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RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Climate
- RTÉ News
Provincial hurling finals - All You Need to Know
SATURDAY Munster SHC final Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 6pm SUNDAY Joe McDonagh Cup final Kildare v Laois, Croke Park, 1.45pm Leinster SHC final Kilkenny v Galway, Croke Park, 4pm ONLINE Live blog on and the RTÉ News app. TV Live coverage of the Munster hurling final on Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 5.15pm. Live coverage of the Joe McDonagh final and the Leinster hurling final on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Sunday, starting at 1.30pm. Highlights on The Saturday Game (9.40pm) and The Sunday Game (9.30pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. RADIO Live commentaries and updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 and Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. WEATHER Saturday: In Munster, the showers earlier in the day will largely die out later in the afternoon to leave a fine evening. Highest temperatures of 12 to 15 degrees, with moderate northwesterly winds. Sunday: Sunday will bring a mix of sunshine and showers. Highest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees in moderate westerly winds. Overview - an era of domination Limerick have already broken new ground in the Munster hurling championship with the first-ever six-in-a-row last year. Now, it's just a question of what record they're going to set for future dynasties. It's a particularly stunning feat given that Limerick, traditionally, are outside the 'big two' in Munster. Or, at best, they were the half in the 'big two-and-a-half', akin to Roscommon in the Connacht football championship. Who knows, the long-term legacy of the Kiely-Kinnerk era may be that future generations will refer to a 'big four' rather than a 'big three'? They've beaten every other Munster county in a provincial final in the current run, aside from Cork. They're coming off three successive Munster final wins over Clare, the last of which was the most clear-cut. Tipperary were dispatched in 2019 and 2021, the latter after that remarkable second half turnaround. In 2020, they saw off Waterford before beating them again in the All-Ireland final. Cork are both the last Munster team to win the province before the Limerick supremacy arrived - and they're also the last side to beat Limerick in a Munster final, winning the last championship game played at the old Páirc Uí Chaoimh back in 2014 during Jimmy Barry Murphy's second stint in charge. Kilkenny's present domination of the Leinster hurling championship has attracted far less notice. Indeed, their achievement of the provincial five-in-a-row last year crept up on people. Partly, this is because Kilkenny dominance of Leinster has typically been the historical norm and partly because the province is much less glamorous. Even more so, it's down to their failure to back it up with a Liam MacCarthy, which, as Richie Hogan noted this week, is the only currency worth considering in Kilkenny. The run started in 2020, when they ended a four-year stretch without a Leinster title in an empty Croke Park, after pick-pocketing a generally superior Galway side down the home straight. The westerners looked comfortably the better team for an hour, maintaining a four-to-five point lead for most of the second half. Then Hogan, introduced as a late substitute, rustled up a truly ingenious goal, with Reid whipping in a second within a matter of seconds to turn the game on its head. They've beaten Galway in two more Leinster finals since then. Cody's last provincial victory in 2022 came after an unimaginably dull, free-ridden game. 2023 was another dramatic smash-and-grab. Henry Shefflin's Galway side appeared to have done enough with a stirring final quarter to lead by two in injury-time - until Padraic Mannion's panicked clearance with his boot found Cillian Buckley's paw and we know the rest. Even by the poor standards of your average Kilkenny-Dublin Leinster final, last year's provincial decider was a non-event. Cork aim to recover from "set-up" The blithe and gleeful confidence that settled over Cork in the wake of the league final is a distant memory. The 16-point mauling in the Gaelic Grounds was a shock to the system and a sobering reminder that the great Limerick side of the 2020s aren't close to being done. The Rebels were even threatened with elimination on the final day and produced a somewhat jittery performance at home to Waterford, in which their far greater attacking quality would eventually tell in the end. The Cork management have been angrily rounding on the hype-mongers since the loss in Limerick. Pat Ryan accused those who were writing off Limerick of being "off their game" and "setting us up for a fall." Selector Wayne Sherlock branded the media hype as "cringey outside noise" and had a pop at the Paddy Power stunt of paying out on Cork winning the All-Ireland after the league final. "I think we were being set-up, to be honest," Sherlock told reporters this week. "It's kind of insulting. I think people want us to fail." Ryan even took aim at the concept of 'Corkness', branding it "the most stupid word I ever heard." We can fairly take it that they've concluded the pre-championship hype was not helpful and that a more workmanlike Cork team - and a more humble Cork crowd - will arrive in Shannonside this Saturday. Galway old stagers still plugging away Of Galway's 11 competitive matches in 2025, they've won seven and lost the other four by 12 points. It was assumed this was a transitional period. The returning All-Ireland winning manager Micheál Donoghue was given a four-year term, which was taken to imply this was partly a re-build job. The manager acknowledged they were "looking to the future" after 2017 veterans Joseph Cooney, Gearóid McInerney and Adrian Touhy departed before the season began. But there's a surprising degree of continuity around Galway, all the same. David Burke is still relied upon to bring a stability and game-management expertise to midfield. The Mannions remain prominent at both ends of the field. Daithí Burke and Fintan Burke form the bedrock of the defence. Conor Whelan, notwithstanding his patchy form early in the season, provides much of the gold-dust in attack. In some respects, the 'transition' hasn't even started yet. There has been some change. John Fleming has been a workhorse at wing-forward, while Gavin Lee has nailed down the problematic position of centre-back - though doubts about his defensive suitability were raised after the second half against Wexford. Loughrea's Anthony Burns has shown impressive flashes in the inside forward line, though Kevin Cooney is preferred to start this weekend. Team News There is still some uncertainty about who will be manning the goal for Galway. Their official submitted team is at odds with their 'X' account, with the supposedly suspended Darach Fahy named on the former, while Eanna Murphy is down to start on the latter. Fahy was suspended by the CHC for slapping out at AJ Murphy, though the Tribesmen are still intent on appealing. Otherwise, as noted above, Kevin Cooney - so impressive in the last Leinster decider against Kilkenny in 2023 - replaces Anthony Burns. Derek Lyng is still without the injured Eoin Cody, though Adrian Mullen returns to his centre-forward berth after his runout at centre-back for the Wexford dead rubber. Cork, meanwhile, have handed Diarmuid Healy his first start in place of Brian Roche, while Shane Barrett captains the team in the absence of the injured Rob Downey. For Limerick, Aidan O'Connor makes a first championship start, replacing Shane O'Brien at full-forward. Kildare seek to break new ground in Joe Mc The Kildare hurlers go in search of a landmark victory this weekend, which would take them into the Leinster SHC for the first time since 2004. They've flirted with the big-time in decades past. In 1976, Kildare beat Dublin and took the eventual champions Wexford to the brink in the semi-final. They won the old All-Ireland 'B' championship on four occasions, including in 1989 and 2004. Their rise in modern times has been charted here, with the strength of Naas being a core reason. A Croke Park appearance looked unlikely after an opening day loss to Kerry - who were subsequently relegated - but they've won four from four since, including a shock 11-point win over Laois in the penultimate round. The north of the county is now the hurling stronghold - a turnaround from previous eras - with Maynooth's David Qualter and Naas' Jack Sheridan to the fore on the scoring front. Last year's losing finalists Laois enter as slight favourites despite the loss in Portlaoise. They squeezed into the final after James Duggan's last-gasp goal snatched a draw in Carlow. Tommy Fitzgerald's side is without Cha Dwyer, who took umbrage at being substituted against Carlow, while goalkeeper Enda Rowland has opted out. Mossie Keyes, who hit 0-14 in Netwatch Cullen Park, has been to the fore in attack in this campaign.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Climate
- RTÉ News
Tailteann Cup Preliminary Quarter-Finals: All you need to know
SATURDAY, 7 JUNE Offaly v New York, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm Westmeath v Laois, TEG Cusack Park, 5pm SUNDAY, 8 JUNE Wexford v Antrim, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 1.30pm Sligo v Carlow, Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry, 2pm ONLINE Live scoring on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app. Highlights also available across the weekend. TV Offaly v New York and Westmeath v Laois will be streamed live on GAA+. Highlights of all the weekend's action on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, from 9.30pm. RADIO Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport - and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae. WEATHER Saturday: After a wet start to the day, cloud and rain will gradually clear eastwards leaving a mix of showers and sunny spells for Saturday. Highest temperatures of 12 to 15 degrees in moderate to fresh and occasionally strong northwest winds. Sunday: A mix of sunshine and showers, with cloud increasing in the west through the afternoon, before brightening again by the evening. Highest temperatures of just 13 to 16 degrees in moderate westerly winds. For more go to We welcome New York And so 16 became 11+1. The add-on, the footballers of New York, who again enter the competition at this stage. Perhaps, supporters in Leitrim are cursing their arrival, as they were the third-placed side to lose out after the regulation phase. A crumb of comfort for Stephen Poacher's side is that they finished a difficult year on a high with that win over Tipperary. Poacher is already looking towards next January, plotting Leitrim's escape from Division 4, no doubt. New York have been preparing for this weekend since their Connacht exit at the hands of Galway on 6 April. More time to get used to the new playing rules. That said, the Exiles looked more than assured in adjusting to the changes, with Frank O'Reilly, Bobby O'Regan and James Walsh catching the eye with their two-pointers. New York certainly put it up to the Tribes in the opening half, trailing only by three points at the break. They gave as good as they got, before being overpowered 2-18 to 0-06 by the Connacht champions on the resumption. They will obviously hope to stay in the game longer when taking on Offaly at Glenisk O'Connor Park. The counties previously met at the quarter-final stage in 2022. A point that New York forward Shane Brosnan alluded to, when speaking to RTÉ Sport last month. "We were very good for 35 minutes, we know we need to probably add on another bit of fitness and hopefully complete that performance that we had in the first-half for a full 70-minute game, he said. "We probably just didn't have the legs to keep going in the second-half, but it was good to get the game against a team like Galway." Preliminary and onto quarter-finals proper So we have our pairings this weekend: Offaly v New York, Westmeath v Laois, Wexford v Antrim and Sligo v Carlow. Watching on with their quarter-final spots guaranteed after topping their groups are Kildare, Limerick, Fermanagh and Wicklow. This quartet will have home advantage in the last eight, where the draw, live on Morning Ireland, RTÉ Radio 1 from 8.35am on Monday, shall be subject to the avoidance of repeat pairings from the group stage where possible. Pairings that can't happen: Kildare v Sligo, Wicklow v Offaly, Wicklow v Laois, Limerick v Westmeath, Limerick v Antrim, Fermanagh v Wexford, Fermanagh v Carlow. The quarter-finals are scheduled across the weekend of 14/15 June. Surprise participants at this juncture Ahead of the concluding round, both Westmeath and Offaly were favoured to secure their quarter-final berths. The same could be said of Carlow, who faced the already eliminated Longford. But the trio suffered defeats: Westmeath and Offaly by the bare minimum against Limerick and Laois respectively, the classic sucker-punch in both cases, while Carlow were well off it against their Leinster opponents and were somewhat flattered with the five-point difference in the end. Now it's a case of picking up the pieces. For Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte (above), New York are something of an unknown quantity, as they look to get the Faithful ship back on course. Losing to a 75th-minute penalty against their neighbours was a jolt. In truth, they would have expected this week off. That said, you'd fancy them too see off their overseas visitors here, where Ruairi McNamee will surely get another chance to impress after kicking some fine scores when introduced last weekend. Westmeath v Laois, on paper, is the game of the weekend. A clash of the maiden winners and last year's finalists. For the Lake County, 2025 has so far been a year of agonising defeats, most notably during their Division 2 campaign. Relegation was the outcome there. More heartache last weekend when Emmett Rigter's point at the death denied Dermot McCabe's men a last-eight berth. It was a nip and tuck affair in Portlaoise, where both teams had periods of ascendancy, one such period saw Westmeath score seven points on the spin in the second half to re-establish the lead. They couldn't push that out and were caught in the end by an improving Limerick side. Laois' victory over Offaly was characterised by a decent spread of scorers across their starting XV and substitutes. Brian Byrne, in the full-forward line, was excellent throughout, while Mark Barry was coolness personified in slotting home the winning penalty. Justin McNulty really got a tune out of Laois throughout the knockout phase last year. That took them all the way to the final. Accounting for another of the pre-competition favourites should set them up nicely again, though the slight nod here is in the direction of Westmeath. First up on Sunday is the clash of Wexford v Antrim. The Slaneysiders could not live with Fermanagh's second-half onslaught at Croker and dropped to second in their group. They can have no complaints in what was their second defeat at GAA HQ this season after losing the Division 4 final to Limerick. Antrim squeezed through in third spot in their group, when seeing off London by eight points. The margin of victory was significant in just edging out Leitrim for that remaining place. Late scores from Marc Jordan and Dominic McEnhill were crucial to give Andy McEntee's men another day out. Wexford, on their home patch, should have enough to advance. With Markievicz Park having work done on its surface, Kilcoyne Park in Tubbercurry will stage Sligo v Carlow. A fair assessment of the Yeats County so far would suggest they have not quite hit the same levels reached reached in 2024 where they nearly took Galway's scalp in Connacht and then lost narrowly to eventual winners Down in the semi-finals of this competition. They were expected to push for promotion from Division 3. That never materialised and they were far from impressive in defeating Tipperary and Leitrim in the group stage. Fifteen points down against Kildare, they fought gamely to reduce the deficit, prompting manager Tony McEntee to hail a resilience that hasn't been in this team here before. Carlow, after that setback against Longford, will need to regroup. Manager Joe Murphy is accentuating the positives and speaking on local radio, said: "They're in a division higher than us and that, but you know, we travelled well before when we went to Fermanagh. We won't fear anyone and we will give it our all." Sligo, however, are the best bet to progress.
RTÉ News
02-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Waterford v Limerick in the Munster Hurling Championship: All you need to know
SATURDAY 3 MAY Munster SHC round 3 Waterford v Limerick, Walsh Park Waterford, 6pm ONLINE Live blog on RTÉ Sport and RTÉ News app WATCH Live on GAA+ (subscription required). Highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. RADIO Live commentary and updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn. WEATHER Cloudier conditions with perhaps a few spots of light rain will move southwards through the afternoon with sunny spells following from the north later. Highest temperatures of 15 to 17 degrees with moderate northerly winds. For more go to The GAA must have been big fans of the 2023 Oscars. How else to explain a schedule that goes from Everything All At Once to All Quiet On The Western Front? After two weeks of non-stop action, there are just three senior men's games this weekend and one in hurling: Limerick's trip to Walsh Park tomorrow. The Treaty were not the dominant side we have been used to seeing in recent years in their opening-round draw with Tipperary at Semple Stadium and might have been happy enough to get out with a draw. A two-week break will have helped get some players back up to speed after injury and John Kiely has made two changes to the full-back line after conceding two goals against Tipp; Dan Morrissey, who had hamstring issues during the league, comes in at full-back with Mike Casey switching to left-corner back and four-time All-Star Sean Finn is in the right corner. Barry Murphy is left out of the squad and Colin Coughlan drops to the bench as Barry Nash is pushed forward to wing-back alongside Kyle Hayes, who moves to centre-back from centre-forward, allowing Will O'Donoghue to take his more customary midfield spot. Peter Casey is also not among the 26, despite having come on as a sub in Thurles but goalkeeper Nickie Quaid appears to have come through his return just over four months after undergoing cruciate ligament surgery unscathed. By contrast, it's a very quick turnaround for the Déise after their surprise win over All-Ireland champions Clare last Sunday. Waterford are still looking for a first qualification from the Munster round-robin - they progressed when it reverted to the old format in 2020-21 - and a first championship win over Limerick in 14 years would be a huge step towards that. Only once (2019) in the five previous editions of the group stage has a team with four points failed to advance. Peter Queally makes just one switch to the XV that gave him a 100% record in inter-county management, 20-year-old Patrick Fitzgerald replacing Kieran Bennett after coming off the bench to score two points against the Banner. Jamie Barron (0-04 against Clare) moves back into midfield with Fitzgerald at corner-forward. That means former hurler-of-the-year Austin Gleeson is again amongst the subs having come on in the closing stages last weekend. But other key men like Stephen Bennett (2-08, 4fs last week), Tadhg de Burca and Conor Prunty all seem fully fit while defender Mark Fitzgerald continues to impress. Waterford are big underdogs again this weekend, understandable given their opponents and relative lack of recovery time, but have the benefit of home advantage once more. "I think it is a great opportunity for Waterford," Offaly great Michael Duignan told the RTÉ GAA Podcast, while also calling for some league games to be played before Christmas to ease calendar congestion. "Another factor in the six days is that the game last Sunday by Munster hurling standards wasn't the most intense of games. Clare very flat. "I think they have very little to lose in this game. Last week there was pressure on them because of their poor record and where they've been. "But they knew themselves and we talked about it last week, (there's) a sense that they really have bought into Peter Queally. "It's a real Waterford thing. Sometimes an outside manager can work really well and I think it was the time for them to close shop and they've done that and getting two home games in a row, just the way the draw went, I think is very significant as well. "So they have a great chance but I am expecting a much better performance from Limerick as well." Waterford: Billy Nolan; Ian Kenny, Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg de Burca, Paddy Leavey; Darragh Lyons, Jamie Barron; Jack Prendergast, Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran; Kevin Mahony, Dessie Hutchinson, Patrick Fitzgerald. Subs: Shaun O'Brien, Gavin Fives, Kieran Bennett, Tom Barron, Shane Bennett, Michael Kiely, Austin Gleeson, Sean Walsh, Conor Sheahan, Carthach Daly, Padraig Fitzgerald. Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, William O'Donoghue; Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Shane O'Brien, David Reidy. Subs: Shane Dowling, Colin Coughlan, Seamus Flanagan, Ethan Hurley, Aidan O'Connor, Fergal O'Connor, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh, Darragh O'Donovan, Paddy O'Donovan, Cathal O'Neill, Eddie Stokes
RTÉ News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Football championship weekend: All you need to know
SATURDAY 26 APRIL Ulster SFC semi-final Armagh v Tyrone, Clones, 4.45pm SUNDAY 27 APRIL Leinster SFC semi-finals Kildare v Louth, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm Dublin v Meath, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 4pm Ulster SFC semi-final Donegal v Down, Clones, 3pm ONLINE Live blogs each day with RTÉ Sport and RTÉ News app TV Live coverage of Donegal v Down live on BBC2 NI. GAA+ will stream Saturday's clash of Tyrone and Armagh in Ulster as well as both Leinster semi-finals the following day, Kildare v Louth and Dublin v Meath. Highlights of the weekend's action on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. RADIO Live commentary and updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport. Also live updates on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae. WEATHER Saturday: The mist and fog will generally clear on Saturday morning to leave a mainly dry, bright day with good spells of sunshine with a few isolated showers. Mild overall with highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees in light to moderate south to southwest winds. Sunday: Likely to be cloudy for a time with some scattered showers. It'll be a breezy day with highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees in moderate to fresh and occasionally gusty south to southwest winds. For more go to Hankering for the noughties The meeting of Armagh and Tyrone this weekend conjures up memories of one of the great rivalries in Gaelic football. With the gripping nature of the contests and the fact they were such big games in the calendar, it is easy to forget that at its peak, it lasted four years (2002-05), spanned six memorable games and resulted in maiden All-Ireland success for both. Tyrone edged the rivalry by ending the decade with three Celtic Crosses, but there was rarely little between the sides as the most gifted and ferocious competitiors of their generation duked it out. Gripping games, though former Tyrone player Enda McGinley concedes rewatching the game is a reminder of the evolvement of the sport. "It was before the era of controlled possession, so looking back on the games now, it seems like kamikaze football," he said earlier this week. Could a decent hitout in Clones reignite the flames of this rivalry? Certainly the ingredients are there. While the powerhouses Kerry (2022) and Dublin (2023) reinforced the idea of the traditional two in football, those successes were bookended by unlikely teams - at the start of the respective seasons at least - walking up the Hogan Stand, the Red Hands prevailing in 2021 and Kieran McGeeney's side upsetting the odds last year. The Orchard County will be wary that Tyrone's dismal defence of Sam Maguire - it was Armagh who put them out of their misery in the qualifiers - did little to dispel the notion that they won that All-Ireland against the head. Few backed the team to make it back-to-back, their implosion fuel to the critics who suggested it was one of the weakest teams to land top honours in recent history. Armagh now are following a similar path, keen to prove last year was no flash in the pan. With Rian O'Neill remaining outside the panel and a sizeable injury list, McGeeney could only call on five starters from last year's All-Ireland triumph over Galway for the Ulster quarter-final win over Antrim. It has allowed others stake claims with the manager name-checking the scoring contribution of three of his four championship debutants last time out, with Tomás McCormack, Calum O'Neill (the first Belleek man to play championship for Armagh) and Darragh McMullan working the scoreboard operator at Corrigan Park. Have Down another upset in them? "Down are crafty. Down have a team full of ball players. So many notes taken on them." The words of Donegal manager Jim McGuinness in relation to the build-up to the 2012 Ulster final. The Tir Chonaill men would make it back-to-back provincial titles for the first time en route to landing Sam Maguire while Down's barren run would continue to an 18th season at least. That wait has moved beyond three decades. McGuinness's thoughts back then may not hold quite so true now, aside from the obsessive note-taking. That particular Down side were two years on from going within a whisker of an All-Ireland title. Earlier that spring just missed out on a Division 1 final with Dan Gordon, Mark Poland, Danny Hughes, Benny Coulter and current manager Conor Laverty leading the way. The current crop will battle it out in the third tier in 2026, three wins from seven in Division 2 not enough to avoid the drop. That disappointment looked set to be compounded by a championship defeat to Fermanagh as the Erne men led by seven points with eight minutes left on the clock. Inspired by midfielder Daniel McGuinness, who raised a flag of all three colours, Pat Havern and Ryan McEvoy, the Mourne men rallied for a superb win. Unless we see a significant improvement – the closing stages aside – it's hard to see anything other than the Ulster holders marching on. An embarrassment of riches up front, an athletic midfield and some pacey and attack-minded defenders such as Finbarr Roarty, Ciarán Moore, Peadar Mogan (0-05 between them against Monaghan) means the eight-point spread seems about right. While Donegal are bidding for a 12th Ulster final in 15 seasons, and their record against Down is impressive – four wins from last five games with an average winning margin of 13 points – their last championship clash should serve against complacency, if that is even possible with McGuinness at the helm. Two years ago goals from Liam Kerr and Pat Havern sent Down on their way to victory at Pairc Esler against a Donegal side reeling from Division 1 relegation, managerial upheaval and apparent player apathy. McGuinness returned for a second stint in charge of his native county four months later. Will Leinster remain a piece of cake for Dublin? A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges. One of the most accomplished American minds, Benjamin Franklin, is attributed with that quote, and it could be used with the Dublin footballers in mind. The icing has come off if you will, the likes of James McCarthy, Brian Fenton, Paul Mannion, Jack McCaffrey exiting stage left since last year's championship, but will Leinster remain a piece of cake fo the boys in blue? Dessie Farrell drafted in 16 new faces during the league. Solid if not spectacular was the early verdict, though the laboured win over Wicklow in Aughrim has whispers of an end to provincial domination – they are bidding for 15-in-a-row in Leinster- growing louder. Peter Canavan is of the opinion that the presence of Con O'Callaghan alone means the Delaney Cup will remain in the capital, but more will be needed from those around him if they are to go deep into the All-Ireland race. Question marks regarding goalkeeper and midfield persist, though the return of John Small and Davey Byrne is a huge boon. Sean Bugler is in the form of his Dublin career while Greg McEneaney has nailed down his place in the starting XV. Meath will, perhaps for the first time since their famous 2010 upset of the Dubs, enter the game with ambitions of more than simply keeping the score down. Whether they have the tools to deliver another shock remains to be seen, but the manner of the performance against Carlow was encouraging with Ruairi Kinsella, Eoghan Frayne and Matthew Costello to the fore for the Royals. Meath's tallies 1-30 and 1-25 against Carlow and Offaly respectively indicate that there is potential to cause a Dublin defence that wasn't exactly watertight last time out problems. For all the optimism, it still pits a Division 1 side against a middling Division 2 outfit, with 16 points between the sides last year. Since 2013, the average winning margin hs stood at a touch over 13 points. Whatever about a shock, a competitive match would be a plus and the surroundings of Laois Hire O'Moore Park can only create a better atmosphere rather than a souless Croke Park. All-Ireland place up for grabs By the time the Dubs and Meath throw in at Portlaoise, we will know the identity of the 16th and final team to compete in this year's All-Ireland championship, with Louth v Kildare the first of the provincial semi-finals on Sunday. The Wee County won the corresponding fixture 12 months ago and are bidding for a third successive final appearance, something they last achieved in 1914. Louth manager Ger Brennan will be pleased that their Division 2 status was retained despite a lengthy injury list. What will have given more food for thought was the indifferent display against Laois last time out. Goals from Ryan Burns and Ciarán Byrne (above) saw them through, but it was a performance to be filed in the 'room for improvement' folder. The possibility of talisman Sam Mulroy returning to action - he has been named at full-forward but one can never be certain of the starting personnel - would be a huge shot in the arm for their chances. It's just three years since the Lilywhites dished out a 16-point trimming to Saturday's opponents, but even last year's defeat as a reference point for Kildare is tricky. Eight of the 20 who lined out in Croke Park last April have departed the panel and another six unlikely to start. Brian Flanagan saw a mixed bag of results early season, with expectations low heading into their quarter-final against Westmeath. Under the cosh in the opening half, they found a resilience that has not always been apparent in recent seasons to dig out a morale-boosting two-point victory. Kevin Feely and Callum Bolton are looking to build a strong partnership in the middle of the field, while Ben McCormack and Alex Beirne were central to the second-half turnaround against Westmeath. Tommy Gill and Niall Kelly impressed off the bench and Flanagan will have to plan without Harry O'Neill who picked up a nasty injury.
