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\nThe Tribesmen won the Leinster Championship on route to the All-Ireland final<\/p>\n
Eight years on from their first titanic tussle, it’s a repeat matchup as Galway and Limerick go head to head in this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling championship final.<\/p>\n
The form guide indicates yet another hard-fought battle between two counties who have forged an enthralling, if not one-sided rivalry since 2018, but how did they get here?<\/p>\n
\nThe Tribesmen won the Leinster Championship on route to the All-Ireland final<\/p>\n
Galway<\/p>\n
After disappointing climaxes to their 2024 and 2025 seasons, Miche\u00e1l Donoghue’s task for this year was since likened to trying to fix the aeroplane mid-flight. However impossible that task seemed, the Clarinbridge clubman has managed it rather seamlessly, with just an occasional strip of turbulence.<\/p>\n
Yet, with just a few minutes to play in their National League campaign, Galway were on the verge of progressing to the final, and spoiling the Cork-Limerick showdown many had hoped for.<\/p>\n
It was in the TUS Gaelic Grounds where Galway surged late on, having trailed by 10 points at the break, to run John Kiely’s men close before losing out 2-27 to 0-31<\/a>, as Aaron Gillane’s late goal ruined an epic comeback.<\/p>\n After that disappointment, albeit with the caveat of a fourth place finish in Division 1A, all eyes shifted towards Leinster as Galway looked to break their hoodoo in the provincial championship.<\/p>\n Galway 3-25 Kilkenny 1-16<\/a><\/p>\n Start as you mean to go on, as Galway kickstarted their Leinster championship bid in emphatic fashion in Pearse Stadium. Having bested the Cats by 18 points in the league six weeks prior, the home side ran out comfortable 15-point victors on a perfect evening for hurling.<\/p>\n Two goals from Rory Burke and 1-09 shared between Jason Rabbitte and Aaron Niland set the stall out for the Tribesmen’s arrival early.<\/p>\n Galway 2-26 Offaly 1-18<\/a><\/p>\n There was less comfort eight days later in Salthill, as Galway needed late goals from Conor Cooney and Rory Burke to see off a spirited Offaly side in round two. A small crowd of just over 6,000 witnessed the home side fire a whopping 19 wides in a scrappy performance.<\/p>\n Galway 4-22 Kildare 1-22<\/a><\/p>\n In a game which pointed towards being the shock of the decade, Donoghue’s men needed an overpowering second-half revival to overcome Leinster returnees Kildare in Cedral St. Conleth’s Park at the midpoint of the provincial championship.<\/p>\n A 10-point half-time lead was not enough for the Lilywhites as goals from Rory Burke, Tom Monaghan, Conor Whelan and Cian Daniels helped the 2018 Leinster champions come away with the spoils.<\/p>\n Galway 0-21 Dublin 3-16<\/a><\/p>\n In their only defeat of the championship thus far, high-flying Dublin claimed another scalp in Salthill thanks to late goals from Ronan and Brian Hayes, with the last puck of the game, halting the Tribesmen’s momentum.<\/p>\n It proved to be a frustrating defeat for the home side who failed to find the back of the net for just the third time in their 13 league and championship games thus far in 2026.<\/p>\n Galway 2-31 Wexford 3-20<\/a><\/p>\n Another tale of two halves in the final round of the league phase as Galway again came from behind to secure their Leinster final berth, courtesy of an eight-point win over Wexford.<\/p>\n Trailing by 13 at one point, supers sub Conor Cooney accounted for 1-08 as they overcame a buoyant home side.<\/p>\n Galway 4-29 Dublin 4-15<\/a><\/p>\n As he had done in 2017 and 2018, Miche\u00e1l Donoghue guided Galway to just their fourth Bob O’Keefe Cup thanks to a high-scoring Leinster final win over Dublin in Croke Park.<\/p>\n Played in front of a whopping crowd of 40,000 supporters, again it was youngsters to the fore with Aaron Niland and Darragh Neary among the goal scorers as the Tribes claimed just a second win at GAA HQ since the 2017 All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n Galway 2-26 Cork 1-18<\/a><\/p>\n In a frantic third quarter that will live long in the memory, the Tribes upset the applecart in toppling Cork to return to the All-Ireland final stage for the first time since their defeat to Limerick back in 2018.<\/p>\n Scoring just 0-04 from placed balls, it was a relentless defensive energy that steered the western county home to victory, serenaded by a late rendition of ‘The Fields of Athenry’.<\/p>\n Limerick<\/p>\n Perennial hotshots since they lifted Liam MacCarthy in 2018, Limerick came into this year’s championship primed to avenge their early exit, at the hands of Dublin, the season prior.<\/p>\n John Kiely’s men were too strong for arch rivals Cork, in a 1-27 to 1-21 win<\/a>, which secured a fourth league title for this squad.<\/p>\n The Treatymen also had too much for the Rebels earlier in the league phase, coming out 3-19 to 0-20 winners<\/a>, again on home soil, leaving them practically unblemished heading into the business end of the season, and the start of the Munster championship.<\/p>\n Limerick 1-23 Cork 2-22<\/a><\/p>\n Despite Limerick taking the opening two rounds of this battle heading into this mouthwatering tie, Cork reigned supreme in a pulsating clash by the banks of the Lee.<\/p>\n With Aaron Gillane sidelined and Cian Lynch seeing red for the visitors, Ben O’Connor’s men came out on top thanks to a late rally of scores by Alan Connolly (2) and Darragh Fitzgibbon.<\/p>\n Limerick 2-30 Clare 1-18<\/a><\/p>\n Written off in some quarters due to their marquee absentees, this time it was Limerick’s turn to play spoiler-in-chief in a 15-point drubbing in Ennis.<\/p>\n With over 20,000 people packed through the gates of Zimmer Biomet P\u00e1irc Ch\u00edos\u00f3g, this May day proved to be Aidan O’Connor’s day, scoring 1-09 and helping John Kiely’s men to get back on track.<\/p>\n Limerick 2-29 Waterford 2-20<\/a><\/p>\n With a week off to regroup and get players back fit, Limerick took on, and took down Waterford in round three in their first game in TUS Gaelic Grounds.<\/p>\n Gillane and Lynch both returned as the home side rallied late in a result which booked their place in the top three with a game to spare.<\/p>\n Limerick 5-27 Tipperary 0-25<\/a><\/p>\n Needing a victory to cement their place in an eighth Munster final in a row, Limerick surged past Tipperary by 17 points in another second-half storm.<\/p>\n Leading by just four at the break, thanks to goals from Aaron Gillane and Aidan O’Connor, Kiely’s men raced home in front of Jim Furyk among others, with Gillane and O’Connor finding the back of the net again, as well as Diarmuid Byrnes.<\/p>\n![\"7](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024b198-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPeter Casey’s late point helped Limerick reclaim the Mick Mackey Cup<\/p>\n