All Ireland 2025 championships. Call it.

[johnnycool]

Limerick team named and has Hayes back in at centre back with Will O'Donoghue in the middle of the park.

It will be interesting to see if Lynch follows DeBurca deep into the Waterford defence or if Limerick allocate someone else to stymy DeBurca as he is their main man for me who sets up a lot of their attacking play as well as sweeping up a lot of ball in the defence.
He's ably assisted by Jamie Barron also though, so it will be interesting to see if Limerick give these two lads a bit of attention!

[Milltown Row2]

Limerick team named and has Hayes back in at centre back with Will O'Donoghue in the middle of the park.

It will be interesting to see if Lynch follows DeBurca deep into the Waterford defence or if Limerick allocate someone else to stymy DeBurca as he is their main man for me who sets up a lot of their attacking play as well as sweeping up a lot of ball in the defence.
He's ably assisted by Jamie Barron also though, so it will be interesting to see if Limerick give these two lads a bit of attention!

I'd say Gleeson will get more of a run out in that game too

[johnnycool]

Limerick at times looked to be back to their slick best with some well worked scores.
I thought they left behind a few goal chances which they'll need to be taking when they face Cork and Clare.

Waterford made a game of it for long periods, I did however think Lyons was giving them the softer frees and Limerick had to be well fouled to get theirs which led to an ironic cheer from the Limerick fans in the second half.

If I were Tipp I'd be concerned about the game v Waterford as I give them every chance in that one.
 
Jamie Barron was my MoTM although Lynch was also unreal at times  .

[seafoid]

Galway had too much for Wexford.

[LarryStiles]

Tipperary should win tonight. Have €50 treble on them, Galway and dubs to win tonight

[Premier Emperor]

The top three in Munster will be Clare and Limerick who will decide the Munster Final. Tipp will be in third place.
The top three in Leinster will be Kilkenny and Dublin who will decide the Leinster Final. Offaly will be in third place.
Kilkenny and Clare to win provincials. Tipp V Clare Semi. Kilkenny V Limerick other Semi. Tipp V KK Final. Tipp to win.

Clare won't make it out of Munster. The big 3 of Tipp, Cork and Limerick will.

It is more certain now that Clare won't even get out of Munster. The worst All Ireland winners since 2013.

Maybe even the worst winners since Wexford in 1996?

[Truthsayer]

The top three in Munster will be Clare and Limerick who will decide the Munster Final. Tipp will be in third place.
The top three in Leinster will be Kilkenny and Dublin who will decide the Leinster Final. Offaly will be in third place.
Kilkenny and Clare to win provincials. Tipp V Clare Semi. Kilkenny V Limerick other Semi. Tipp V KK Final. Tipp to win.

Clare won't make it out of Munster. The big 3 of Tipp, Cork and Limerick will.

It is more certain now that Clare won't even get out of Munster. The worst All Ireland winners since 2013.

Maybe even the worst winners since Wexford in 1996?

Or speaks volumes for the calibre and competitiveness of the Munster championship. Clare would have sailed out of Leinster.

[johnnycool]

The big two meet in Munster this weekend in the Gaelic grounds which will be for me the start of the trilogy of games between them this year (although Tipp may throw a bit of a fly in the ointment yet).

Cork have gotten the better of the last three championship encounters between the two and that might be playing on the Limerick players and managements minds.

I'm expecting Kyle Hayes to continue at 6 with Limerick trying to get him under as much of the expected high ball from Cork as possible, I do however expect Cork to vary it more and still try and create the space in behind the Limerick half backs for Horgan, Connelly and Brian Hayes to run onto with the runners coming from the half forwards and midfield offering the goal threat they really need.

I think I'll be sticking with Limerick but expecting a fierce battle to the end.

Tipp V Waterford will also be an intriguing battle with both having a sniff of getting out of Munster and even a Munster final appearance.
I think Tipp will do it if the Tipp fans decide to turn up and support this team, but they'll be much closely watched for the persistent fouling in their defence. They're a much more cynical bunch and won't give any goalscoring opportunities easy, fair means or foul and no doubt the referee's will be forewarned about it.
Waterford will need Dessie Hutchinson on fire along with Bennett to get the scores they need to win this one.

In Leinster Offaly will want to find out where they're really at when they visit the Wexford men, I still think they're a bit below this level, so they'll be on the wrong side of this one.

Antrim are off to Salt Hill, for what might be a chastening experience but I believe they'll put up a better show than expected. Galway may give a few panelists a run out so that might help Antrim. Wee Davy's mileage will be a bit less this weekend.

The big one of the weekend is in Nowlan park where the unbeaten Dubs meet the unbeaten Cats. This may either be a damp squib with neither team really pushing it or if the Dubs decide to lay down a marker in the physicality stakes and go at Kilkenny with all they have.
A loss for the Dubs isn't the end of the world but they may lose out on a Leinster final appearance if they don't beat Galway next week.





 

[mouview]

The top three in Munster will be Clare and Limerick who will decide the Munster Final. Tipp will be in third place.
The top three in Leinster will be Kilkenny and Dublin who will decide the Leinster Final. Offaly will be in third place.
Kilkenny and Clare to win provincials. Tipp V Clare Semi. Kilkenny V Limerick other Semi. Tipp V KK Final. Tipp to win.

Clare won't make it out of Munster. The big 3 of Tipp, Cork and Limerick will.

It is more certain now that Clare won't even get out of Munster. The worst All Ireland winners since 2013.

Maybe even the worst winners since Wexford in 1996?

Or speaks volumes for the calibre and competitiveness of the Munster championship. Clare would have sailed out of Leinster.

Definitely wouldn't have sailed out of Leinster. Kilkenny are a better team and there wouldn't be a lot between Clare and Dublin or Galway.

[johnnycool]

Dubs were the masters of their own downfall, at least three of the KK goals can be attributed to poor decision making or execution of the basic skills by Dublin defenders, they're still in the race for a Leinster final and it'll be all to play for against Galway, but either way both teams are going to make it out of Leinster so not the end of the world.

In relation to Cork, I did highlight what I thought were some of their defensive frailties, badly exposed yesterday and whilst I wouldn't be going and throwing the baby out with the bathwater just yet the Downey lads are tall, but not powerful men, O'Brien of Limerick was every bit as tall as Eoin, but had the build along with it. One of their better players in Mark Coleman, he's a sweeper upper and not overly physical either which is fine, but you can't have too many of those types of lads in the one team.
O'Mahony, Twomey, Barrett, Fitzgibbon, Connelly and Hayes, got no space whatsoever to work in, none of those lads barring Hayes would be known for catching or winning high ball in a ruck, they're inclined to try and flick it down for the runners, but Limerick learned their lessons and got their big men under those balls and either won it of had lads winning the break.

Limerick also showed a willingness to forego the easy point and go for goal, yeah Guillane made the most of O'Donoghue's slip, he still had a bit to do to get himself in for the goal which he took with some aplomb. English also was set up for his goal with a nice flick from Lynch carried the ball quite a bit before letting off the shot, they'll need more of that as the year continues.

Limerick will need all their key players fit and avoiding any suspensions, they did look really slick yesterday and they'll meet Cork at least once more this year and I wouldn't be surprised if the result was reversed, maybe in a Munster final.

If they meet in the AI final my money is on Limerick.

[Milltown Row2]

Thought for large parts of the game Fitzgibbon went missing. not surprising as a lot of the Cork lads did, Limerick got the best start at the home pitch and kept that pace up till the end of the half, game was over by that point..

Not a bad thing for Cork at this stage to get a whooping, might bring their expectations down and increase their work rate, as it lacked on Sunday..

The showboating won't have went down well also, so I'd expect Lynch will get some close physical attention the next day, but as JC said, not too many team, if any, will match Limerick in the physicality stakes..

Great to see and looking forward to the rest of the year

[johnnycool]

Limerick named a much changed team, but all household names all the same;



No Guillaune, Lynch, Quaid or Hayes in the matchday squad, so hope all are fit but that's a serious statement to the rest of the panel and an opportunity for them to rise up to the challenge.

Avoid a serious heavy defeat to already out Clare is all they need to do and I think they will do that and probably be close to winning the game

[johnnycool]

In the other game it's hard to see anything other than a Cork win, although they might be fragile enough if Waterford get about them and make a good start.

A lot of the Cork lads will be having lots a questions asked of them during the week and how they respond to that will be key.
Waterford have the forward players to go direct into them with high ball, and they probably will start that way to see how they go, but if Cork click at all they've too much for this Waterford defense and that'll be that.

Hoping for Waterford as I've a soft spot for them..

[seafoid]

In the other game it's hard to see anything other than a Cork win, although they might be fragile enough if Waterford get about them and make a good start.

A lot of the Cork lads will be having lots a questions asked of them during the week and how they respond to that will be key.
Waterford have the forward players to go direct into them with high ball, and they probably will start that way to see how they go, but if Cork click at all they've too much for this Waterford defense and that'll be that.

Hoping for Waterford as I've a soft spot for them..

Cork can't afford to lose this because they are on 3 and the Déise are on 2 so they have to win. If they do their point difference will be superior to Tipperary's and they will finish second and get another hiding from Limerick in the Munster final.

[Riseagain]

Kilkenny for Leinster Championship
Antrim to beat Offaly to avoid relegation
Laois to win Joe Mcdonagh Cup
Cork to win Munster
Cork for All Ireland,with Kilkenny as an underdog which should never be underestimated.

Those are my predictions we'll see how they fair out in the coming weeks,as to why I backed Antrim to beat Offaly to avoid relegation I believe Davy Fitzgerald when it comes down to the wire will be able to get the win to save their season whereas Offaly don't fair aswell under pressure and Antrim are well able to get late goals