GAA All-Ireland Hurling semi-finals: ‘Why I expect Limerick and Kilkenny to reach the…

In his first BBC Sport NI column, recently-retired Antrim star Neil McManus previews Limerick v Galway and Kilkenny v Clare in the All-Ireland Hurling semi-finals as the championship builds towards an exciting conclusion.

Hurling fans could hardly have asked for a better semi-final line-up. You have the holders Limerick going up against Galway on Saturday before Kilkenny take on Clare on Sunday. Two semi-final rematches from 2022. Two games that promise a couple of epic showdowns.

There are so many intriguing questions and storylines as we approach the end of another whirlwind season. Can anyone stop Limerick? Will Kilkenny great Henry Shefflin lead Galway to their first All-Ireland in six years? Can Kilkenny or Clare end their respective eight and ten-year droughts?

Whatever way you look at it, it’s shaping up to be a riveting end to the inter-county hurling season.

‘Galway have unfinished business but Limerick are back to their best’

For me, Limerick are rediscovering their best form at the perfect time. Great teams have that knack of peaking at the right time and Limerick are doing just that as they ramp up their four-in-a-row tilt.

As proven in the Munster final, when they were pushed all the way by Clare, this group of Limerick players have continually found the answers to the questions posed by the chasing pack.

On Saturday, the holders face a Galway side who will feel they have unfinished business after last year’s loss to Limerick at this stage.

However, Galway boss Henry Shefflin will have been pleased with how his side performed the last day out against Tipperary in the quarter-finals.

A late Jason Forde goal set up a grandstand finish but the Galway rearguard would not be breached again, holding out for a two-point win and a crack at revenge against Limerick.

I noted the substitution of Gearoid McInerney after he lost possession in the build-up to the Tipp goal, so I won’t be surprised if his replacement Fintan Burke lines out for the Tribesmen from the start.

In the Tipperary game, Galway got huge success from deploying Cathal Mannion in a deep-lying midfield role in order to provide quality supply to the inside forward line. If Shefflin opts for that again, it will be interesting to see if Limerick assign a man-marker to him in an effort to curb his influence.

Limerick are not without their injury worries ahead of the weekend. Defender Sean Finn’s year is over while team captain Declan Hannon appears to be in a race against time to be fit for Saturday.

Hannon is an integral part of this Limerick juggernaut and, if unavailable, his presence would be missed in terms of on-field leadership alongside anchoring the Limerick defence.

But the Limerick panel have proven themselves time and time again when tested and I’d expect manager John Kiely and coach Paul Kinnerk to come up with a solution on the sideline again.

Both sides have in-form forwards. Galway will be hoping that Conor Whelan can continue his hurler of the year-level form and upset the Limerick defence with his movement and strength just as he did against Tipperary and Kilkenny in the Leinster final.

At the other end of the field, however, Limerick have three-time All-Star Aaron Gillane in red hot form after a spell away from the panel. Gillane’s prospective battle with Galway’s Daithi Burke is one of the most eagerly-anticipated match-ups if indeed Burke is detailed to shadow the Limerick sharpshooter again this year.

Cian Lynch has had a relatively quiet campaign so far by his standards, but his potential as a matchwinner cannot be discounted. Thankfully for Limerick, Lynch is ably supported in attack by Gearoid Hegarty and Tom Morrissey, who has performed really well when his team have needed him this season.

This one went down to the wire last year. Galway will throw everything at Limerick to avenge that defeat 12 months ago, but recent history tells us that Limerick always produce when it matters and I suspect that their remarkable track record in edging these big championship battles will see them over the line again on Saturday evening.

‘Clare injury concerns could give Kilkenny the edge’

Unlike Limerick’s win over Galway last year, the Kilkenny-Clare semi-final was over long before the final whistle sounded as the Cats blew away the Banner with a commanding and ruthless display.

An interesting sub-plot that day was the battle between Tony Kelly, Clare’s marquee forward, and soon-to-be young hurler of the year Mikey Butler.

Kelly didn’t score from play after close attention from Butler over the 70 mins and it will be interesting to see if that particular rivalry is renewed this weekend.

The big question for Clare is: will John Conlon and Conor Cleary be fit enough to start?

Two titanic central defensive figures, Conlon has become the spiritual leader of this group since his move to centre-back four seasons ago and it is difficult to overstate how badly the Clare defence missed him against Kilkenny last year.

David McInerney was also missing from Clare’s quarter-final mauling of Dublin and will be a loss if he doesn’t return to full fitness in time.

Clare have a forward line that can really hurt the Cats. One of manager Brian Lohan’s masterstrokes has been standing Kelly down from free-taking duties in favour Mark Rodgers. Rodgers was on-point in the quarter-final while Kelly has been free to express his genius without the added pressure of placed ball responsibilities.

Elsewhere in the forward line, Shane O’Donnell is the one Clare player who did himself justice against Kilkenny last year and was rightly rewarded with an All-Star award after hitting four points from play that day.

Clare may also look to in-form midfielder David Fitzgerald, a standout performer this year, to create goalscoring chances like he did in the quarter-final. Clare will hope Croke Park will suit his athletic prowess to create an advantage as results at the GAA’s headquarters have not been favourable in recent years.

Kilkenny are perfectly positioned to spring an upset against a much-fancied Clare team this year after clinching a fourth successive Leinster title courtesy of Cillian Buckley’s last-gasp goal.

Kilkenny’s panel strength is second only to Limerick, evidenced by the Cats navigating the first half of the league campaign without their All-Ireland Club Championship winners from Ballyhale.

We in Antrim can certainly attest to that having faced Kilkenny in the league when the Ballyhale players were absent and again in the Leinster Championship after they had been reintegrated.

Eoin Cody – one of the Ballyhale contingent – has taken his performances to another level this season and has added real physicality to compliment his exceptional natural ability.

In attack, Kilkenny have game-winners in the evergreen TJ Reid, Walter Walsh, Billy Ryan and Martin Keoghan, but they will hope that Adrian Mullan recovers from injury to claim a starting berth after his superb performance against Clare in last year’s semi-final.

2022 All-Star full-back Huw Lawlor from the O’Loughlin Gaels club has been in fine form at the edge of the Kilkenny square, but he will need to produce his best performance if he is to quell the significant goal threat posed by Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly in particular.

Derek Lyng is in his maiden season as Kilkenny boss, having replaced the legendary Brian Cody last year, and will be hoping to recreate his illustrious playing career as manager.

Winning back the All-Ireland would be a monumental achievement. Their last success was in 2015. That’s a mini-famine for a county of their stature, but they’re two big results away from ending it. They’ve had four weeks to prepare for the first half of the job.

Last year’s semi-final was disappointingly one-sided but I’m expecting this one to be a classic. There is much to admire about this Clare side, but I feel their injury concerns give Kilkenny the edge to set up a mouthwatering rematch of last year’s All-Ireland final against Limerick.