THERE ARE JUST five games left in the All-Ireland SHC as we head towards the business end of the season.
Six teams remain in contention for the big prize, with provincial winners Galway and Cork already assured of their place in the semi-finals.
Ahead of this weekend’s quarter-final clashes of Limerick v Kilkenny and Wexford v Clare, we take a look at how all six of the All-Ireland contenders are shaping up.
1. Galway
The reigning Leinster and All-Ireland champions are favourites to regain the Liam MacCarthy Cup in August. After a low-key league campaign and run to the provincial final, Galway misfired against Kilkenny in Croke Park and had the game ran a couple of minutes longer they might have been beaten.
Some critics questioned Galway’s hunger to string together back-to-back All-Irelands after the drawn game, but they answered in emphatic fashion in Semple Stadium with a strong start and finish to retain the Bob O’Keeffe Cup.
Galway remain the team to beat and with nine quality forwards fighting over six starting positions Micheal Donoghue is blessed with options.
2. Cork
The two-in-a-row Munster champions arrived into this season a little underrated after John Meyler replaced Kieran Kingston, but they confirmed their status as kingpins of the province with another solid campaign.
Cork drop forwards Daniel Kearney and Luke Meade deep into midfield and attempt to isolate Patrick Horgan and Shane Kingston with diagonal balls inside. Horgan has 1-42 to his name in five championship games so far while the potential return of Alan Cadogan will further boost Meyler’s hand up front.
Anthony Nash’s puck-outs remain one of Cork’s attacking greatest weapons and they possess raw pace all over the field. The Rebels feel they left a place in the All-Ireland final behind them last year and must be considered the greatest threat to Galway’s crown.
3. Limerick
Limerick were the in-form team for most of the round-robin phase before they suffered an 11-point defeat to Clare on their third successive weekend in action.
John Kiely’s side got back on track by putting 5-22 past Carlow but they’ll be very wary of the Kilkenny challenge on Sunday. Limerick might have the most depth of the six teams remaining in the hunt for the Liam MacCarthy with an array of riches available to Kiely.
They’ve got an extremely strong defence built on the impressive half-back line of Diarmuid Byrnes, Declan Hannon and Dan Morrissey.
Discipline issues proved costly for Limerick in the two games they failed to win against Cork and Clare so they’ll need to avoid a repeat of those transgressions if they’re to go all the way.
4. Kilkenny
The Cats don’t do transition. Brian Cody has managed to replenish his stocks with young talent this season and the two Leinster finals against Galway proved that Kilkenny are right in the mix to contend for top honours.
Cody has settled on his six defenders and has built this team on a strong spine consisting of Eoin Murphy, Cillian Buckley, TJ Reid and Walter Walsh. Walsh is a major doubt for Sunday after he hobbled off 17 minutes into Sunday’s replay with a groin problem.
Kilkenny displayed their tremendous fighting spirit against Galway, but Sunday’s clash against Limerick will be their third game in 14 days. Their form is still somewhat erratic, they can go long spells without scoring and it’s still unclear if Padraig Walsh is the long-term answer at full-back.
Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly may come in from the start against Limerick to breathe new life into the Cats attack.
5. Clare
The second best team in Munster over the last two seasons, the Banner have undoubtedly got the weapons to go all the way this season. They’ve got to sort out their habit of hitting confidence-sapping wides from distance and better utilise the talents of in-form full-forward John Conlon.
Wexford will look to cut out the supply into Conlon with the positioning of sweeper Shaun Murphy, while they’ll try to force the Banner into taking potshots from deep.
Clare need Tony Kelly to start dominating games from start to finish, while they’ll expect a major reaction from Shane O’Donnell following his quiet Munster final showing.
6. Wexford
The manner of Wexford’s 0-22 to 1-18 defeat to Kilkenny, after they led by nine at one stage greatly disappointed manager Davy Fitzgerald in what was effectively a Leinster semi-final.
The Model County had 11-points to spare over Westmeath in the preliminary quarter-final but Fitzgerald was downbeat afterwards. “There was no excuse for us playing the way we did,” he said. “That wasn’t a good Wexford performance. We won’t live with Clare playing like that. That’s the truth.”
Wexford haven’t been playing with the same spark they possessed for much of last season, but beat Fitzgerald’s native Clare tomorrow and they’re in the first All-Ireland semi-final since 2007.
It has the feeling of the defining moment for Fitzgerald’s reign in Wexford.
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