line only managed 1-13 last week against Tipp, but Kilkenny racked up a similar high tally to what Dublin managed last weekend. Clare have just got to settle on a full-back line and that will be a massive priority for Davy Fitzgerald and his backroom team in the coming days.
Dublin’s impressive result against Galway was exactly the type of shoot-out I expected but it’s still a huge result for Dublin in the circumstances. I’m sure there was ripples of anxiety around Parnell Park when they were trailing at half-time, because I know how important Division One is to Dublin hurling. They’ll be thrilled too with the draw against Limerick because both will see that as a winnable game and a ticket to a league semi-final. Today’s draw will be massive because both sides will really fancy their chances at home. A league semi-final would be a huge boost to both teams but after a disappointing enough campaign, Limerick will now see this as an ideal opportunity to kick-start their season.
With the way the semi-final draw has been arranged, the winners of that match will line up against Cork and Wexford, who both had disappointing days yesterday. Cork will be happy with the slot-machine score they racked up but they will still be disappointed with how Tipp cashed in their chips after Cork coughed up a 12-point lead. There was nothing really at stake but no team wants to lose that kind of a lead, whatever the occasion. Even more so for Cork with the painful memory of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final still so fresh in their memory.
The manner in how Cork let that advantage slip underlined how important Mark Ellis has been to the team. Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher wasn’t really in the game but he went to town when Ellis went out of the match in the last 20 minutes.
Apart from losing the opportunity to get back to Division 1A, the pain for Wexford will be more acute with the manner of the defeat, especially in how they were absolutely cleaned out in the air. Austin Gleeson and Tadgh de Búrca ruled the skies all afternoon, but Wexford gave themselves no chance with the amount of cheap frees they conceded. It was like shooting practise for Paraic Mahoney, who clipped 0-11.
Waterford played very defensive but there was an impressive structure to how they set up. ‘Brick’ Walsh was selected at full-forward but he did trojan work out the field and his use of possession was always very clever. They left Jake Dillon and Colin Dunford close to goal and they hit them early and fast and Wexford couldn’t cope. Wexford were further thrown off their stride when Waterford stuck to that tactic when playing into the breeze. They deserve great credit because they were very disciplined and they never strayed from their core plan.
This is a setback for Wexford who now have to spend another season in the second tier. Division 1B has done certain teams no harm but Waterford’s win yesterday further underlined the importance of 1A.
The last three teams to get promoted – Dublin, Cork and now Waterford – all rebounded back up after just one season after being relegated. The benefits all those teams accrued in the top tier during previous spring campaigns manifested itself in the type of sassy display that Waterford delivered yesterday.
