Offaly draw short straw as Cats first up

What to make of all the All-Ireland senior hurling provincial championship draws yesterday? The first and most obvious question — why so soon?

Why not have this later in the year, say around Christmas, when there was little enough to talk about in GAA circles, and generate a little interest then? Why not wait even until the New Year, start to build a little momentum early in the season, then build on that?

As it is, come January you’re going to have GAA fans wondering — who the hell is it we’re playing again?

Mind you, they won’t be wondering that in Offaly. The reigning All-Ireland champions first up, in the Leinster quarter-final — ouch. Ollie Baker, the Offaly manager, was surely reaching for the Aspirin last night. What an imbalance in this province, however. Awaiting the winners of that quarter-final (wonder who that will be?) will be either Dublin or Wexford, a good draw for both of those, but that’s four of the top five Leinster teams all lumped together.

Dublin would have been looking for an early test but would have wished to avoid both Kilkenny and Galway — all those wishes are granted here. Liam Dunne’s Wexford likewise would have wanted to avoid the two Leinster big-guns (my, how Dublin have slipped in one year); he too will be happy enough with this outcome.

As for Galway — while they’ve avoided Kilkenny, this was NOT what Anthony Cunningham wanted. Straight into a semi-final on the back of their triumph this year, none of the other teams on this side of the draw will worry them in the slightest.

They’re looking at almost certainly reaching their second consecutive final but what then? No matter who they meet, Galway will probably be untested, while the side they meet will have come through the mill.

Not good news for the Tribesmen, not good news at all.

In Munster, given that there are fewer teams and most of those are pretty evenly balanced anyway, no such worry. Clare again face off against Waterford (though hopefully without the Davy hype) but this time it’s in the quarter-final, Cork barring the path of the winners on the way to the final. Both will relish the prospect of meeting each other, obviously, and it will give the winners that advantage of having a good game under their belts when they meet Cork.

On the other side of the draw another repeat, champions Tipperary against Limerick, but this time the winner goes straight through to the final.

Take it as read that they’re already girding themselves on Shannonside for this one.