Ger McCarthy
DERRY strutted their way to a first Ulster football final appearance in 11 years. The F1 engine that powers the Tipperary hurlers' sounded as throaty and menacing as ever en route to a Munster final meeting with Waterford. The capital's incessant hype machine needs oiling ahead of Dublin's Leinster hurling final showdown with the Cats.
Get ready your garlands and rotten eggs for this weekend's Winners and Losers.
THE WEEKEND WINNERS
Derry
A FIRST Ulster football final appearance in over a decade was ample reward for an electric Derry performance in Clones on Sunday. Armagh were sent packing from the Ulster championship following the Oak Leaf county's fully deserved 3-14 to 1-11 victory. The pre-game favourites struggled to contain a Derry forward line in which Enda Muldoon, Eoghan Bradley, Conleith Gilligan and Mark Lynch ripped the Armagh defence to shreds with some fantastic scores. Pride, passion and no shortage of quality scoring marks Derry down as a side to watch out for the remainder of the summer.
Tipperary
LETHAL finishing, marvellous long range point scoring, incessant work-rate off the ball, hooking, blocking, grabbing, pulling, dragging their opponents at every opportunity and a never-say-die attitude right up until the final whistle. All the elements necessary to retain an All-Ireland Hurling title remain to the fore in the current Tipperary panel.
Add to that the consistent goal-scoring threat of Lar Corbett, Eoin Kelly and Seamus Callinan and the Premier County look hot favourites to retain their Munster crown at the expense of Waterford on July 10. Tipp are improving with every game (3-22 v Cork, 3-14 v Clare) and it is going to take something special to prevent 'two in a row' this year.
Dublin
ANTHONY Daly deserves immense credit for steering his Dublin side to a Leinster hurling final appearance against Kilkenny on July 3rd following a fully deserved win over Galway in Tullamore on Saturday. Paul Ryan proved the Dubs' jewel in the crown with 13 points of his side's total en route to a 0-19 to 2-07 victory. Even the second half dismissal of Ryan O'Dwyer failed to halt Dublin's march to victory against a pitiful Galway outfit.
Despite the expected hype and unwanted media attention since winning the Allianz Hurling League title Daly has taken it one game at a time and guided Dublin to a provincial decider where they are certain to test Kilkenny to the full.
Conor McGrath
THE Clare forward may have ended up on the losing side but still managed to produce a quality debut performance in Clare's Munster semi final defeat to Tipperary. The Cratloe man announced his arrival in the Munster championship with a goal inside the opening minute and went on to score six additional points during an impressive individual display.
Cork
WHATEVER was said in the Cork dressing room at half time in the All-Ireland qualifier with Laois on Saturday afternoon should be written down and sold. The Rebels struggled for periods of the opening half before racking up an astonishing final score of 10-20 in an utterly dominant performance.
In previous years Cork hurlers would have been content to build a substantial lead and see out the remainder of a game. Not this year.
Denis Walsh's side decided to 'put up a score' and ran the unfortunate Laois defence ragged with an avalanche of scores including hat-tricks from Paudie O'Sullivan and Pat Horgan. Cork's lethal form in front of goal will serve as a timely reminder to Offaly who visit Pairc Ui Chaoimh next Sunday.
All-Ireland Camogie Championship
THE format for the 2011 All-Ireland Camogie Championship sees the eight top ranked counties play one another in a round-robin group before the top four ranked sides' progress to the semi finals and eventual All-Ireland final. Would a similar format not work in the hurling championship? Are you watching Christy Cooney?
Price Cuts
THE GAA finally decided to act on the poor attendances in this year's provincial championships by agreeing to cut the price of admission tickets by €5 for the All-Ireland qualifiers. A welcome boost for cash-strapped fans all over the country.
THE WEEKEND LOSERS
Galway
WERE it not for the goal-scoring ability of Joe Canning and Joe Gantley then Galway's Leinster hurling semi final defeat to Dublin could have been much more painful for the Tribesmen. Moving to the Leinster championship was meant to reinvigorate a stagnating Galway senior hurling panel. Playing against higher quality opponents on a more consistent basis would surely only help improve their chances of winning an All-Ireland. The opposite is now the case with Kilkenny, Dublin and even Wexford ahead of Galway in the Leinster rankings.
Galway manager John McIntyre spoke about Galway needing to 'retrieve their reputations' in his after match comments. Nothing short of victory in Galway's next match will do to salvage what is left of their tattered reputations.
Armagh
THE Orchard County's earlier defeat of last year's All-Ireland runners-up, Down, in the quarter finals of the Ulster Championship suggested a long and fruitful summer for Armagh's footballers. Even the favourites tag appeared to be resting easily on the shoulders of the squad heading into Sunday's semi final with Derry until the Oak Leaf County blew away all that early season hope with a commanding performance to qualify for the final.
The qualifiers now beckon for an Armagh side whose early season confidence has been shredded and serious questions will be asked if they fail to progress through the back door in the weeks ahead.
Laois
THE harsh reality is that Laois hurling shows little sign of life following consecutive defeats to Antrim and the Rebels. Another season mired in the second division of the Allianz Hurling League is unlikely to re-ignite the county's hurling fortunes. These are dark days for Laois hurling.
Follow Ger McCarthy on Twitter: @offcentrecircle
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/ovXo6jy7FRk/post.aspx
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