GAA Hurling Championship Previews

The Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship gets underway this weekend with the massive clash of Cork and Tipperary, while the Leinster provincial competition also cranks into action and the identity of the Ulster semi-finalists should also be ascertained come Saturday night.

SATURDAY

Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship - Quarter-FinalNowlan Park: Galway v Wexford, 7.00pm

With the Allianz GAA Hurling National League Division 1 title safely tucked away, Galway are eager to build on that success and end their 22-year wait for a GAA All-Ireland Hurling Senior Championship.

The Tribesmen were not the only county to be successful in Semple Stadium on the day of the league finals on May 2, however, as Wexford accounted for Clare to take the Division 2 accolades.

In that regard, both sides are coming into this match in Kilkenny on Saturday night in positive mood, though Galway are the favourites, having enjoyed higher-quality games during the spring.

One thing Wexford do have in their favour is history, having never lost to Galway in the championship, the most recent victory being in the All-Ireland semi-final of 1996, while the sides met twice in the then-new Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the 1976 penultimate stage, drawing before the Model County won the replay.

Historically, Wexford also have a good relationship with Nowlan Park, but, given that it is the first meeting of the counties in the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, history is unlikely to carry too much weight.

Last year, their first time competing in the province, Galway put up a creditable display against Kilkenny and then looked to be building up momentum in the qualifiers before a later sucker-punch from Waterford sent them out at the quarter-final stage.

Their form throughout the league has been very impressive though, and manager John McIntyre has indicated his pleasure with the level of performance by making just one change from the side that beat Cork in the decider, bringing in Joe Gantley for his first championship start, in place of Iarla Tannian.

Others to make their full debuts for Galway are Donal Barry at right half-back, David Burke in midfield and Aidan Harte at top of the right. Harte had played at number 10 against Cork but swaps places with Damien Hayes.

For Wexford, Noel Carton has the unenviable task of trying to fill Damien Fitzhenry's boots as he makes his championship debut in goal, with Lar Prendergast at right corner-back also making his bow, while the return of Eoin Quigley, who missed last year with a cruciate injury, is another boost.

Naturally, a lot will revolve on how Wexford can shackle Galway's main attacking threat Joe Canning. Keith Rossiter is the man chosen by manager Colm Bonnar to do that job and he knows that he will have his hands full.

To reduce Galway to just a one-man team is foolhardy however, as evidenced by the inclusion of Hayes and Cyril Donnellan in attack, Ger Farragher in midfield and Canning's older brother Ollie in the full-back line.

If Wexford are to win, then big games will be needed from Quigley, Diarmuid Lyng and the Jacob brothers in attack, while Darren Stamp at centre-back will also be expected to perform well.

Going on the basis of the league finals, Galway would look to have the edge, but Wexford have often in the past pulled out big performances when needed and could do so again.

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Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Championship - Quarter-FinalCasement Park: Derry v London, 2.30pm

This is Derry's first outing in this year's Ulster Championship, while London already have the benefit of a seven-point win against Monaghan under their belts.

The sides have already met this year in Division 3A of the Allianz GAA Hurling National League, with Derry triumphing by 5-16 to 0-8 at the end of February, and the final table had the Oak Leaf County in second place in the table - losing to Kerry in the final - with London coming fourth in the six-team section, beating Armagh and Mayo.

With home advantage, and the evidence of the league result, Derry will be regarded as favourites and it would be difficult to foresee them not emerging victorious to reach the semi-final, notwithstanding their surprise defeat to Meath in the Christy Ring Cup.

Alan Henry will be one of the men Derry will look to for scores, along with Ruairi Convery and Paddy Henry, while captain Kevin Hinphey will also be expected to play a big role.

Martin Finn was London's main score-getter against Monaghan and will need to reproduce that form if the Exiles are to progress any further.

Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Championship - Quarter-FinalCasement Park: Down v Armagh, 4.30pm

The defeated finalists for the past three years, Down are fancied to reach that stage, at least, again this year, and they begin their campaign with a clash against Armagh.

The Orchard County, who have already beaten Donegal and Tyrone, came fifth in Division 3A while Down were sixth in Division 2, and that difference in level should be telling.

A six-point loss to Westmeath in the quarter-final of the Christy Ring Cup last weekend may have dented Down's confidence though, and Armagh, with their confidence high after their two wins, may feel that an upset is in the offing.

Brian McNaughton, scorer of a hat-trick against Tyrone, and Paul Breen will be Armagh's main scoring threat, but the greater experience of Down, in the form of the likes of Stephen Clarke and Paul Braniff, should see them prevail.

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SUNDAY

Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship - Quarter-FinalPáirc Uí Chaoimh: Cork v Tipperary, 4.00pm

With 55 All-Ireland senior titles between them, there can be no denying that Cork and Tipperary are among the blue-bloods of hurling, and clashes between the two counties are steeped in lore.

Hell's Kitchen, Ring, Meagher, Justin McCarthy's comments in 1985 leading to Tipp threatening never to play in Cork, Nicky English kicking to the net in Killarney, Mark Foley scoring 2-7 in 1990, Tipp's amazing comeback the following year - the list is almost endless.

The list is also composed of things that have gone before, though, and while Sunday's encounter will be the latest chapter in the enduring rivalry between the sides, history is unlikely to play a large role.

Even recent history is unlikely to count for much, as the Cork players have been quick to point out that, despite losing to Tipp in the championship in 2007, '08 and '09, that will hardly matter once the teams enter the field at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. That location by the banks of the Lee was for years a graveyard of Tipp's ambitions against Cork, but two years ago they finally bridged the 82-year gap between then and their previous win there, in 1926.

With that out of the way, Tipp won't have any psychological problems about travelling down and winning, and as their centre-back Conor O'Mahony pointed out during the week, the pitch in Cork is like so many others - two sets of goalposts and four lines inside which the action takes place.

So, what will happen inside those lines? As with any Cork and Tipp clash, it is almost impossible to predict, but to put forward the theory that there won't be too much in it is not that daring - 1990 was the last time that there were more than six points between the sides at the end.

Tipperary, as the reigning Munster champions, seeking their third provincial title in a row, and having come so close against Kilkenny in the GAA All-Ireland Hurling Senior Final last year, are regarded as the slight favourites, though Cork's good string of results during the Allianz GAA Hurling National League shows that they are making progress following last year's disappointing defeat in the qualifiers to Galway.

Their league campaign also came to grief against the Tribesmen however, and some commentators are of the opinion that that game gave more of an insight into the Rebels' prospects than the previous seven.Cork manager Denis Walsh has gone with an experienced side - in fact there are no championship debutants in the starting 15 - but experience is one side of a double-edged sword that also features miles on the clock, and there can be no denying that.

By contrast, Tipp have given debuts to Michael Cahill at left half-back and Brian O'Meara at number 14, while the other 13 starters featured in the 2009 All-Ireland final, with the other two players to start that day, James Woodlock and Pat Kerwick, absent through injury. O'Meara's inclusion, in particular, is noteworthy, as he was only added to Liam Sheedy's panel at the start of the month.

Whether all 30 players will line up in their selected positions is arguable, especially as Cork midfielder Tom Kenny is still rated as an injury doubt, though full-back Eoin Cadogan has shown a marked improvement following his lay-off and is expected to be okay.

In midfield, Cork have selected Cathal Naughton, who caused so much damage in the first half of the 2008 meeting as Cork forged into a 1-8 to 0-4 lead, and with Jerry O'Connor at centre-forward - the same configuration that the two play for their club Newtownshandrum - a fluid running game is an option, with O'Connor also expected to be an outlet for puck-outs, but that is not a challenge Tipp centre-back O'Mahony will shirk from.

Ultimately, it could come down to goals, like last year when Seamus Callanan found the net to help Tipp to a 1-19 to 0-19 win. The visitors look to have the better firepower if that is the case, but no outcome can be ruled out.

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Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship - Quarter-FinalParnell Park: Offaly v Antrim, 3.30pm

These sides meet for the second year in succession, Offaly having beaten Antrim by 18 points in a relegation play-off last year, prior to relegation being scrapped.

Large victories for the Faithful have been a feature of this fixture, bar the notable exception of the famous 1989 All-Ireland semi-final, when the Offaly players gave their Ulster counterparts a guard of honour off the pitch following the surprise result.

While the stakes are not as high in Parnell Park on Sunday, both sides will see this game as an opportunity to take a step towards a provincial decider, though the presence of Galway or Wexford in the semi-final after this is a considerable obstacle.

Both sides had identical records of two wins and five defeats in the league, Offaly coming seventh in Division 1, showing signs of renaissance, while Antrim finished fifth in Division 2.

With Derek Morkan their only debutant, Offaly boast an experienced side, but without the services of Brendan Murphy, Ger Healion and Ger Oakley, they could be vulnerable.

It would still be a surprise though were Antrim to win, even with the return to the fold of Liam Watson, and while Thomas McCann is their only debutant, it is still a relatively young team.