Two huge hurling games and a football county final live as small-ball takes centre stage

Niall McIntyre

This one goes out to the hurling fraternity.

Two huge knock-out club hurling games will be shown on RTÉ and TG4 this weekend as hurling takes centre stage.

The group stages have been played out in the majority of counties by now which means that, wherever you look, the action is heating up.

It’s win-or-bust now.

We’ve had a scattering of county finals in weeks gone by in Wexford, Offaly, Carlow and Waterford but they’re about to get more plentiful now. The provincial club championships aren’t too far around the corner either. So strap yourselves in.

RTÉ’s Saturday GAA live takes us to Thurles this weekend, with a titanic tussle taking place in Semple Stadium.

Thurles Sarsfields, Tipperary’s most successful club, are in the middle of something of a drought having failed to win Dan Breen since 2017.

They’ve looked like a team on a mission this year, and are fancied to go all the way, but first they’ll have to overcome the challenge of their arch-rivals Loughmore-Castleiney. That will be no mean feat.

Loughmore beat Thurles in the 2021 Tipperary SHC final.

Loughmore are showing signs of vulnerability right now, however. The renowned dual club narrowly overcame Roscrea in their hurling quarter final a fortnight ago before getting knocked out of the football championship last weekend, by Moyle Rovers.

Their talisman Noel McGrath missed that game due to a hamstring injury and you suspect his availability will play a big part in determining this one. John Meagher, unavailable this year, is also a big miss for them. Thurles are hot favourites, but you don’t write off Loughmore.

From Tipperary on Saturday to Kilkenny on Sunday. TG4 will be in Nowlan Park for what’s being dubbed as the game of the championship. Dicksboro have swept up all before them in Kilkenny this year, winning five out of five in their de-facto championship group stages.

Their reward for that? A quarter final against the Shamrocks, who were typically slow to get going in the group. A lot of that is down to the players their missing, with Brian Cody, Ronan Corcoran, Joey Cuddihy, Joey Holden and Colin Fennelly all having missed out at different stages of the year, though Colin Fennelly is expected to be playing this weekend and that would be a huge boost for them in their six-in-a-row-bid.

Meanwhile, from a football perspective, St Loman’s of Mullingar are looking to regain their Westmeath SFC crown, and they’re hot favourites against Coralstown-Kinnegad. This game will also be shown live on Sunday on TG4.