Preview: Weekend's provincial hurling championship action

Saturday, May 9

Munster Senior Hurling Championship Round 3

Waterford v Cork, Azzurri Walsh Park, 6pm - GAA+

Cork’s stirring Munster SHC Round 2 victory over Limerick came at a significant price – a knee injury that has ruled full-back Ciaran Joyce out of the rest of the campaign and an ankle injury that will sideline centre-back Rob Downey for a number of weeks.

Having the spine of your defence ripped out is a big blow for the Rebels and has meant Ben O’Connor has had to perform some significant surgery on this team for this clash with Waterford.

Damien Cahalane did quite well as a substitute against Limerick and retains the full-back jersey, while Eoin Downey is pushed from the wing into the centre of defence to fill the void left by his brother’s absence.

Tommy O’Connell moves from midfield to wing-back, Darragh Fitzgibbon moves from wing-forward to midfield, and Diarmuid Healy comes in for his first start of the campaign at wing-forward.

Cork have been the form team in the country so far in the championship but that’s still a significant rejig of their XV and a Waterford team that are always a hard side to beat in Azzurri Walsh Park will see this as a big opportunity to spring a shock.

They’ve made a couple of changes themselves to the team that drew last time out against Tipperary. Teenager Sean Mackey made a big impression at midfield when introduced for the second-half of that game and is rewarded with a start in place of Darragh Lyons.

Kevin Mahony also made a bit impact off the bench against Tipp, scoring 1-2, and that’s earned him a place in the starting XV at corner-forward as an indirect replacement for Shane Bennett who drops to the bench.

Mahony’s inclusion means that Calum Lyons moves from wing-forward to wing-back.

Cork’s greater pace in most areas of the pitch and the range of threats across their forward line makes them favourites to win here with good reason.

But a Waterford team that has scored heavily in their two games to date definitely has a puncher’s chance.

If players like Paddy Leavey, Jamie Barron, and Sean Mackey can at least break even in the middle third against Cork, then the likes of Stephen Bennett, Dessie Hutchinson, Sean Walsh and Kevin Mahony will fancy their chances of doing some damage against a patched together Cork defence.

WATERFORD: Billy Nolan, Ian Kenny, Mark Fitzgerald, Aaron O'Neill; Jack Fagan, Iarlaith Daly, Calum Lyons; Paddy Leavey, Sean Mackey; Jack Prendergast, Stephen Bennett, Jamie Barron; Dessie Hutchinson, Sean Walsh, Kevin Mahony. Subs: Alex Reade, Conor Keane, Tadgh de Burca, Darragh Lyons, Austin Gleeson, Shane Bennett, Michael Kiely, Peter Hogan, Patrick Curran, Reuben Halloran, Seamus Fitzgerald.

CORK: Patrick Collins; Niall O'Leary, Damien Cahalane, Seán O'Donoghue; Tommy O'Connell, Eoin Downey, Mark Coleman; Tim O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Diarmuid Healy, Shane Barrett, Barry Walsh; Alan Connolly, William Buckley, Brian Hayes. Subs: Paudie O'Sullivan, Ger Millerick, Cormac O'Brien, Ethan Twomey, Brian O'Sullivan, Robbie O'Flynn, Hugh O'Connor, Shane Kingston, Séamus Harnedy, Pádraig Power, Alan Walsh.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 3

Kildare v Galway, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 3.30pm - GAA+

Galway are in a very strong position at the top of the Leinster SHC table after successive victories over Kilkenny and Offaly and you’d fancy them to make it three-in-a-row here.

They’ve freshened up the team that defeated the Faithful County last time out with Joshua Ryan, Tiernan Killeen, Conor Cooney, and Colm Molloy coming into the XV.

Rising stars Aaron Niland and Jason Rabbitte are rested ahead of next Wednesday’s Fulfill Leinster U20 semi-final against Wexford but it’s still a formidable looking Galway side with plenty of firepower in attack.

Kildare have given a good account of themselves in their two matches to date against Wexford and Dublin with players like Simon Leacy, Jack Sheridan, and Cian Boran especially prominent.

But Galway represent another step up in standard and should have too much class for the game Lilywhites.

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna; Liam O'Reilly, Rian Boran, Richy Hogan; Paul Dolan, Conan Boran, Simon Leacy; Cathal McCabe, Dan O'Meara; Jack Travers, Daire Guerin, Gerry Keegan; Darragh Melville, Muiris Curtin, Jack Sheridan. Subs: Mark Doyle, Evan O'Briain, Cathal Dowling, Tim Ryan, Harry Carroll, Conn Kehoe, Sean Whelan, Tom Power, Caolan Smith, Alan Goss, James Dolan.

GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Joshua Ryan, Cillian Trayers, Darren Morrissey; Padraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Gavin Lee; Cian Daniels, Tiernan Killeen; Conor Cooney, Cathal Mannion, John Fleming; Rory Burke, Conor Whelan, Colm Molloy. Subs: Eanna Murphy, Ronan Glennon, Kieran Hanrahan, Shane Morgan, Cianan Fahy, Seán Linnane, Darragh Neary, Thomas Monaghan, Cillian Whelan, Oisin Lohan, Evan Niland.

Wexford v Dublin, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 4pm – RTE

This is a huge match in the context of qualifying for the All-Ireland series.

Dublin have three points after a draw with Offaly and victory over Kildare while Wexford have two points after following a victory over Kildare with a loss to Kilkenny.

That defeat to the Cats was a sobering enough one as a young Wexford team found out the hard way that teams at the highest level will ruthlessly punish any naivety in defence.

Dublin should be a bit further along in their development both physically and tactically, but when the teams met in the League it was a highly competitive match that finished in draw.

Wexford are always a very tough nut to crack in Chadwick’s Wexford Park and if they can get a good supply of ball into Lee Chin and Kevin Foley they can really test the Dublin full-back line.

But the Dubs look like they have a greater range of attacking threats and more options off the bench which could be decisive in the final quarter.

WEXFORD: Mark Fanning; Darragh Carley, Liam Ryan, Shane Reck; Damien Reck, Richie Lawlor, Conor Foley; Diarmuid O'Leary, Conor Hearne; Ross Banville, Simon Roche, Jack O'Connor; Kevin Foley, Lee Chin, Jack Redmond. Subs: Derry Mahon, David Clarke, Niall Murphy, James Byrne, Sean Rowley, Eamon Wickham, Simon Donohoe, Tomás Kinsella, Cillian Byrne, Darren Codd, Cian Byrne.

DUBLIN: Eddie Gibbons; Andrew Dunphy, Paddy Smyth, Eoghan O'Donnell; Conor Burke, Chris Crummey, Paddy Doyle; Brian Hayes, Conor Donohoe; Fergal Whitely, Donal Burke, Darragh Power; Ronan Hayes, John Hetherton, Cian O'Sullivan. Subs: Sean Brennan, David Lucey, Conal Ó Riain, Ollie Gaffney, Conor McHugh, John Bellew, Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing, David Purcell, Dara Purcell, Conor Groarke, Liam Rushe.

Sunday, May 10

Leinster SHC Round 3

Offaly v Kilkenny, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 3pm

Another match that will have a big bearing on who emerges from Leinster with Kilkenny on two points after two games and Offlay on one.

After a desperately disappointing first round defeat to Galway, the Cats reminded everyone they haven’t gone away with a very convincing victory over Wexford in Round 2.

A misfiring attack suddenly shot the lights out with TJ Reid, Mossy Keoghan, and Cian Kenny in particular looking really sharp.

With Eoin Cody also to call on, they should have a greater range of threats than an Offaly side who will be without star attacker Adam Screeney who is ruled out with a hamstring injury.

The Faithful County showed a lot of heart and no little class in their matches against Dublin and Galway, and could do with a big crowd to come out to support their developing young team.

They still lack the bit of strength in depth the top teams have and that goes against them when they have players out injured and when opponents spring a stronger bench.

They’ll give Kilkenny plenty of it but the Cats greater firepower should see them come out on top.

OFFALY: Liam Hoare; Ciaran Burke, Ben Conneely, Patrick Taaffe; Ross Ravenhill, Killian Sampson, Ter Guinan; Colin Spain, Luke Watkins; Daniel Bourke, Conor Doyle, Shane Rigney; Eoghan Cahill, Charlie Mitchell, Brian Duignan. Subs: Mark Troy, Oisin Kelly, Ruairi Kelly, James Mahon, Leigh Kavanagh, Jack Clancy, David Nally, Luke Nolan, Ciaran Cleary, Dan Ravenhill, Cathal King.

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Mikey Carey, Ivan Bolger; David Blanchfield, Darragh Corcoran, Paddy Deegan; Killian Doyle, Jordan Molloy; Liam Moore, Cian Kenny, Tom Phelan; Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Eoin Cody. Subs: Aidan Tallis, Shane Murphy, Richie Reid, Cathal Beirne, Rory Garrett, Fionán Mackessy, Stephen Donnelly, Ed McDermott, Gearoid Dunne, Luke Hogan, Timmy Clifford.