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Irish Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Munster Hurling Final ticket update as Limerick and Cork to go at it again
Munster GAA have released a ticket update for the Limerick/Cork provincial hurling decider on Saturday week, and it's not good news for the casual fan. The Gaelic Grounds tie is almost certain to sellout as Cork go into the lion's den again, having been hammered by 16 points by Limerick at the same venue eight days ago. That tie attracted a bumper sellout crowd of 42, 477 for the group stage meeting and the same is expected in 12 days time. It's hard to believe that this is Cork's first Munster Hurling Final appearance in seven years (2018), while this historymaking Limerick side go for the province's first ever seven-in-a-row. Limerick won their recent meeting 3-26 to 1-16 to qualify for the Munster Final. This allowed them to rest key players in their weekend dead rubber defeat by Clare. Cork had to defeat Waterford at Pairc Ui Chaoimh over the weekend to stay alive in the Championship - and they did that on a 2-25 to 1-22 scoreline, despite hitting 17 wides. The Rebels were without injured skipper Robert Downey, while Declan Dalton and Niall O'Leary also missed the game due to injury. They're all in a race against time to prove their fitness for the rematch with John Kiely's all conquering side. Ger Mellerick, Cormac O'Brien and Seamus Harnedy all came into the Cork side at the weekend, showing the depth they have, while Diarmuid Healy impressed off the bench. The winner of the Munster Final will go straight through to the All-Ireland semi-final, with the loser going into the quarter-finals. It's a game that has got fans excited as the hurling world waits to see if a Cork side, which defeated Limerick twice in last year's Championship, can muster a response to their recent mauling. But getting a ticket to see this one could prove tricky. Munster GAA released the following statement: 'Due to the high demand, tickets for the Munster Senior Hurling Final on Saturday June 7 at 6pm in the TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick will be distributed through the participating County Boards only. 'Season ticket holders from Limerick and Cork will receive their tickets through the normal channels. There will be no public sale of tickets via Ticketmaster, Centra or Supervalu outlets.'
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Cork boss Pat Ryan declares ‘Munster championship wide open' after weekend's action
After failing to put away the All-Ireland champions the previous week Cork came into the home tie under pressure to perform and when the side had built up a sizable lead for the second week in-a-row it was important that they got the job done in style – as ended up the case thanks to a late Declan Dalton goal and a push from those called off the bench late on. Cork manager Pat Ryan was obviously delighted with the win but bit back at some in the media room about whet he felt was unwarranted criticism between the Clare and Tipperary ties. 'I couldn't get over the analysis around why a draw above in Clare against the All-Ireland champions was a bad result,' said Ryan as he fielded questions in the media room of Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon. Ryan went on. 'I just couldn't get over it. We couldn't fathom it as a group. 'That Clare team is an absolutely fantastic team. Obviously, there were areas we were really unhappy with but as I said above there, and maybe fellas thought I wasn't being serious, a point away to Clare was a fantastic result. 'I'd have taken it, especially with the way things were being written about us after the league final, which were off-the-wall really. That fed in and you're talking about going up to Clare, who are a team that's built on energy, their manager is built on energy, and they were always going to bring a huge game to us up there. 'No, we didn't get any shock, we knew what it was going to be like.' Back to the game in Cork and Ryan started by saying he didn't see the incident that resulted in Darragh McCarthy being sent to the line but highlighted one key takeaway from the incident. 'As I've said all along, you can't win games in Munster with only 14 fellas on the field. It's just impossible, teams are too good,' he said. 'Look, there were a lot of things sparked all over the field, really, in that instance. I don't think we initiated any of it, to be honest with you, but these things happen at the start of games. ADVERTISEMENT 'I didn't see it [the McCarthy incident]. Obviously, there's probably a marker trying to be put on some of our players. I'm disappointed for Darragh, he's only a young man, I wouldn't have seen him ever being involved in anything kind of dirty before.' After the sending off Cork hit the ground running and were comfortable by half time however while the manager was pleased, he did see plenty room for improvement. 'So, look, we should have been winning that game. We were disappointed with a couple of fallow periods in the second half again. That's something we look at with our analysis team, why did that happen." On the personnel front, there were a couple of players that caught the eye of the manager and beyond with Declan Dalton front and centre when it comes to players taking their chance. Declan Dalton came in for the suspended Shane Barrett and bagged 1-6 on the day. 'From our point of view, Declan played really well when he went inside as well, I thought he gave us a nice bounce,' he continued. 'In fairness to Alan [Connolly], he was probably carrying a small bit of a niggle at that stage and the opportunity to put Declan inside worked out well for us. I thought Brian Roche and Luke Meade and Robbie O'Flynn, especially, played well when they came on. "Robbie was out injured for a while. He's been back for two weeks; he's been absolutely flying. We maybe should have brought him on in Ennis but he was just back.' There was major concern in the stands when Robert Downey had to be helped from the field for the second week in-a-row, but Ryan was happy to point out that things were not as bad as they may have appeared at this time. 'Rob Downey has a dead leg. Obviously, we'll get good treatment on that. I think they kind of hogtie it or something up around the back and get plenty of ice on it. He has plenty of time to get right. "Those things are very sore initially especially, but I couldn't see it being a long-term injury or anything like that." Cork have completed Phase 1 of their provincial challenge with three points from a possible four and with plenty time now before the next game serious training is back on the cards. 'Look, we have three weeks now so we'll have plenty of training and plenty of opportunities. When you're going from the league final to Ennis and then from Ennis to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it's very hard to do any proper training and give any fella an opportunity to get onto the 26 or get onto the team. 'It [the break] gives us three weeks to recover and get a bit of energy back into our bodies. The Munster championship is wide open. Clare going down to a very, very good Waterford team and Peter Queally's an excellent manager… so he got a right bounce off them."
Irish Examiner
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cork make one change as Declan Dalton comes into starting side for Tipperary clash
Declan Dalton replacing the suspended Shane Barrett is the sole change to the Cork hurling team for Sunday's Round 2 visit of Tipperary. Cork's decision not to contest the red card issued to Barrett for a head-high challenge on Clare's David Reidy in the second half of their drawn Munster opener means the 2024 All-Star centre-forward is not part of Sunday's matchday panel. Dalton, who struck the leveling free at the death in Ennis, has edged out the likes of Diarmuid Healy and Brian Roche for the vacant half-forward berth. Cork captain Rob Downey, who was withdrawn 10 minutes into the second-half against Clare because of injury, is again named at No.6. Fellow half-back Cormac O'Brien, who was marked absent last Sunday because of injury, is listed among the Cork replacements. Elsewhere, there are two injury-enforced changes to the Dublin hurling team that will take on Wexford in Leinster's second-round of games on Saturday. Ronan Hayes and Darragh Power both come into the half-forward line in place of the injured Danny Sutcliffe and Donal Burke. Both Sutcliffe and Burke were forced off during the win over Offaly last weekend. There are four changes to the Armagh team for their Ulster football semi-final with Tyrone. In come Paddy Burns, at corner-back, Aidan Forker and Oisín Conaty in the half-forward line, and Conor Turbitt at top of the left. Losing out are Gareth Murphy, Darragh McMullan, Tiernan Kelly, and Stefan Campbell. CORK (Munster SHC v Tipperary): P Collins; N O'Leary, E Downey, S O'Donoghue; C Joyce, R Downey, M Coleman; T O'Mahony, E Twomey; D Dalton, D Fitzgibbon, S Harnedy; P Horgan, A Connolly, B Hayes. Subs: B Saunderson, C O'Brien, D Cahalane, G Millerick, T O'Connell, L Meade, B Roche, D Healy, R O'Flynn, S Kingston, J O'Connor. DUBLIN (Leinster SHC v Wexford): E Gibbons; J Bellew, P Smyth, A Dunphy; P Doyle, C Crummey, P Dunleavy; C Burke, C Donohoe; B Hayes, R Hayes, D Power; S Currie, C O'Sullivan, D Ó Dúlaing. ARMAGH (Ulster SFC v Tyrone): E Rafferty; P Burns, B McCambridge, T McCormack; R McQuillan, G McCabe, J Óg Burns; C O'Neill, C Mackin; A Forker, O Conaty, P McGrane; R Grugan, A Murnin, C Turbitt.
The 42
22-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Munster hurling day of draws adds to the pressure and uncertainty facing every team
IT BEGAN WITH Jake Morris in Thurles in May 2018. Fresh off the bench, the scorer with his first touch of the point that brought Tipperary level with Cork and secured the first draw of the Munster round-robin system that was still in its' infancy. That Round 2 stalemate was followed six days later by Kyle Hayes rescuing Limerick on a breathless night in Cork, and the day after Jason Forde capped off the June Bank Holiday weekend by dragging Tipperary level in their Gaelic Grounds tussle with Waterford. Six games in to the opening season of hurling's round-robin era and half of the encounters had produced draws. It was a level that couldn't quite be maintained, there were no draws for the remainder of that Munster series, or the following year's offering in 2019, and with Covid bringing back a knockout structure, the next draw didn't arrive until 15 May 2022, Diarmaid Byrnes landing the crucial point after a cracker in Ennis that was a portent of the Clare-Limerick rivalry to come. In 2023, Shane Kingston was Cork's point-scoring saviour after an epic against Tipperary, John McGrath nailed the free that drew Tipperary level with Limerick a fortnight later, and then Gearóid O'Connor crowned Tipperary's revival last May in Waterford with a late point. Advertisement Tipperary's Gearoid O'Connor in action against Waterford's Darragh Lyons. Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO Seven draws from 50 round-robin games represents a 14% strike rate, far from a prevailing pattern, and yet those games were the type that captured the high-pressure, heart-throbbing excitement that the Munster championship has generated in recent seasons, inflating the levels of interest and anticipation in what the province has served up. There had never been a draw in the opening round though. Ten Sunday afternoon contests had delivered ten victors, and in only four of those matches had the action been tight enough to produce a 1-3 point winning margin. Last Sunday bucked the trend. The 2025 edition began with two draws, the same outcome produced in Ennis and Thurles, but achieved in different ways. The first was one of wildly fluctuating fortunes, Cork ahead by 12 points at half-time, by nine points in the 56th minute, by eight points in the 66th minute, and yet reliant on a Declan Dalton free in their desperate pursuit of a levelling score, after being hit with a furious Clare comeback. Declan Dalton scores from a late free to equalise the game for Cork. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO The second was more of the matching stride for stride type, Tipperary's greatest advantage on the day was three points, Limerick's biggest lead was two points, and it took Darragh McCarthy's last-gasp free to generate the draw. The settled consensus with the Munster hurling championship has been that any of the five teams can beat each other on any particular day. The fact that the top three teams in three of the five round-robin championships have been Limerick, Cork, and Clare, with Tipperary subbing in on the other two occasions (once for Clare and once for Cork), points to a competition that is more predictable in its nature. There may be results that twist and turn the narrative, but there is still a recognisable quality to the table at the end. The top three spot this year were widely forecast to be secured by the reigning champions of the All-Ireland (Clare), Munster (Limerick), and league (Cork) series. That may still transpire to be the case, but the upshot of last Sunday is that no team has gained a distinct advantage, and no team is in disarray after being hit by an early setback. How will each manager feel after opening day? Pat Ryan has a lot to process in the mixed bag of Cork's performance, the pace and poise of the first half, giving way to a second half of slump and struggle. For the third time in the space of a year in championship, they coughed up a sizeable lead at the hands of Clare. For the third time in their last five games in Munster, they lost a player to a red card, and on each occasion have been unable to win. And yet Brian Hayes and Darragh Fitzgibbon were sensational in the opening period, while the break that fell their way for the game to be prolonged enough to allow that levelling free to be awarded, could be of huge significance. Brian Lohan hailed the spirit of his Clare team afterwards. Their resolve was unquestionable, getting championship minutes into the legs of their veteran players will help, and Peter Duggan was terrific as the focal point that the entire team played off. Still that's three successive years where they haven't left Ennis on opening day with a victory, their defence looked in real trouble as it was pulled apart in the first half, and the importance of Conor Cleary and Shane O'Donnell in opposite sectors of the pitch was magnified. For John Kiely getting the Limerick selection mix right is a challenge to navigate. They notably shifted around William O'Donoghue and Kyle Hayes on Sunday, while they were reintegrating Nickie Quaid and Peter Casey after injury. Sean Finn, Dan and Tom Morrissey, and Darragh O'Donovan were all kept in reserve. Shane O'Brien and Adam English proved they are the Limerick hurling present as well as the future. Kiely has been down this road with Limerick before where they have endured a patchy opening. They got the job done to defeat Waterford by two in 2023 and Clare by three in 2024, before ramping up their performance levels as they progressed through Munster. Can they repeat that trick? The eight-day period in May where they host Cork and Clare, and will require at least one win, has grown in importance. Liam Cahill must have been the happiest manager of the quartet. Considering the 10-point loss two weeks before in the league final to Cork and the 15-point defeat twelve months previous in the championship to Limerick, this was a sharp swing in Tipperary's form. Positional changes like bringing Jake Morris to centre-forward, and personnel changes like introducing John McGrath, worked. The young crew of Robert Doyle, Joe Caesar, Sam O'Farrell, and Darragh McCarthy have brought new life to the team. They must be buoyed at the prospect of having another crack off Cork. Related Reads Galway have lost faith in their hurlers and there's only one way to get them back 5 talking points after Munster hurling day of draws and drama And sitting back at home in an observational capacity, absorbing the afternoon's action, was Waterford's Peter Queally. His team have bided their time, and after a spring in the second league tier, get set to face off against Clare and Limerick in the space of seven days. Two home contests that always looked to define their season, and yet the fact they will in both cases be facing a team without a victory, increases the reward for Waterford if they manage to win. Munster's hurling day of draws has raised the stakes further. There has been greater uncertainty created. And that adds another layer of intrigue as to what will unfold over the next 33 days.
