Rebels strike back

The minutes are ticking away until the start of the Ulster and All-Ireland hurling Championships. Noel Sands casts his expert eye over the challengers and predicts that Cork will come through to take Kilkenny’s crown despite their turbulent start to 2008....

BY NOEL SANDS
The turf has begun to harden and hurlers all over the country are preparing for battle. That’s what Championship hurling is all about, a battle of courage and heart for the players and a battle of wits for the managers.
No matter what competition your team is in, you can guarantee that nobody said it was going to be easy.
For the ultimate prize, the Liam McCarthy, you have the pick from four teams, two from Munster one from Leinster and the lone ranger from Connacht.
Last year’s Championship was a great advert for the game and this year should be no different.
Again it will be Munster that will lead the way with some explosive matches and that is where I start.
Waterford will have too much firepower for a Clare side that has been in transition for a few years now and internal wrangling last year certainly didn’t help their cause. Frank Lohan, Colin Lynch and Niall Gilligan are the last of a dying breed for a Clare side that may well have the curse of Biddy Earley back on them.
Waterford aren’t without their ageing players as well. Ken McGrath, Tony Browne and Dave Bennett are all over 30 but an injury to Eoin Kelly will just question how much this team has left in them.
Justin McCarthy has gone to the well so many times with this Waterford side that the best they can hope for is another Munster title.
Limerick will again be waiting for Waterford when they beat Clare and, like last year, Limerick had a poor League run but, with a full compliment of players for a Munster semi-final, Richie Bennis’ men will be on full throttle to prove a point or two. Expect another almighty clash when Waterford and Limerick meet – a draw might even be a good bet.
The other Munster semi-final, Cork v Tipperary, will be eagerly awaited by every punter. The match has class written all over it.
Both teams hurl with a passion and intensity that is second to none. Tipperary had their problems last year but, with an NHL title tucked away, it will give them the confidence and reassurance that they need to beat a rejuvenated Cork side even if it is in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
A win there for Tipperary could spur them on to emulate Limerick’s feat last year and maybe go one better and win an All-Ireland title. Tipperary are one of the teams from Munster in with a chance of an All-Ireland title.
The second Munster team in with a chance of an All-Ireland title are Cork.
The Rebels were consigned to playing only three NHL games and a nonsense game with Waterford and eventually lost to Galway in the NHL semi-final.
The Rebels are always full value in the Championship and are my tip to win the All-Ireland.
Gerald McCarthy has reinvented this Cork team, the players have been galvanised by the strike and are now focused on winning an All-Ireland title. Nothing less will do for these players.
In Leinster, Kilkenny look to be light years ahead of the rest of the competition. Barring complacency, Kilkenny should win another Leinster title, thus having a relatively easy passage to an All-Ireland semi-final.
Do Kilkenny want this passage? What team wouldn’t? They are going for three All-Ireland titles in-a-row and, with Cody’s cries of ‘remember the Tipperary NHL defeat’ ringing in their ears, be assured that a Cat is at its most dangerous when it’s wounded. Never rule Kilkenny out.
So what about the rest of the teams in Leinster? Dublin could be the surprise package.
Beating Westmeath will pit them against Wexford which is a match that has intrigue written all over it.
Dublin are the up-and-coming team in Leinster and beating Wexford to reach a Leinster final may be just what the doctor ordered for a county that only last year won Leinster minor and U21 titles.
Offaly, too, are putting a power of work into their youth structures but again it will be a while before we see them in another All-Ireland final.
Laois have already beaten Offaly in the league so this Leinster quarter-final clash will be a test to see if Laois can step up to the big time.
In Ulster, while Antrim have dominated for the last number of years they haven’t really made an impression in the All-Ireland series since Dinny Cahill left.
Winning an Ulster title will be a stroll in the park for an Antrim team that has its sights set on bigger things.
Galway are Antrim’s Mount Errigal and, while they may not be the biggest mountain in Ireland, getting over it could prove too much for the Saffrons.
Fair play to the Ulster Council for letting every other county into the Ulster Championship. If you want to raise the profile of hurling in Ulster it’s certainly a step forward.
Ulster hurlers have no delusions of grandeur about them but they would like recognition for their efforts. Armagh came close to winning the Nicky Rackard last year Donegal did likewise two years ago, Derry actually won it and felt embarrassed. Were they in the wrong competition?
Likewise, Antrim won the Christy Ring two years ago, but ask Antrim folk what they won, it still wasn’t the Holy Grail, the Liam McCarthy.
While Antrim’s range is Mount Errigal, Galway’s is Everest. With the Canning brothers on board and a decent squad of 20 players to pick from, Ger Loughnane will be hoping that his team can last more than 60 minutes.
If Loughnane has fixed Galway’s Achilles heel in the full back line then Galway might just reach All-Ireland glory.
Westmeath are my tip to win the Christy Ring for a third time and with Fingal (a north Dublin side) entering the Nicky Rackard for a bit history don’t be surprised if they win it.
Whatever happens, sit back and watch the sliotar fly.