National hurling League 2012

i really hope we get relegated and dalys walks

Some interesting games again this weekend in the NHL divisions 1A and 1B. We will have a far clearer picture as to who is going to be in the mix for winning it and who will be in the relegation zone after the playoff.

You would have to fancy both Kilkenny and Tipp with home advantage to get the better of the Dubs and Waterford respectively. The Dubs need to get some of their injured players back, I wonder if the spate of injuries that they have suffered is a legacy of the very intensive physical training they did last year. While Waterford have lost Noel Connor for the year and continue to play the best centre back in the country at centre forward despite not having the hurling for it, have the feeling Ryan could be on very shaky ground come the end of the league and if Clare were to beat them in June i wouldn't be surprised to see him get the boot similar to Justin.

The other game between Galway and Cork should be a good guide as to where both sides are at and the winner would be favourite to make the knockout stages. Cork were lucky by all accounts to get the better of the Dubs but it was good to hear that their young players made big contributions off the bench, will be interesting to see does JBM continue to hold them in reserve or throw them in against a relatively young Galway side.


In 1B Clare should accout for Laois with a bit to spare, all they would then need from their last two games against Offaly and Wexford would be a draw to make the 1B final. While the other two games will be interesting and should give us a far better barometer of the form of the respective sides. Antrim were deserved winners over Wexford and caused Clare more than enough problems while Offaly looked to have Wexford beat before throwing it away by conceding three late goals, you would fancy home advantage being enough to see Offaly home but it will be a tight enough game.

While Wexford failed to perform v Antrim and were blessed to get the better of Offaly, but showed plenty of spirit to play til the end and get an unlikely win while Limerick were miles off the pace v Clare while it is hard to read too much into their win over Laois, we should know exactly were both sides are come the end of it. Wexford Park is a tough place to go and get a result.

In fairness to the new format it is throwing up plenty of tight hard fought games but the issue is that Division 2 is now quite uneven with Carlow and Westmeath a good bit better than the rest (although Kerry are unlucky to be bottom of the table having met both them sides in their first two matches).

Wouldn't mind seeing it made into two team team divisions as opposed to six in Divisions 1A and 1B with two up and two down every year at least that way the standard would be more even across the board and teams would have one extra game which would allow for three home and three away games and a bye week for each side as well

hipster 2 wrote:i really hope we get relegated and dalys walks

Why?

I think we can topple Offaly, remains to be seen though and a trip to tullamore is never an easy ask!

Cant see a strong clare team slipping up on their charge to div1 hurling though at all!

Would be nice to see the dubs back to winning ways, but its hard to see as they seem to lack the killer edge they had last year in the league, maybe daly is looking at championship!

CORK (SH v Galway): D Óg Cusack; S O’Neill, D Cahalane, B Murphy; T Kenny, J Gardiner, W Egan; L McLoughlin, S Óg Ó hAilpín; C Lehane, P Cronin, C Naughton; P Horgan, P O’Sullivan, J Coughlan.

Subs: A Nash, M Coleman, S White, C O’Sullivan, C Joyce, R Cashman, D Sweetnam, B Corry, M O’Sullivan, L O’Farrell, N McCarthy.

GALWAY (SH v Cork): J Skehill; D Connolly, D Collins, G O’Halloran; N Donohue, F Moore, J Coen; D Burke, A Smyth; C Cooney, N Burke, I Tannian; D Hayes, J Regan, B Burke. Subs: J Ryan, P Shiels, T Óg Regan, P Gordon, J Cooney, B Daly, D Glennon, C Donnellan, A Harte, J Grealish, B Flaherty.

TIPPERARY (SH v Waterford): D Gleeson; D Maher, P Curran, M Cahill; J O’Keeffe, C O’Mahony, P Maher; B Maher, J Woodlock; J Ryan, N McGrath, P Bourke; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, S Bourke.

Clare beat Laois by 9 points, 2-22 to 2-13. Good win considering we were missing 4 certain starters although Laois managed to create numerous goal chances which is a worry.


Galway beat Cork by 4 after trailing by 5 at half time. Big win for them and would put them in the driving seat for a semi final spot

Shame the Dubs couldn't hold out for the win yesterday as it would have blown Divison 1A wide open.

Looks as though it is a case of 3 from 4 of Kilkenny, Galway, Tipp and Cork for the semis with the dubs and waterford meeting in the relegation play off. Waterford look miles off the pace and barring a huge upturn in fortunes look odds on for relegation.

While it is a three way race for promotion and a spot in the 1B final between Clare, Offaly and Limerick. Clare need just a draw from their remaining two games while the winner of Limerick v Offaly next weekend more than likely to get the other spot. Laois look certain for the relegation play off while it could be a case that Wexford could end up here as well as Antrim will have a better head to head record if they are level on points

Very impressed by how our young bucks are going. They were slow out of the blocks against Cork but won pulling away in the end. Cunningham to his credit doesn't dandy about in making changes. Great to see young Joe Cooney block a Donal óg clearance which led to our first goal and he also had the assist for our 2nd. The energy and execution of Niall Burke is of the highest level and Davy Glennon will be a handful for any backline. Great chance of a semi now. Young Lehane is a class act for the langers but otherwise they don't look anything special really.

Great so see Daly and the Dubs concentrating on the C'ship this year.

Incidentally he was accosted by some Kilkenny toe-rag at the end of the game but chose not to pursue it - which is admirable in some ways - but means the asshole gets away to do it again. He should be made play a season with the county footballers - that'd soften his cough ....

Is there somewhere online I can see Dublin/Kilkenny?

I see that Eoin Kelly has returned to the Waterford panel. Looks like another bad move by Michael Ryan who is looking ever more out of his depth. While there is no doubting Kelly's natural ability he is no longer the outstanding hurler he was between 2002 and 2008. His attitude on the pitch stinks and there are very few places he can play anymore as simply does not have the workrate to play midfield or half forward and does not have the pace for the full forward line. Given that both Maurice Shanahan, Richie Foley and Pauric Mahoney are reliable free takers there is no real point in carrying him to take frees either. His attitude off the pitch doesn't seem to be much better and I can't see him being too happy if he isn't an automatic starter either.

Wouldn't be surprised if Michael Ryan is given the boot after the league or if Clare manage to beat Waterford in Munster, they have looked clueless and miles off the required standard so far this year.

mossbags wrote:Is there somewhere online I can see Dublin/Kilkenny?

Moss - I believe there wasn't a tv camera near Nowlan Park!!

Some more big games this weekend. Hard to look past wins for Galway and Kilkenny over Waterford and Cork respectively. Have the feeling both may well give their opponents a bit of a trouncing if in the mood. Dublin Tipp will be a very close affair, Tipp still seem to be holding plenty of the big guns in reserve and allowing squad players to stake a claim for starting spots while the Dubs will feel that they should have won their last two games before letting them slip. Think Tipp might edge it with some of their big names coming off the bench.

In 1B Offaly V Limerick tomorrow night will go a long way to deciding who makes the final. Offaly outhurled wexford for long spells but gave away three late goals to lose while Limerick were comfortable enough winners over the sam opposition last week. Have the feeling Limerick will edge it but it will be close.

Would be disappointed if we failed to beat Wexford at home as they are looking well off the pace while you would fancy Antrim to get the better of Laois although Laois will have targetted this game, but a win for Antrim and they will still have an outside shot of making the 1B final if results were to go their way and they were to get the better of Limerick in round 5 in Casement park

Parouisa wrote:

mossbags wrote:Is there somewhere online I can see Dublin/Kilkenny?

Moss - I believe there wasn't a tv camera near Nowlan Park!!

Hard to believe. You would think the teams themselves would have had some kind of recording of the game arranged for their own analysis.
Re Waterford its too early to be writing them off. They have often looked like a team in decline before only to blaze a trail of glory when the ground gets hard. They have the players to trouble any team on a given day and won't give two hoots about a sloppy league campaign come June. I see Ken McGrath is on board now as a selector. Will be interesting to see if his inclusion denotes an improved level of performance in the Stadium on Sunday

Entertaining game in Croke Park. Dublin seemed to have left it behind them until Rushe popped up with a late late goal to ensure a draw. David Treacy played a blinder when introduced at half time. The draw does nothing for Dublin who will now play Waterford twice - the second time to stay in the Division.

Good game in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

JJ looks finished to me. Lehane won everything that came down that wioing in the first 20 minutes. Sublime piece of skill with the "back-flick". Left JJ for dead. Cody had kn option but to make a switch.

The two young Cork lads in midfield are comfortably dealing with Rice/Fennelly.

As for the Kilkenny forwards, 0-4 from play. Richie Power is keeping them in it. Larkin? TJ? R. Hogan? All well below their best. Larkin is a shadow of the player he was.

Kilkenny look gone. How many shots did Richie Hogan hit wide? Richie Power showing his frustration at the end. Not surprised who he was swinging for either. Cadogan is a master at drawing out his opponents temperaments.

Cork not a bad side but the All-Ireland is wide open. Kilkenny, Tipperary, Dublin, Cork, Galway and Clare all in with a shout.

Poor first half for Antrim yesterday, Laois tactics of playing an extra defender had them all over the place at one stage ten points down, good second half when they started to get a grip on the game, after the way results have went if we can pull off a shock v limerick and clare do us a favour in tullamore we could land ourselves in the 1b final, a far cry from the relegation play off v wexford that was the talk on the terrace at half time yesterday, shaping up for a good final weekend although i have a juvenile tournament and wont make the game ffs.

Armagh were unlucky eh? What a walloping!!

bald eagle wrote:Armagh were unlucky eh? What a walloping!!

Any word on what happened there?

couple of big beatings in div4 this week too,leitrims march to the top was halted!

North Side Gael wrote:leitrims march to the top was halted!

Apparently the hurley sticks they got off Boxty only lasted the one game ....

Down are in serious trouble and may have to forget this year even at this stage.

I dont know what there doing in Down but there doing it wrong.

Great to see Derry holding their own, need to get a couple of decent minor sides out, but i hear the county board isnt fussed on hurling at all.

They never have been NSG, hurling o the Derry CB is simply a drain on the resources! I'm delighted to see some of the performances from us this year so far, hopefully keep it up through the summer! New management appear to be doing the job!

On the Armagh result, from what i hear they had 12 of their development squad playing in a top of the table game with Kildare! Not sure how they thought this would "develop" these players as all i can see it doing is harming them! Questions need to be asked of the Armagh management, not only from their own players but from the GAA as well! What were they planning to achieve in putting a weak team out in an important game?

Where is Peter Solan when you want him......Grrrrr.
Clocks forward...hmmmmm

Boxty suspects

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Galway at the wrong end of a Kilkenny reaction to the Cork defeat