Hurling championship preliminary quarter-finals: All you need to know
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals
Laois v Tipperary, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 1.45pm
Kildare v Dublin, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 4pm
ONLINE
Live scores on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live updates on RTÉ Radio's Saturday Sport and Spórt an tSathairn on Raidió na Gaeltachta.
TV
Laois v Tipperary live on GAA+.
Highlights on The Saturday Game, RTÉ2, 9.30pm.
We're now at what is often dubbed the 'business stages' of the hurling championship.
It's a knockout alright, but we are still more in the category of novelty event with the preliminary quarter-finals.
Just six days after winning the Joe McDonagh Cup for the first time, and securing back-to-back promotions, Kildare's reward is to play Dublin, the third-placed finishers in Leinster.
They will both play in the province and Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League next season so in one sense it is a good test for the Lilywhites but it is also unfair to ask them to play a much more tested and rested team so soon after the greatest triumph of their careers, which they hopefully celebrated.
The only time a Joe Mc team has won in 10 previous preliminary quarter-finals was when Eddie Brennan's Laois shocked Dublin back in 2019. The average margin of defeat has been 17 points.
Four teams coming out of both Leinster and Munster would make the round-robins almost irrelevant but there is no justification for parachuting in the second-tier finalists either.
Last year's winners Offaly lost by nine points to Cork and bettering that would be a decent result for Kildare, even if is part of a double-header with the footballers in Newbridge.
Kildare manager Brian Dowling has unsurprisingly kept faith in the same starting side that beat Laois so impressively.
Dublin will have to pay close attention to Jack Sheridan (1-04) and Gerry Keegan (0-03) who both filled their boots from play.
The visitors have made three changes to the team that three weeks ago disappointed against Galway before producing a late charge in defeat, similar to the loss against Kilkenny.
Dubs boss Niall Ó Ceallacháin brings in Paddy Dunleavy, Fergal Whitely and Ronan Hayes in place of Conor Donohoe, AJ Murphy and John Hetherton.
Anything less than a comprehensive victory would lower the confidence for what already looks a daunting task against Limerick in the quarters proper.
Back-to-back wins for Kildare in this championship fixture (last played in 1976) would be an unbelievable sequel to the story of the summer.
Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Richy Hogan, Rian Boran, Daniel O'Meara; Simon Leacy, Cian Boran, Paul Dolan; Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe; James Burke, Gerry Keegan, David Qualter; Darragh Melville, Cathal Dowling, Jack Sheridan.
Subs: Mark Doyle, Jack Travers, Harry Carroll, Liam O'Reilly, Conn Kehoe, Muiris Curtin, Oisin Lynam, Killian Harrington, James Dolan, Cormac Byrne, Jack Higgins.
Dublin: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; Conor Burke, Brian Hayes; Riain McBride, Fergal Whitely, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, Cian O'Sullivan, Ronan Hayes.
Subs: Eddie Gibbons, Andy Dunphy, Seán Gallagher, Daire Gray, John Hetherton, Andrew Jamieson-Murphy, David Lucey, James Madden, Paul O'Dea, Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing, Conal O'Riain.
Earlier in the day, Tipperary make the short trip to neighbours Laois.
Tipp bounced back from a dismal 2024 to take five points from their four games in Munster this year, only missing out on the provincial final on points difference due to the hammering their 14 men took in Cork. Which might not have been a bad thing for a younger team, watching the royal rumble at the Gaelic Grounds.
Anything other than a heavy win against the McDonagh runners-up is unthinkable but this is a slightly tricky balancing act for Liam Cahill.
Two years ago, his team broke the all-time championship record scoring by hitting 7-38 past Offaly in a 32-point stroll, only to lose to Galway seven days later. Only eight of that XV start on Saturday.
"We ran up a fairly sizeable score two years ago in the same fixture, and then looked to produce it seven days later, and we were just a tad off," Cahill told the Nenagh Guardian.
"Week after week is always a struggle to manage and we have to be careful how we manage that over the next seven days to come out with a win, please god, and be in a good place physically and mentally going into a quarter final."
"There are little tweaks that can be done to make sure the same thing doesn't happen."
It will again be the Tribesmen, having had an extra week off, playing the winners in this year's quarter-finals.
But Tipperary haven't played in four before now and also need the run out. Noel McGrath and Jake Morris are held in reserve and might pile on the pain late on.
Two-time All-Ireland winner Seamus Kennedy makes his first start of the campaign, having come off the bench in every match in Munster, while Joe Caesar and Alan Tynan also come in as Conor Stakelum drops to the bench and Eoghan Connolly is omitted.
Under-20 All-Ireland winning captain Sam O'Farrell is named at right wing-forward instead of wing-back.
Laois boss Tommy Fitzgerald makes one change from the starting side that lost to Kildare in Croke Park, Ryan Mullaney coming in at wing-back and several players moving further forward as Jer Quinlan misses out.
It was eventual All-Ireland champions Tipperary who ended Laois' superb summer at the quarter-final stage in 2019.
Laois were beaten by Wexford by 12 points at this stage last year and a similar result would be an achievement.
Laois: Cathal Dunne; Cody Comerford, Lee Cleere, Diarmaid Conway; Ryan Mullaney, Padraig Delaney, Jordan Walshe; Fiachra C Fennell, David Dooley; Aidan Corby, Tomás Keyes, Paddy Purcell; Mark Dowling, Ben Conroy, James Keyes.
Subs: Eoin Fleming, Padraic Dunne, Donnacha Hartnett, Tom Cuddy, Eoin Gaughan, John Lennon, Martin Phelan, Aaron Dunphy, James Duggan, PJ Scully, Colin Byrne.
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Bryan O'Mara, Michael Breen; Craig Morgan, Ronan Maher, Joe Caesar; Willie Connors, Seamus Kennedy; Alan Tynan, Andrew Ormond, Sam O'Farrell; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
32 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Cork hurling fans' spending in Dublin plummeted following All-Ireland defeat
Disappointed Cork hurling fans' spending in Dublin plummeted following their county's All-Ireland final defeat compared to how much they splashed out following their semi-final win. According to its data, AIB's Cork customers spent €920,000 in Dublin on July 5, the day of the All-Ireland semi-final victory over Dublin. However, on July 20, the day Cork lost to Tipperary in the final, it fell by 13%. In contrast, Tipperary fans spent 27% more on the day their team claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup than they had on the day of their semi-final win over Kilkenny on July 6. During the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final on July 27, Donegal fans spent 12% more in Dublin compared to the Kerry fans, despite their team losing on the day. Overall, AIB's Spend Trend showed customer spending in July was up 9% compared to the same month in 2024. Online spend has been growing more strongly, up 14%, than in-store spend, up 4%, over the 12 months. The average in-store transaction was €28.80 compared to €96.90 for the average online transaction. AIB's head of consumer Adrian Moynihan said the data highlighted the 'resilience of consumer confidence'. 'While the hospitality sector experienced mixed results, with pub spending down but restaurant and hotel spending up, the data underscores the dynamic nature of consumer behaviour during the peak tourist season,' he added. Spending in pubs was down 9% compared to last year, whereas restaurant spend was up 10% and the amount of money spent in Irish hotels was up 3%. Groceries was one of few sectors where in-store spend held up strongly, with spending 6% higher overall, and 93% of those purchases made in stores rather than online. Spending on clothing rose just 1% in July compared to the same month a year ago. Entertainment spending was up 8% in July, while health spending rose by 7%. The data was compiled from 78 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during July 2025.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Loss to Tipperary put dampener on Rebel spending on All-Ireland final day, new figures show
But when it came to the final, which they lost to Tipperary after a second half collapse, the spending plummeted. Rebel County fans who came to the capital for the semi-final shelled out almost €1m (€920,000) on that first Sunday in July. But when the team succumbed to Tipperary in the final on July 20, their disappointed fans spent 13pc less, according to the latest AIB Spend Trend for July. In contrast, Tipperary fans flashed the cash when their team won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The figures show the jubilant Tipperary fans spent 27pc more on the day their team claimed the Liam MacCarthy Cup than they had on the day of their resounding semi-final win over Kilkenny on July 6. Kerry may have won the Sam Maguire Cup, but Donegal fans spent 12pc more in Dublin than rival fans. Across the economy, the AIB figures show spending in July was up 9pc on the same month last year. Online spend has been growing more strongly. It was 14pc higher than in-store spending over the 12 months. The average in-store transaction was €28.80 compared with €96.90 for the average online transaction. Groceries was one of few sectors where in-store spending held up strongly. Spending was 6pc higher overall, with most of those purchases made in stores rather than online. In contrast, the spending on clothing rose just 1pc in July compared to the same month a year ago. Department stores saw expenditure fall by 1pc in the 12 months to the end of July, the AIB customer data shows. July is traditionally peak tourist season, but the picture for the domestic hospitality sector was mixed. Spending in pubs in Ireland was down compared with July 2024. The biggest falls in spending were recorded in Wicklow, Dublin, and Clare. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more The biggest increases were in Kerry, Donegal and Tipperary. These are all counties which were involved in All-Ireland Senior Championship finals. Expenditure in restaurants was up 10pc and the amount of money spent in Irish hotels was up 3pc. The data was compiled from 78m card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during July 2025 and has been anonymised and aggregated. Data provided by AIB features one of the most comprehensive and accurate data sets on consumer spending in Ireland. Entertainment spending was up in July, partly driven by digital games which were 34pc higher than 12 months ago. Health spending was also up. As the holiday season got underway, car rental spend climbed 8pc. Head of consumer at AIB Adrian Moynihan: 'July's AIB Spend Trend report reflects the busy month that July was, with many people out and about enjoying the fine weather, the peak tourist season kicking off and a range of high-profile sporting and cultural events taking place.' He said the figures highlight the resilience of consumer confidence. Mr Moynihan said it was notable that online spending has surged by 14pc, outpacing the increase in in-store transactions.
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Paul Madden succeeds Peter Keane as Clare football manager
Paul Madden has succeeded Peter Keane as Clare football manager, with the Ennis man taking charge on a three-year term. Keane departed from the role earlier this week after just a season in charge where the Banner were again Munster runners-up this year under the Kerry man, losing the provincial final by 11 points to his native county, and beaten by Down, Monaghan and Louth in their three All-Ireland SFC group stage fixtures. Madden led Éire Og to three Clare senior football championship titles during his time in charge of the club.
