Fadó fadó, a meeting of Galway and Tipperary in the championship had the country talking hurling all week long.
Whether it was Gerry McInerney's white boots, Tony Keady’s suspension or Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh’s Rabbitte chasing a Fox, the Tribesmen and the Premier were top of the bill any day they met.
In modern times, we had the excitement of Joe Canning’s magical score in 2017. Who remembers Padraic Maher’s flying hurley failing to stop Shane Moloney’s winner in 2015 amid torrential excitement at Croke Park?
Those games and the other championship meeting of the period were all settled by a single point and it looked like Tipp and Galway were entering a new era with old fire still burning.
The last time they met in championship was late in November in the year of Covid, 2020, in an empty stadium. Galway won by two points but perhaps that bleak day has erased the memory of a lot that went before.
Tomorrow night’s game is in a discreet Saturday teatime slot, sharing the afternoon with football preliminary quarter-finals. Galway and Tipperary play as the top half of a double-header, which opens with Clare playing Dublin.
Not just for the history it carries but for the intrigue of this game alone, Galway and Tipp deserve better. No-one with hurling’s interest at heart could justify why this hasn’t been hyped up into a prime-time Sunday spot.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage PreferencesAnyway, where do they stand? The era of Limerick bossing hurling began in 2018 when Galway, as reigning champions, gave up their crown in the All-Ireland final. Since then, Leinster teams’ only appearances in All-Ireland finals have been defeats inflicted on Kilkenny.
Leinster was quiet this year while Munster roared, so this is our first chance since the league final to see where Leinster is at.
Then there are the two managers: Henry Shefflin and Liam Cahill are both breathing life back into teams that had lost their way. Henry is a year long in the job. The high point for Galway this year was two championship games against Kilkenny where only a last-second goal for the Stripey men separated the teams.
Tipp started their championship in Ennis. That was April and outside of last week's facile win over Offaly, it was their last victory. Draws followed against Cork and Limerick before they crept into the All-Ireland series despite a beating by Waterford.
What does it all mean? Both teams have questions around their defence but Tipp have more to bring when comparing attacks. Based on that, and their draw with Limerick being the most encouraging indicator of form from either team, we’re going for a Tipp win.
Before that, we have Clare and Dublin. Different moods here.
Dublin are showing some shape under Micheál Donoghue, who brought Galway to their last All-Ireland. It’s patient work and Dublin can be satisfied with how it is progressing.
Clare still have to prove something to themselves. They didn’t play well in the Munster final against Limerick but could still feel that they left the game behind them.
Their full-back line needs sorting out. Some of the big guns have been misfiring.
All their games so far have been big games, they can’t afford to treat this any differently. Too much still to prove, and that’s all bad news for Dublin.
Sin é a chairde, the summer has barely started, and we are running out of inter county hurling games already. Enjoy it while we can. Iománaíocht go deo!
Dónal Óg Cusack was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland
Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-finals, Dublin v Clare and Galway v Tipperary, on Saturday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
