MOSTLY HURLING:Limerick won't be found wanting in terms of touch or physicality, but they may lack quality players

MUNSTER CHAMPIONSHIP act two throws in on Sunday in Thurles. If it has anything like the same level of entertainment as act one between Cork and Tipperary a fortnight ago, supporters will be well pleased. The clash of Waterford and Limerick has been talked up since the draws were made last October as the grudge match of this year’s championship. Justin McCarthy, ousted unceremoniously by the Waterford players last summer, facing his former team and he with a score of sorts to settle.

If league or recent challenge game form is anything to go on, he has a major struggle ahead. Having dual players isn’t exactly a help either. In my opinion, the day of the intercounty player playing with both senior teams is over. There are too many games involved now.

The dual players of the past, particularly those from Cork, managed to combine both with a fair degree of success in an era when they might only play two football championship games, such was the Kerry dominance in the province, and might play in an All-Ireland final having played a maximum of four games, and sometimes as few as three. Indeed, the Cork hurling team of 1976 only played three games to become the All-Ireland champions of that year. But all is changed now since the introduction of the second-chance games.

On this Sunday, Waterford, with their own dual player issue, would seem to me to have the more settled team.

With Ken McGrath on the 40 and Brick Walsh at number six they have two of the outstanding players of the modern-day game. I felt sorry for Ken in last year’s All-Ireland final. He never got to the pace of the game and I hope he can once again rediscover the form that has made him such a fantastic player for so long. The Brick, on the other hand, has settled into the centre back position almost with ease. He has been commanding throughout the league campaign and is a great reader of the game.

Since the beginning of this wonderful period in Waterford hurling in the late ’90s, they have been involved in some of the most remarkable hurling games. Their Munster final against Cork in 2004 has to be rated as a classic, winning against the odds with only 14 players for most of the second half.

Their All-Ireland semi-final against Cork in 2006 was a truly enthralling game with the result in doubt right until the final whistle. Their performance in the league final against Kilkenny the next season was heroic.

Who will forget the opening championship game of the 2007 against the Rebels which yielded eight goals and the two quarter-final games against the same opposition which the Déise finally won?

However, they saved their worst performance of the decade for last year’s All-Ireland final. This is a pity because it certainly doesn’t reflect the true picture of this very good team. However, they have failed to deliver on other days and on too many other days.

Their main failure, in my opinion, has been the very obvious one of lack of consistency. They just haven’t been able to maintain a line of form.

Last year’s form was quite mixed with the capitulation in the final being very hard to take for the loyal hurling following in the county. We await a return to form and maybe a (another) last shot at glory for the more senior team members.

Limerick, who had their own shot at glory the previous year, won’t be found wanting in terms of touch or physicality.

The pressure is all on Waterford though. They really have to deliver this time. McCarthy will have his men well primed and is the far more experienced of the managers. He knows the Waterford players well, but does he have enough quality players to match the opposition. I’m not sure that he does.

On the other hand, Davy FitzGerald is on a learning curve and deserves credit for staying with Waterford. He could easily have walked away last September. But he didn’t and no doubt he has worked hard to ensure that all is well within the camp. Throughout the league he and his selectors experimented quite a lot and at this stage should be fairly sure that the 15 who start on Sunday are the best available. He also, I suggest, has the better squad at his disposal. But as they say, “it’s all on the day” and on this particular day I expect the Waterford men to prevail.

Dublin came through their Leinster first-round game against Antrim last Sunday and now face Wexford in a really important game for this developing side. But Wexford are improving and won’t be beaten too easily. The winner’s prize is lined with a big black cloud, though, with Kilkenny probably awaiting (no doubt Galway will have a say in this) in the Leinster final. But winning the semi-final guarantees a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals and is a valuable prize in itself.

Galway certainly drew the short straw in their maiden Leinster voyage. The only positive for them, maybe, is that the game isn’t in Croke Park. But Kilkenny don’t do sentiment or favours and in their attempt to make four-in-a-row history this year they will want to take the direct route and also they will want to keep the winning habit going.

However, Galway are one of the few teams who can beat (and have beaten) the champs.

All in all, several interesting games to look forward to over the next few weeks.