Anthony Daly: Cork top my ranking of eight remaining Liam MacCarthy contenders
Cork would have been in the top two Liam MacCarthy contenders irrespective of the result against Limerick in the Munster SHC final. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
No matter what happened on Saturday evening, Cork were in the top two for me anyway, but they deserve to occupy top spot, albeit marginally, after the manner of Saturday’s win. We all saw afterwards how much the hype train has been cranked into gear and, while Cork will be carried along in that fervour and passion of that hysteria over the next four weeks ahead of an All-Ireland semi-final, it will also be a challenge for Pat Ryan to make sure that the hype train doesn’t derail them.
Cork still have to prove that they can go on and win the All-Ireland but it’s still a massive testament to their quality and fortitude that they have now beaten Limerick in three of their last four championship meetings. The way they recovered from a 16-point whipping three weeks ago also underlines the resilience in the group.
The beauty of having a four-week break now is that it gives Cork a chance to get bodies back, for lads like Ger Millerick and Declan Dalton to recover, and for Rob Downey and Niall O’Leary to get more training into them. One of the biggest plusses from Saturday was the display of their bench, which will intensify competition for places even more now. Cork are certainly in a great place. And they deserve to be number one – for now at least.
Saturday was a setback but Limerick will use that heartbreak to deposit more fuel in the tank to get back on the road. On the other hand, they’ll also be keen to be more consistent. Then again, when you set the standards Limerick have, it is hard to maintain them. The draw against Tipperary on the first day was eyebrow-raising but they controlled the match against Waterford before blowing away Cork in round 3 and then giving a run out to the squad in a dead-rubber against Clare. I love the way they have regenerated the team personnel wise with Adam English, Shane O’Brien and Aidan O’Connor, and structurally with Kyle Hayes going to number six, Barry Nash to seven, Cian Lynch to 11 and O’Brien and O’Connor to 14. Nickie Quaid’s remarkable return from a torn ACL last winter has encapsulated their desire to keep going and keep searching for more. They’re remind you of Kerry after losing the five-in-a-row in 1982, when it appeared as if that remarkable journey was over - but it wasn’t.
Limerick may not have won the five-in-a-row. The seven in-a-row in Munster is gone now too, but they look driven to do what Kerry did and win another batch of All-Irelands. For now though, they’ll only be focussed on winning this one. And I wouldn’t rule them out of doing so.
However much you question Kilkenny’s quality and their reduced number of X-factor players, the one thing nobody can ever accuse them of is inconsistency, lack of fight and reduced desire. And Sunday's Leinster final reaffirmed how all of those principles still govern their play.
Kilkenny were good when they needed to be but – even allowing for how hard it is to keep the foot pressed to the floor - they won’t have been happy with how they allowed a game that was dead to come alive. Then again, they still won by an impressive margin.
They are dangerous again but the one thing that would concern me about them going forward is their depth, and how they would cope against Limerick in Croke Park (if that match-up, as expected, happens) once Limerick physically dial up the heat – which they certainly will. That’s even more of a concern when some of their marquee men are injury prone.
When Kilkenny did lose some of those guys to injury during the round robin, there wasn’t a huge supporting cast ready to replace them. They have tried a lot of guys too in the last couple of years but very few, if any, of that new cohort have stood up and grabbed a jersey.
For all the criticism of them though, Kilkenny will feel that they should have been in the final last year after missing a raft of goal chances in the first half. However, the way they didn’t ruthlessly finish Clare off when they had the chance reaffirmed the doubts about them going the whole way again now. And Sunday showed up some of those concerns again.
Still, with their best team on the pitch, I wouldn’t rule them out. Not yet anyway.
After a couple of difficult seasons, this has been a transformative campaign under Liam Cahill. It was also been unexpected when a handful of players didn’t come back this year, more weren’t asked back, while Cahill packed the panel with new players over the winter, which included five U20s. The recent All-Ireland win, combined with last year’s All-Ireland minor title, has proven that Tipp will be a force down the line, but Cahill will believe that Tipp can accelerate that process this year.
The graph is definitely on the rise but they will face a sticky quarter-final now against Galway, after they beat Laois at the weekend. Still, they will go into that game full of hope and expectancy. I have plenty of friends in Tipp and, while they have always been a very demanding crowd, there seems to be a real positive air of optimism around this side now, and their chances in the remainder of this championship. The big test, and the real carrot, is to try and get back to Croke Park, a place Tipp haven’t been since 2019. If they do, they’ll be dangerous.
Galway showed what they’re capable off late in the fourth quarter on Sunday but why did it take them so long to get going – again? They’d frustrate the life out of you. Their supporters must be tearing their hair out but at least they have given themselves something to build on now ahead of the quarter-final with that late surge. Because if they hadn’t made that spurt, confidence would have been on the floor heading into what should be a difficult fixture against Tipp.
It's just a pity that the provincial decider marked a return to some of their old patterns because Galway had been fairly consistent and solid since the opening day collapse against Kilkenny. Most of that good form though, was shown against lower ranked teams. And that has to be a concern now when they’re more than likely facing a Tipp team that are battle hardened, and fresh.
Still, there is an acceptance that Micheál Donoghue is trying to marry the long game with the short term in terms of this side’s development. It’s rare that you see a Galway manager being given a four-year term, but that’s how much faith Galway have in Micheál and the long-term project he has undertaken. It was also a sign that the board were not putting pressure on Micheál like they heaped on so many managers in the past.
It will be a much different team in four years but you can be guaranteed that the foundations will be solid when that time comes. On the other hand, Micheál won’t be looking at the long-term for now. He will see an All-Ireland semi-final as a baseline requirement. But Galway are going to have to step up big-time if they are to make it.
There’s been a lot to like about Dublin to date, but a lot to worry about too. They showed great resilience to dig out a win the first day out against Offaly, before adding ruthlessness to that composure in round 2 against Wexford. After taking care of Antrim in Corrigan Park in round 3, they were effectively qualified, especially since they had Wexford on the head to head. Did that security cause them to drop off a little in their last two games? Possibly. They were blown out of it against Kilkenny before staging a remarkable comeback that nearly got them over the line. The Dubs were poor against Galway when three goals probably camouflaged how far they were off the pace that day. They need the younger lads to keep stepping up to the plate and will face a tricky preliminary quarter-final against Kildare in Newbridge at the weekend. If they overcome that hurdle, they’ll run into a ravenous Limerick team, desperate to rinse Saturday’s disappointment out of their system.
To really frank any legitimate sings of progress, Dublin have to get back to Croke Park and make a first All-Ireland semi-final in 12 years. If they somehow could, the Dubs would fancy opening up in the wide open spaces with their pace and athleticism. The pressure would be off too, unlike last year’s Leinster final when they buckled under that weight.
Still, making that last four looks a tall order now with - assuming the Dubs get over Kildare - Limerick steaming down the tracks.
Sunday's second half performances was one of the great Joe McDonagh final displays in the history of the competition. Some of Kildare's hurling was top class, while their link play, support play and athleticism was of a really high standard. Next weekend is a big step up, especially when Kildare are bound to spend at least a couple of days celebrating (which they rightly should). On the other hand, the sight of the Dubs certainly won’t frighten them either - especially when the Naas lads know the Dublin scene so well from having played against their clubs. Having the match in Newbridge is a massive plus too, especially when the place should be packed and full of giddy optimism. I would give Kildare a fighting chances but you’d still expect the Dubs to have too much.
Losing successive McDonagh finals is heartbreaking but trying to recover from this defeat before facing Tipp at the weekend is going to be a mammoth task for Tommy Fitzgerald and Niall Corcoran in the coming days. Laois aren’t going to win that match but the challenge now will be to keep the lads focused enough to be able to deliver a performance that will allow them to stay in the match for as long as they can. Tipp showed two years ago against Offaly that they won’t take their foot off the gas and the last thing Laois need now is an ugly beating. It’s hard though, to see anything other than a comprehensive Tipp win.
That’s going to be hard to stomach in Laois’s circumstances - but that’s the reality of life at this level. It’s brutal.
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