Talking points
- Tipperary are into yet another All-Ireland senior hurling championship final and they’ll face a familiar foe on September 7. It was far from a classic in Croke Park but the Eamon O’Shea’s men did more than enough to beat a flat Cork side.
- Séamus Callanan is as good at deflecting praise as he is at finding the back of the net. The Tipperary forward was keen to emphasise how important his team-mates were despite a star turn of 2-4 helping the Premier to their 10 point victory.
- Limerick breezed past Galway in the curtain-raiser at headquarters with Ronan Lynch claiming 0-13. The victory puts Limerick into the All-Ireland minor hurling final for the first time since 2005.
- The men may have lost the senior hurling semi-final but there was better news for the seemingly unstoppable Cork ladies football team. The Rebelettes remain on course for a ninth All-Ireland title in 10 years with a nine point win in Saturday’s quarter-final with Mayo.
Who needs the Premier League anyway?
We know Joey – Joseph – Barton has attempted to re-invent himself as something of a renaissance man on Twitter.
He has tried quoting philosophy and, more recently, declared himself a hurling hipster.
At least watching Tipperary stroll to victory was more enjoyable that seeing Manchester City do the same.
Snapshots
The real loser in Croke Park yesterday – apart from Galway and Cork, obviously – was hurleys.
He scores when he wants
There’s no denying that Séamus Callanan is tormentor in chief for Tipperary. The 25-year old’s 2-4 against Cork sees him move to the top of the hurling scoring charts.
His total for this year’s championship is a phenomenal 7-38 (59) which ties him in first place with Antrim’s Paul Shiels who has hit 1-56 (59).
Kilkenny’s TJ Reid – third with 3-40 (49) – will have to hit some scores in the final if he’s to overtake the pair.
Here’s Callanan’s second goal on Sunday:
http://vine.co/v/M3JM2pdixtM
He’s joking right?
We’re pretty sure that Leinster’s Noel Reid wasn’t being entirely serious when he sent this tweet. It caught people’s attention though.
Cody in the spotlight
As Tipperary strolled to victory and Cork fans ran towards the exits, the face of Kilkenny manager Brian Cody appeared on the big screen in Croke Park.
With Tipperary set to face his charges for the fourth time in six years next month, his image was greeted with a loud vocal reaction.
To be fair to Cody, he took it well. You’d smile too if you’d won nine All-Ireland titles as a manager.
Tweet of the day
Is there any higher praise than that of an ex-player, particularly one from the opposition?
Man of the match
The Sunday Game gave the prize to Paudie Maher of Tipperary but you were the first to suggest he was the best player on the park yesterday. Séamus Callanan and John O’Dwyer, the other two nominees on RTÉ, ran him close in our poll too.
Your ‘this person was both happy and sad’ picture of the day
Who needs Hawk-Eye?
Last year, Barry Nash scored a point for Limerick that was ruled out – incorrectly – by Hawk-Eye against the same opposition. Yesterday he nabbed 1-3 as the Treaty ran out the most comfortable of winners in the minor semi-final making it a far more enjoyable visit to headquarters for the youngster.
As we’ve already mentioned, Limerick’s 1-27 to 2-9 win over Galway was thanks in large part to Ronan Lynch. We took note of the Na Piarsaigh midfielder as one to watch when he scored 0-12 against Cork in a Munster championship game as a 16-year old and he’s shown nothing to dissuade us from marking him as a future star.
Rebelette Yell
The Cork hurlers may have had a disappointing weekend but the ladies senior footballers continue to stake a claim for being Ireland’s most dominant sporting dynasty with a nine point win over Cora Staunton’s Mayo side.
Valerie Mulcahy hit seven points for the Munster side as they booked their semi-final place and are now just two games away from a ninth title in a decade.
In the weekend’s other quarter-final, Caroline O’Hanlon stole the show with 2-6 as five star Armagh put Laois to the sword with a 23-point win in Tullamore. O’Hanlon is just back from the Commonwealth Games where she was playing netball for Northern Ireland.
And then there were two
Limerick and Kilkenny will contest the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland intermediate camogie final next month after two very different semi-finals on Saturday.
While the Cats had nine points to spare over Kildare, Limerick endured a nervy single-point win over a spirited Waterford outfit who just couldn’t find an equaliser in the closing stages.
Did we win?
There was worrying news during the week when we heard that former Derry All-Star Kevin McCloy had collapsed during a club game. Thankfully, the 35-year old regained consciousness on Friday and had a very pertinent first question.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
Get well soon, Kevin.
So what’s next?
Just the small matter of Kerry and Mayo in both the senior and minor football semi-finals in Croke Park next weekend. See you back here, same time next week.
