What’s on and where?
All-Ireland SHC qualifying round: Limerick vs Wexford, Gaelic Grounds (tomorrow 5pm).
All-Ireland SHC qualifying round: Clare vs Galway, Pearse Stadium (tomorrow 7pm).
Munster SFC final: Kerry vs Cork, Killarney (Sunday, 2pm).
Ulster SHC final: Antrim vs Armagh, Casement Park (Sunday, 3.30pm).
Leinster SHC final: Dublin vs Kilkenny, Croke Park (Sunday, 4.00pm).
What’s on the telly?
RTÉ will be showing will be showing full coverage of Clare’s All-Ireland qualifier with Galway tomorrow, in addition to the Munster Senior Football Championship final between Kerry and Cork on Sunday at 2pm. Coverage of the Leinster final will be showing from 3.30pm onwards on TV3, while all the highlights will be shown on the Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
Any important team news?
Limerick vs Wexford: David Moloney and Damien Hannon come in for Limerick. Hannon returns, after missing out on the Munster semi-final as he had to sit his Leaving Cert. He replaces Richie McCarthy at wing forward. Wexford’s captain Darren Stamp returns to the side, however Ciaran Kenny and Willie Doran miss out through injury.
Clare vs Galway: Galway have made five changes to the team that lost to Dublin, with forwards Ger Farragher, Iarla Tannian and Alan Kerins replacing Cyril Donnellan, Eanna Ryan and Aonghus Callinan. Elsewhere, Damien Joyce and Barry Daly are dropped in favour of Donal Barry and Andy Smith.
Kerry vs Cork: Kerry are unchanged from the side that beat Limerick in the semis. Seamus Scanlon has returned to the bench following a health scare, but Paul Galvin has failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time for the game. For Cork, Pearse O’Neill starts at half-forward, while Noel O’Leary replaces Eoin Cotter at half-back. Meanwhile, Graham Canty starts at full-back ahead of Eoin Cadogan.
Antrim vs Armagh: Armagh have made an incredible 11 changes from their last outing against Carlow. Chris McGuinness, Kieran McGourty, Simon McCrory and Eddie McCloskey are the only players who have kept their places, as the side clearly have one eye on the upcoming All-Ireland Qualifiers. Antrim also make sweeping changes, with Kevin McKeague, Matthew Donnelly and Karl McKeegan among the eight alterations.
Pick of the weekend
All three finals should be intriguing, however Dublin’s game with Kilkenny is of particular interest. Kilkenny have been the dominant force in Leinster hurling for well over a decade, while Dublin haven’t won the competition in 50 years. Nonetheless, the game is not quite the David and Goliath-style encounter that these statistics would suggest.
Kilkenny’s powers seem to be waning ever since they lost the All-Ireland final last year, while Dublin have gone from strength to strength of late, even beating the Cats in the Allianz League final earlier this year. It certainly will be worth tuning to see if they can upset the odds, or if Kilkenny can win a remarkable 13th Leinster title out of their last 14 attempts.
Reading List
While all eyes are bound to be on match officials’ performance this weekend, Seán Moran believes they receive undue criticism and gives a cogent defence of Cormac Reilly in his column this week in The Irish Times.
Christy O’Connor of the Irish Independent gives a comprehensive analysis of this weekend’s Munster final between Kerry and Cork.
In the Irish Examiner, Michael Moynihan provides an entertaining insight into life as a GAA hack and the often mind-numbing process of interviewing players.
