SATURDAY, 15 JUNE
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals
Laois v Wexford, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 5pm
Offaly v Cork, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 5.15pm
ONLINE
Live blogs/live scores on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app.
TV
GAAGO will cover the clash in Tullamore between Offaly and Cork with highlights and reaction to Saturday's action on The Saturday Game, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, from 10.50pm.
RADIO
Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn.
WEATHER
Saturday: While Saturday will bring some bright or sunny spells at times in places, there'll be further showers or longer spells, again some of it heavy, with a chance of thunder. Highest temperatures of 14 to 17 or 18 degrees in mostly light to moderate variable winds.
For more, visit met.ie.
Preliminary arguments
Some GAA debates are guaranteed an annual outing – ticket prices, championship structure and, at this stage of the season, the decision to hand Joe McDonagh finalists a spot in the All-Ireland series.
Saturday's games will be the fifth time tier two teams have entered the preliminary quarter-final stage since the McDonagh Cup's inception – two Covid years saw them miss out – and some of the results need to come with a health warning.
Offaly 3-18 Tipperary 7-38, Carlow 0-13 Limerick 5-22, Westmeath 0-20 Cork 1-40 – there have been some almighty beatings handed out.
"The Joe McDonagh winners gain promotion, that’s solid but asking these two teams to play again in a matter of days against a much fresher and stronger team is a punishment rather than a promotion of the game in my view," RTÉ GAA analyst Shane McGrath said on Thursday.
Of the previous eight games, there has only been one win from a Joe McDonagh side, and that was Laois’ 1-22 to 0-23 victory over Dublin in 2019.
The O’Moore County would go on to give Tipp their fill of it in the first half of their quarter-final clash at Croke Park, but Aaron Dunphy’s red card right at the start of the second half meant that an upset was never on the cards.
Still though, that "heroic display", as then RTÉ Sport pundit Henry Shefflin described it at the time, was a sign that the process maybe does have life after all.
There is an a bit of a trend too, and one that maybe gives Offaly a bit of hope when they welcome Cork to Tullamore. The winning Joe McDonagh team seems to fare much better a week later, demonstrating the psychological impact that comes into play at this stage.
The four previous Joe McDonagh winners have recorded one win with the three losses by an average of 15 points. In two of those defeats, Carlow to Dublin last year and Antrim to Cork in 2022, the losing side were able to go hard for three quarters before their opponents added gloss to the scoreboard coming down the stretch.
For the losing Joe McDonagh finalists, it’s four defeats with a losing average of 21.75 points. Laois be warned.
Keeping the Faith
June 2024 has been a memorable one for Offaly hurling with an Under-20 All-Ireland crown quickly backed up by a thrilling Joe McDonagh Cup success at the expense of Leinster neighbours Laois.
Now they have close to a free hit against Cork in front of their own fans in Tullamore, although the red wave will be on show in the stands too.
Having dipped down to Christy Ring level as recently as recently as 2021, Offaly are on the rise but this is a significant step up both in terms of quality and the mental fortitude required.
Dan Bourke, Cathal King, Donal Shirley and Adam Screeney started both the U20 and McDonagh finals. Colin Spain came off the bench against Laois having started against Tipp in the underage decider. The emotional fatigue carried by that quintet must be heavy.
Their championship record against Cork doesn’t make for nice reading either, losing six of their seven meetings with their sole success coming in the 2000 All-Ireland semi-final.
"All they achieved yesterday was a stay of execution. Offaly are steam-rolling into a one-way street and will bounce heavily off a wall during the next 70 minutes of championship hurling," one match report read after their uninspiring quarter-final win over Ulster champions Derry.
They responded with a five-point win over Munster champions Cork in what was deemed one of the great upsets given how poor they had been that year, and another win here would rank high on the shock list too.
Much has been made of the U20 players’ impact, but Johnny Kelly will be relying on the more experienced heads to keep them in this game for as long as possible.
The manager name-checked Ben Conneely, David King, team captain Jason Sampson and Cillian Kiely after their Joe McDonagh final win and while the fusion of youth and knowhow worked seamlessly at times against Laois, they will need it for much longer spells here.
Oisín Kelly came off the bench to score a crucial goal as his recovery from two cruciate injuries continues, and he’ll be another vital option here.
For their opponents though, after losses to Waterford and Clare to open up in Munster, a path of Offaly-Dublin to get to an All-Ireland semi-final seemed a long way away, but here we are after their wins over Limerick and Tipperary.
Like Offaly, Cork hurling is on a Rebel roll and with their footballers also in action against Tyrone, Tullamore feels like an attractive journey for their colourful fans.
It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway, Offaly must find a way to stop Cork scoring goals.
Over nine league and championship games in 2024, Pat Ryan’s side have raised 23 green flags. Five of those came in their Division 1 hammering of Offaly back in March.
Ten of those 23 have come from livewire Alan Connolly, who has three hat-tricks to his name this season. Patrick Horgan has five goals but the other eight have been shared between eight different players so the spread of threats is there.
Championship seasons can often be defined by moments and Horgan’s last-gasp penalty against Limerick has changed the trajectory of the team this season, and also the view of manager Pat Ryan. If Kyle Hayes doesn’t commit that foul then it’s back-to-back group exits for the manager and the pressure is really ramped up.
Now, they have a path to the last four that they are very much expected to walk. An emphatic win over Offaly would set them on the road.
Wexford warned
Wexford need no reminding of the power of the underdog as they prepare for their All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final clash with Laois at O’Moore Park.
Over the last two years they’ve suffered championship losses to Westmeath and Antrim, while the former also earned a Leinster draw with them in 2022.
It’s just a note of caution for a game they enter as almost unbackable favourites despite another up and down provincial campaign.
As well as that loss in Belfast, there was a gutsy win over Galway and a draw against Dublin when they conceded two additional time goals. It really was the good mixed with the bad.
One thing very much in the good column was the performances of Lee Chin who delivered tour de force displays round after round.
While he was quieter in the final Leinster game against Kilkenny, the Cats’ defence managing to subdue him somewhat, he did take his championship tally to the season to 3-54 in five games.
Potential good news for Wexford is that 2019 All-Star Diarmuid O'Keeffe continues to edge closer to a return from a back injury. Earlier this week he hit the crucial goal midway through the second half for St Anne’s in their Division 2 league semi-final win over Blackwater and 'Dee’ is expected to be back in the squad very soon.
Liam Ryan, however, is set to miss out with a hamstring problem.
It’s hard to gauge how the mood would be in the Laois camp this week, but the prospect of Wexford after the demoralising final defeat to Offaly last week means there’s probably plenty of work for the management team to get cracking on.
"It's still playing in the back of the mind but we have to draw a line in the sand," attacker David Dooley said after the Offaly defeat.
Laois’ last clash with Wexford in the championship came in 2022 when they were absolutely destroyed with the Model County running up a six-goal tally. Only five players that started that day were also in the first 15 for last week’s McDonagh final loss to Offaly so maybe those scars won’t cut too deep.
Still though, there has to be a massive hangover from Croke Park last week - and that will likely show.
Watch The Saturday Game this weekend from 10.50pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Armagh v Galway (1.45pm) and Dublin v Mayo (3.45pm) on Sunday on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
