With the round-robin series of games almost completed, the Leinster championship proper is ready to commence next weekend and it should be a cracker.
The draw has worked out favourably for the so called weaker counties with Offaly/Kerry, Laois and Westmeath all on the same side of the draw. If Westmeath manage to pull off a shock win over Galway then there would be some battle in this side of the competition.
The other half of the draw has Dublin playing Wexford in Croke Park on Saturday 21 May, with the winner facing Kilkenny. Three of the top four teams in the same side should ensure no one-sided games here.
Offaly/Kerry v Laois
Offaly and Kerry meet next weekend in the qualifier series in a knockout game with the winner facing Laois on 5 June . A draw will be enough to get Kerry through.
The Faithful have had a turbulent few weeks on and off the field, having notably lost to Kerry in the league and Westmeath in the championship. The players showed character to bounce back last week and grind out a narrow victory over Carlow and set up this winner-takes-all game.
Eamon Kelly and the players know that a big improvement is required to stay in the summer race.
Kerry, under Ciaran Carey, had a good win over Carlow followed by a defeat to Westmeath. They will come to Tullamore confident of a victory having beaten Offaly in March in the league.
This is a huge game for both counties as the winner will be hurling into July at least while the losers will not play another competitive game until next February.
I expect Offaly will find enough improvement to just about shade this one [it could go either way] and advance to meet near neighbours Laois in the quarter-final.
Laois under Cheddar Plunkett had a poor league campaign yet managed to preserve their Division 1B status with a relegation/promotion play-off win over Westmeath.
Based on their championship form last year they will fancy their chances against either Offaly or Kerry. They have lost a number of players from last year but have had time to readjust. Their defensive style of play will cause problems for anyone and when on song, players like Picky Maher, Cha Dwyer and Willie Hyland are match winners. I expect Laois to come through here and advance to the semi-final.
Westmeath v Galway
Michael Ryan is doing an excellent job with a very good backroom team but more importantly he has a good young panel of players to work with and they are all putting their shoulder to the wheel.
They have had two impressive wins against Offaly and Kerry and in Tommy Doyle they have a real top class full-back. They play Carlow in their final round-robin game next weekend.
Westmeath put it up to Galway at home in 2012. Indeed during Galway’s great run in championship and league in 1987 and 1988 one of the very few teams to defeat them during that period was Westmeath. I expect Michael Ryan’s men to give Galway a very good run but Galway’s overall strength and hurling ability should win out. The surprise element is gone for Westmeath.
Having being relegated to Division 1B of the hurling league, Galway players and the new manager Micheál Donoghue are already under pressure to put in a good championship run.
The aftermath of Anthony Cunningham’s departure has left a sour taste around the county as regards the county hurling panel. They have now to win back that support and prove their actions were justified.
The draw has been good to them and they should reach another Leinster final. They still look the most likely team to dethrone the Cats. Much will depend on how Donoghue and Co can manage and get the best out of his panel of players.
There is no doubt but they have loads of talent but the key as with any talented team is ensuring that performance wise the whole has to be greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Dublin/Wexford v Kilkenny
Ger Cunningham’s Dublin face Wexford in a quarter-final at Croke Park.
The Dubs had a better than expected league run despite losing to Limerick at home in their last game. Cunningham has discovered a few new players but you feel he may miss the loss of the likes of Danny Sutcliffe and Conal Keaney in the heat of battle.
They have a lot of experienced players and playing in Croke Park will be an advantage to them.
Liam Dunne has had a poor start to the year but all could change if they could get a victory against Dublin and set up a meeting with the Cats.
Having won three successive Leinster Under 21 titles they should be ready to drive on hard for a senior title.
For some reason it is not happening for them and I think the players will need to stand up and be counted. They did that against Waterford in the league quarter-final and that was a boost for morale in the camp.
I expect Dublin to come through in this one to meet the Cats but Wexford will not go out easy.
Brian Cody’s men received a major wake-up call when receiving a hiding from Clare along the lines of what they generally dish out to others. This has probably been a blessing in disguise for them in that they now know that achieving the three-in-a-row will be no easy task.
I thought that overall their league performances were not as good as what was being written up as they got the rub of the green to win a couple of games with late goals.
You would expect them to regroup and get focused to beat either Dublin or Wexford. This game will tell a lot about how they will have responded to the Clare defeat.
Was that a once-off or are they in decline? The return of players like Conor Fogarty, Paul Murphy, Eoin Larkin and Colin Fennelly from injury will strengthen the team and Richie Hogan should be much fitter. They will win but it is a tough one, especially if Dublin come through as expected.
