Old firm on top gives hint of summer

GAELIC GAMES:FOR ALL the warp and weave thrown up by the 2012 hurling league, the final table tells the oldest story in the game.

Kilkenny on top, Cork and Tipperary close on their heels.

After yesterday’s final round of matches, the old firm are the three teams definitely through to the semi-finals in three weeks’ time, to be joined by the winner of next weekend’s Division One B final between Limerick and Clare.

Just like that, the summer feels a little closer.

That was certainly the case in Thurles where Cork and Tipp played out a thundering draw, both sides stitching 1-23 on to the scoreboard. Pat Horgan and Conor Lehane starred for Cork as they have done throughout the league, with Pa Bourke and Noel McGrath responding in kind for Tipp.

In the end, Cork had to close a four-point gap in the dying minutes, one of which came from just-on-the-pitch substitute John Gardiner. The draw means the two sides will meet again in the semi-final.

“I thought it was a very tough game,” said Jimmy Barry Murphy afterwards. “Maybe not as tight marking as you’d get in a championship game, but there were some marvellous scores on both sides.

“After we went four points down, we did well to come back and get a draw so I was pleased with that. Some of their scores were brilliant and some of their play, the way they found their men, I thought we have a long way to go until we’re up to that standard. But we’re getting there.”

Declan Ryan was equally taken with the quality of the fare in Semple. “It was played at championship pace out there and I suppose some of the guys were feeling the pace near the end,” he said. “We were delighted to see Pa Bourke’s goal going in because we probably hadn’t been getting enough ball in around the danger area all day.

“But I think our guys worked very hard there overall today and we got a fantastic game out of it. It looks good for the championship ahead.”

Kilkenny will meet the winners of the Division One B final after their facile 3-26 to 0-10 win over Galway at Nowlan Park yesterday.

First-half goals from Matthew Ruth, TJ Reid and Eoin Larkin helped sweep Anthony Cunningham’s team aside and they will now go on to meet either Limerick or Clare.

At the bottom of the table, Galway find themselves in a relegation play-off against Dublin in a fortnight after the hiding in Nowlan Park. It was manager Anthony Cunningham’s second defeat of the weekend to a team in black and amber after his Garrycastle side lost the All-Ireland football club final replay to Crossmaglen on Saturday.

His Galway side weren’t at the races at all and will probably now go into the play-off as underdogs.

Dublin lost to Waterford by 0-17 to 0-13 in Fraher Field yesterday, playing without a whole host of first-teamers as Anthony Daly chose not to risk anyone with even a slight injury ahead of the relegation play-off.

Michael Ryan’s side were 0-12 to 0-4 ahead at half-time and withstood a second-half fightback from the league champions to get a result that leaves Waterford safely in Division One A next year.

“We missed too much on the day,” said Daly, who nonetheless wasn’t overly downcast about the result. “We hit 17 or 18 wides which is too much.

“To be fair, Waterford were the better team out there, but if we’d got it back to a point or two, you couldn’t be sure we wouldn’t have caught them. But the pressure was probably a bit more on them because we were sure we’d be playing in two weeks’ time no matter what happened.”

In Division One B, Clare pulled off a dramatic 2-14 to 0-19 win over Offaly, despite having to play most of the match with 14 men after Fergal Lynch was sent off only eight minutes in.

“It’s a fantastic win,” said Davy Fitzgerald afterwards. “People probably thought we didn’t want to win this game because we were already in the final, but we had plenty of opportunities not to win it and we never threw in the towel. Any time we go out, no matter what team takes the field, we want to win it.”

The upshot is that they will meet Limerick next weekend after John Allen’s side beat Antrim by 3-22 to 0-17 in Casement Park.