The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals take centre stage this weekend and Enda McElhinney is on hand to run through his best bets.
It’s preliminary quarter-final action in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship this weekend as Dublin travel to face neighbours Kildare in Newbridge and Tipperary make the trip to face Laois in O’Moore Park.
Ties against Limerick and Galway next weekend await the winners of these knockout tussles and the Dubs and Tipp will be expected to make short work of last weekend’s Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.
Selections
Tipperary -24 @ 10/11
Dublin -12 @ 10/11
Tipp to dismantle Laois challenge
Laois stand alone as the only side to progress from competing in the Joe McDonagh Cup to win a game in the All-Ireland series in the same season.
That came all the way back in 2019 when a strong panel from the O’Moore county stunned Dublin. It remains the only victory for a Joe McDonagh team in 10 of these preliminary quarter-final contests.
It isn’t hard to envisage the status quo not remaining in place after this weekend’s offerings.
Last Sunday, some wasteful shooting in the first half and a substandard second period saw Laois losing the second tier final by 10 points against Kildare. The half-time stats made for painful reading for them; 11 wides, five point attempts that dropped short and a shot at goal that was saved.
Their ‘reward’ for that loss is to face tier one opponents Tipperary off the back of a six-day turnaround. It’s scant consolation.
Liam Cahill’s side are an emerging force once again after some recent struggles for the Premier county. They hadn’t won back-to-back championship matches since 2019 prior to a nine-point win over Waterford in Thurles last month. Now they are set for three on the spin.
Under-20 star Oisin O’Donoghue could be primed for game-time after scoring his first senior Championship goal against the Deise, while Darragh McCarthy should have a profitable return after scoring 11 points last time.
Laois are down after their disappointment in Croke Park and come Saturday afternoon they should also be out with a bit of whimper.
Dubs to stop Lilywhites march
That Joe McDonagh Cup final was a major letdown for Laois but an historic success for Kildare, the Lilywhites tasting victory at Croke Park for the first time.
Boss Brian Dowling’s transformation of Kildare hurling keeps on going with the tier two championship triumph following on from last year’s Christy Ring Cup win.
Like Laois, they are ‘rewarded’ by now facing the Dubs six days on. Given the historic achievement of Sunday’s win, it’s only safe to assume Kildare celebrated appropriately. Their seasonal goal has been attained but the journey may end with a crash back down to earth.
When they lost to Kerry in their opening round robin game this season, Kildare’s record in tier two games was played nine, lost nine. They turned it around, of course, and the true reward for the Lilywhites is a place in the 2026 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.
They will have time to prepare for that and embrace it, but a week removed from the high of defeating Laois, the Dubs may leave them stranded in Newbridge.
Niall O’ Ceallachain’s first season as Dublin boss has gone relatively well. The Na Fianna clubman will have his side drilled for this game after three weeks’ rest.
Dublin scored 3-21 in their loss to Kilkenny and 3-15 in defeat to Galway in their final two Leinster provincial outings.
This is a big step up for Kildare and they may come up well short, leaving a bitter taste at the end of a highly successful season.
