Previews: Munster title on the line as hurling championship hots up

July 08, 2016

Tipperary and Waterford fans make their way towards Semple Stadium, Thurles before the 2015 Munster SHC final.
©INPHO/Morgan Treacy.

The Munster SHC final tops the bill on Sunday with two All-Ireland SHC qualifier round 2 games taking place on Saturday.

Saturday, July 9th

All-Ireland SHC Qualifier Round 2

Cork v Wexford
, Semple Stadium, 5pm - SKY

They meet in the qualifiers for a second successive year, with Cork having won last year's Round 1 clash by 2-22 to 0-20 in Innovate Wexford Park.

Patrick Horgan (0-9) and Conor Lehane (1-6) were top scorers for Cork while Ian Byrne was Wexford's top marksman on 0-12.

It's 60 years since Wexford last beat Cork in the championship, winning the 1956 All-Ireland final by 2-14 to 2-8.

The counties have met eight times in the championship since then, with Cork winning seven while there was a draw in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final.

Verdict: Cork

Clare v Limerick, Semple Stadium, 7pm - SKY

This will be their 53rd championship meeting, with Limerick leading 35-16 (one game was drawn) from their previous 52 clashes.

Their most recent meeting was a year ago when Limerick won by 1-19 to 2-15 in the Munster quarter- final.

Shane Dowling 0-11 and Graeme Mulcahy 1-1 were Limerick's top scorers while Colin Ryan 0-7 and Aaron Cunningham 2-1 were Clare's leading marksmen.

The counties met in Division 1B in Ennis last March when Clare won by 1-19 to 0-18 to secure the promotion spot.

Limerick had Barry Nash sent off just before half-time, an incident that handed the initiative to the home side.

Verdict: Clare

Sunday, July 10th

Munster SHC final

Waterford v Tipperary, Gaelic Grounds, 4pm - RTE

They meet for a second successive year in the Munster final, with Tipperary bidding to repeat last year's triumph when they won by five points (0-21 to 0- 16) in Semple Stadium.

This time it's in the Gaelic Grounds, the first occasion the Limerick has venue has staged a Munster final between Tipperary and Waterford since 1963, when Waterford won by 0-11 to 0-8 in front of a crowd of 36,000.

Tipperary, chasing provincial title number 42, are seeking their sixth successive championship win over Waterford, who last beat the Premier men in the 2008 All-Ireland semi-final.

"This is a really good Waterford team. I would struggle to find a weak area in that team," said Premier boss Michael Ryan who is planning without the services of the suspended John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer.

"Our own level of performance will have to go up a couple of notches, this is game on."

Searching for Munster title number 10, Waterford boss Derek McGrath hopes his young side can build on their memorable semi-final victory over Clare.

"It was a good performance because when Clare got it to four points in the middle of the second half and Austin (Gleeson) cut the ball over the bar, that was the defining moment," the Deise manager pointed out. "We were able to push on."

The winners qualify for the All-Ireland semi-final on August 14; the losers meet a qualifier winner in the All-Ireland quarter-final on July 24.

Verdict: Waterford


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