You just know it’s going to be a tight one.
Galway will go into Sunday’s All-Ireland final as marginal favourites but Limerick will be relishing their 13/8 underdogs tag.
Hurling experts all over the country have been divided on the decider. Men like John Meyler, Brendan Cummins and Eoin Larkin have given the nod to Limerick while Derek McGrath, Michael Duignan and TJ Reid all fancy Galway to become only the third team, after Kilkenny and Cork, to retain the Liam MacCarthy in this millennium.
Galway are justified 4/6 favourites. They’re the reigning champs, they’ve come through nine bruising encounters in this championship to date and even though some of their players haven’t hit the heights they managed last term, they’ve always been up for the fight.
The occasion of an All-Ireland final may be enough to awaken some of these maroon men from their slight slumber and if they do all arrive to Jones’ Road at the peak of their powers on Sunday, it’s difficult to see a way that Limerick can beat them.
With Conor and Joseph Cooney returning to the form of last year, Limerick will be under the cosh.
But there’s no way in hell John Kiely’s men will be thinking like that. A young team, this is the first time for every single one of them to stand on the biggest stage of all but rather than seeing this inexperience as a disadvantage, they’ll be going into this one with the belief, confidence and the daring positivity that only youth can bring.
These lads have won Croke Cups before, they’ve won Fitzgibbons, they’ve won All-Ireland under-21s. This team aren’t used to losing and if they bring the fire and courage they brought to the semi-final against Cork, they’ll put it all the way up to Galway.
Patrickswell pair Gillane and Lynch might just possess the key to unlocking Galway’s house.
So in the year of the draw, Galway and Limerick having drawn on three separate occasions between them so far this year, an extremely tight game with whiskers separating these two sides is predicted for this weekend.
It’s no harm having a little punt on whatever way you think the action will go and the draw, at 9/1 with most bookmakers certainly looks like decent value.
However the bet of the afternoon, one GAA Hour Hurling Show Colm Parkinson refers to as a ‘no-brainer’ is Paddy Power’s Special offer on the draw or either team to win by between 1/4 points.
“A draw or either team to win by between 1-4 points is 10/11, for me, that’s a no-brainer,” said Wooly.
“It’s something that might get lost on some people when they go onto the site…It’s in the full markets, a lot of people like their handicap bets, their goalscorer or picking a team to win,” said Paddy Power rep Joe Mooney.
It’s hard to see past it.
You can listen to this discussion and much more from Thursday’s All-Ireland hurling final preview show here.
