April, Saturday 22

Joe McDonagh Cup round 3

Kildare v Kerry, Hawkfield, 1pm

After such an impressive Allianz Hurling League campaign, Kildare’s form has dipped considerably in the Joe McDonagh Cup, with defeats in the first two rounds against Carlow and Offaly.

Any hope they have of getting themselves back into the mix depends on a win against Kerry here, a feat they have already managed in the League.

The form-line favours Kerry, though. They drew last time out against a Carlow team that beat Kildare well, and in Shane Conway have a player operating at the peak of his powers.

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna, Niall Ó Muineacháin, Simon Leacy, Cian Shanahan, Paul Dolan, Rian Boran, Drew Costello, Johnny Byrne, Cathal McCabe, James Burke, Gerry Keegan, Paul Divilly, Brian Byrne, Cian Boran, David Qualter. Subs: Seán Burke, John McKeon, Cormac Byrne, Sean Christanseen, Micheál Hogan, James Dolan, Alan Goss, Sean Whelan, Frank Bass, Reece Gavin, Declan Flaherty

KERRY: John B O'Halloran, Darragh Shanahan, Cillian Trant, Paudie O'Connor, Eoin Ross, Evan Murphy, Eric Leen, Fionan MacKessy, Kyle O'Connor, Michael Leane, Jordan Conway, Shane Conway, Gavin Dooley, Brandon Barrett, Colin Walsh. Subs: Louis Dee, Sean Weir, Tadhg Brick, Mickey Boyle, Jason Diggins, Niall Mulcahy, Dan Goggin, Philip Lucid, Keith Carmody, Padraig Boyle, Daniel Collins

Carlow v Laois, Netwatch Cullen Park, 3pm

This is a crucial game in the race for a place in the top two which guarantees a final berth and a place in the All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals.

Carlow have performed much better than might have been expected after their League campaign, with fit again stars like Chris Nolan and Marty Kavangh key to two impressive results thus far – a convincing win over Kildare and hard-fought draw last time out against Kerry.

Laois bounced back from an opening round defeat to Offaly with a massive 31-point win over Down last time out, and so bring a lot of momentum into this match.

Players like Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher, Paddy Purcell, Ross King, and Stephen Bergin look like they’re finding form at the right time of the season, and on paper Laois are probably the stronger of these two teams.

Carlow are always a hard nut to crack at home though and will battle for everything, so there’s unlikely to be much in this by the time the final whistle blows.

CARLOW: Brian Tracey, Paul Doyle, Conor Lawlor Niall Bolger, Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Kevin McDonald, Jack McCullagh, Conor Kehoe, Diarmuid Byrne, Jon Nolan, Martin Kavanagh, James Doyle, Jack Tracey, Paddy Boland, Chris Nolan. Subs: Ciaran Abbey, JP Treacy, Richard Coady, Michael Joyce, Fiach O’Toole, Scott Treacy, Jack Kavanagh, Paudie O’Shea, Ciaran Kavanagh, Tony Lawlor, John Michael Nolan

LAOIS: Enda Rowland, Fiachra C Fennell, Liam O'Connell, Donnchadh Hartnett, Ryan Mullaney, Padraig Delaney, Ian Shanahan, Aidan Corby, Ross King, Patrick Purcell, Stephen Maher, James Keyes, Martin Phelan, Tomás Keyes, Stephen Bergin. Subs: Peter Walsh, Padraic Dunne, Liam Senior, Padraig Lalor, Jack Kelly, Gearoid Lynch, PJ Scully, James Duggan, John Lennon, Colm Stapleton, Fionán Mahoney

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

With two wins from two, Offaly are the only team in the Joe McDonagh Cup with a perfect record and sit top of the table.

Down, in stark contrast, have lost both of their games by an average margin of 21 points and are already very much in the relegation picture.

There are still three rounds to go, but the nature of their 7-24 to 0-14 defeat last time out against Laois must have been dispiriting.

When you consider that Offaly have already beaten Laois and averaged a scoring return of 28 points in their first two matches, this could be another tough day at the office for Down.

OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran, Jack Screeney, Ciaran Burke, Ben Conneely, David King, Jason Sampson, Killian Sampson, Jack Clancy, Paddy Delaney, Cillian Kiely, David Nally, Adrian Cleary, Paddy Clancy, Brian Duignan, Eoghan Cahill, Eamonn Cleary, Cathal Kiely, Joey Keenaghan, Dara Maher, John Murphy, Charlie Mitchell, James Nally, Eoghan Parlon, Conor Langton, Liam Langton, Cathal O'Meara

DOWN: Stephen Keith, Aodhan Furlong, Tom Murray, Niall McFarland, Barry Trainor, Caolan Teggart, Liam Savage, Jordan Doran, Ryan McCusker, Mark Fisher, Pearse Óg McCrickard, Paul Sheehan, Tim Prenter, Chris Egan, Daithi Sands, Cathal Lavery, Deaglan Mallon, Eoghan Sands, Stuart Martin, Finn Turpin, Tom McGrattan, Ruairi McCrickard, Jason Croskery, Oisin MacManus, Matt Conlon, Darragh Mallon