In the words of Alex Ferguson it has now come to the "squeaky bum" time of the season. No back door, no second chances, man to man and may the best team win. After the furore of last weekend and Mr Brolly's cat on a hot tin roof impression (was it the biggest plot loss since Eamon Dunphy after the Ireland/Egypt game at Italia 90?) we return to the more sedate surroundings of the hurling championship and the much anticipated semi final clash between Dublin and Cork.
For the second week in a row these two counties will meet in a crucial
knock-out championship game at Croke Park. This will also be the first
All-Ireland semi-final meeting between the sides in 85 years, an indicator of how long Dublin have been missing from the top table of the hurling championship. They did meet in the Qualifiers in 2007 and 2008, Cork winning by five and fourtheen point margins.
After their Leinster final hammering of Galway,
Dublin will be viewed as slight favourites by many, but Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s young Cork
side will be full of confidence following their impressive quarter-final
defeat of champions Kilkenny. Cork will also have tradition on their side in any big game in Croke Park with their last appearance there in the September decider being as recent as 2006 whereas Dublin have to go all the way back to 1961 for their last final appearance at headquarters.
Dublin have taken what could be viewed as the more difficult path to the semi-final, having drawn with Wexford in
their opening game and then won the replay. Again, they needed a replay
to beat Kilkenny in the next round, but in the Leinster final they
delivered the finest performance of Anthony Daly’s management reign to
beat last year’s All-Ireland finalists, Galway, by 2-25 to 2-13.
It’s been quite a remarkable turnaround for Daly’s side having
been humiliated by Kilkenny in Leinster last year while also operating in Divison 2 of the league this season. To reach an All Ireland Final would be quite the achievement and was summed up well by Daly himself this week: “It's
easy talking here today when we know we're in an All-Ireland semi-final
and we're Leinster champions but there have been plenty of times you'd
be driving home saying to yourself, 'Hi, go way back to your pub and
fill porter will ya'.”
Cork are back in the semi-finals for the second year
in a row under Jimmy Barry-Murphy, but the feeling is that they are a
little bit better prepared this time around. JBM’s young side look
fitter and stronger this year and the manager has had another 12 months
to fine-tune a very distinct style which is primarily based on pace and swift delivery of the ball in to the inside forwards. A lack of a goal scoring threat to date may be seen as a deficiency of the system however. Having performed poorly against Limerick in the Munster final, they returned with a bang against Kilkenny, running the Cats
ragged with a superb game-plan based on pressing and relentless
running.
Dublin are a younger side with less mileage on the clock and
Daly will no doubt have a few tactical aces up his sleeve to deal with
the Rebels. Cork have named an unchanged side from the one that
overcame Kilkenny but one change of note to the subs is the inclusion of defender Brian Murphy, who has recovered from a shoulder injury.
Dublin are also due to name an unchanged side from their Leinster Final win.
With Dublin having to cope with a five week lay off since their Leinster Final victory, up to that point they had played five weeks in a row and seemed to be getting stronger with each outing, and Cork having the confidence of their victory over Kilkenny and just their general tradition of playing in these type of high pressure games, Jimmy Barry Murphy's side may just shade it to make an All Munster All Ireland Final against Limerick or Clare.
Verdict: Cork Odds: Evens
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