{"id":530946,"date":"2026-07-03T10:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530946\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:43:10","slug":"can-galway-or-clare-prevent-a-munster-final-rerun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530946\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Galway or Clare prevent a Munster final rerun?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two hurling celebrations in the Cathedral by the canal this weekend, All-Ireland semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Cork and Galway are first out onto the dance floor. Tomorrow’s game has a novel feeling to it. The beat will be faster than Galway have been accustomed to, and Galway’s style is different to what Cork have faced<\/p>\n

Much has been made of Galway’s championship record against Cork, and the reality is that Cork haven’t beaten Galway in the championship since 2008.<\/p>\n

The Tribes have been reinventing themselves. There’s been a big intake of youth, and they’ve trusted those fresh faces with speedy legs. There’s a hardcore of experience.<\/p>\n

Ben O’Connor hasn’t done anything too radical to the work done by Pat Ryan. The solidity of the defence has surprised a few doubters, and there have been a couple of younger forwards added.<\/p>\n

\"5
\nBen O’Connor<\/p>\n

Overnight, Ben has made two changes to the team that beat Offaly. Midfielders Tim O’Mahony and Tommy O’Connor return after injury, with Brian Roche and Hugh O’Connor making way. Alan Walsh retains his place after his 2-01 display in the quarter-final.<\/p>\n

For a team looking to reach a third final in a row, an average age of 25 in the forward line is notable. In that attack, Brian Hayes has become one of the game’s premier forwards. He plays the ball, not the referee, rarely goes to ground, and that, along with his size, means he doesn’t get the frees the fouls on him deserve.<\/p>\n

Galway boss Miche\u00e1l Donoghue is a thinker. In 2017, while many pundits were clutching their pearls at Waterford for using Tadhg de B\u00farca as a sweeper, Galway were doing something very similar, but it attracted nowhere near the same attention.<\/p>\n

Since his return to Galway, Donoghue’s new team has more speed and youth than 2017, and the tactic is more pronounced. They now pull deeper back. At times, one or none left up front.<\/p>\n

Noted attacker Cathal Mannion repeatedly plays in defence. Few players read the game quite like him. He drifts into space as if he’s following a map no other player can see. Leave him unaccounted for, and he’ll quietly take ownership of the game.<\/p>\n

In the Leinster final, Galway tackled hard, forced turnovers, and punished Dublin with counter-attack. Galway’s first goal came when Paddy Smyth lost possession to Conor Whelan near the half-way line. In that moment, Whelan was wearing number 14, and Galway’s 11, Cathal Mannion, was in the centre-back position.<\/p>\n

There was literally nobody apart from the Dublin goalkeeper inside Dublin’s 45. The Dubs took risks and paid highly for them. Cork cannot be forced into Galway’s game.<\/p>\n

\"Darragh
\nGalway had the run of Croke Park in the Leinster final<\/p>\n

Galway are forewarned too. Cork’s attacking display against Limerick wasn’t good. Their movement from defence into attack is usually among the slickest in the championship, and you’d expect far more variety and creativity this weekend.<\/p>\n

Speed must be king. Nobody likes to lose a Munster final, especially not at home, but n\u00ed ualach do dhuine an fhoghlaim, Cork have to make the Munster Championship experience count, and hurling nation thinks hard roads make better drivers, Cork’s mileage to pay off.<\/p>\n

On Sunday Limerick and Clare come to Jones’s Road for the latest episode in their neighbourly feud.<\/p>\n

Clare have long projected themselves as the plucky underdogs. Until Limerick’s recent run of titles, there wasn’t much between the counties.<\/p>\n

The period between Clare’s 2013 and 2024 All-Irelands would have been more fruitful were it not for Limerick’s rise. Now, a lot of the great Clare players who have played through that period are past 30 years of age, with an abundance of miles on the clock.<\/p>\n

The youngsters are percolating through, and this year’s under-20 All-Ireland winning team can’t mature quickly enough for the banner. Yesterday, Shane O’Donnell indicated that this will be his final season. Clare supporters will hope there’s two more great Championship performances left in him.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there’s Sunday, and Clare do represent a danger to Limerick.<\/p>\n

In negotiations, the toughest nuts to crack are those who have nothing to lose. A good hurling team in the last-chance saloon are tricky to deal with. Limerick are too familiar for Clare to feel any awe in the presence of the green jersey.<\/p>\n

Clare know that at their defiant best, they can beat Limerick, and they know that this is probably the last chance for many of them to do so.<\/p>\n

\"3
\nWhich version of the Clare team will show up at Croke Park<\/p>\n

But Clare have to be questioning themselves also. They barely showed up for two of their Munster Championship appearances. They were marked absent when Limerick came to Ennis, and they put a bad beating on them.<\/p>\n

So, can Clare beat Limerick? On paper, yes. In the imagination, and in the memory, yes. On Sunday in Croke Park? Probably not, but it’s not impossible, that’s what makes it so attractive.<\/p>\n

Where would a Clare win come from?<\/p>\n

We think green flags mainly. They won’t out-point Limerick, but they could out-goal them. They need O’Donnell, Duggan and co to bring their A-game. They need the full majesty of Tony Kelly and they need better defending.<\/p>\n

Clare have stuck to their guns with their rearguard. They find it hard to retain their shape under pressure, and Limerick are masterful at dragging opposition into positions of vulnerability.<\/p>\n

The challenge the Treaty bring is their depth. From Nickie Quaid’s peerless goalkeeping, Finn and Hayes amongst the finest defenders of their generation, Lynch’s vision, Peter Casey’s and Aaron Gillane’s assassin-like finishing, and everything in between.<\/p>\n

Wherever you look, Limerick have the players to expose your weakest point. Hurling Nation thinks that for the Banner to get the best from their older heroes and their young hopefuls in the one game would require too much to fall into place too soon.<\/p>\n

Limerick to march on.<\/p>\n

The Championship is nearly spent, just three days remain. Two semi-finals, the biggest stage, the brightest lights, and some of the finest hurlers the sport has ever known.<\/p>\n

If hurling stirs your soul, this is a weekend to savour.<\/p>\n

D\u00f3nal \u00d3g Cusack was speaking on Morning Ireland<\/p>\n

\n

Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship semi-finals, Cork v Galway on Saturday from 2.45pm on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player, and Limerick v Clare on Sunday from 3.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player<\/p>\n

Watch The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on all matches on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app and listen to commentary on RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two hurling celebrations in the Cathedral by the canal this weekend, All-Ireland semi-finals. Cork and Galway are first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-530946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}