After a weekend like that, where do you start? Well, Semple Stadium is as good a place as any. As Nicky English puts it, “the Cork genie is well and truly out of the bottle” – after they blew Tipperary away, he firmly ranks them as All Ireland contenders. But – and it’s a big one – they won’t even reach the knock-out stages if Limerick and Waterford draw next week. They have, though, brought “their summer back from the dead,” writes Denis Walsh, their 18-point winning margin the biggest in a Cork-Tipperary championship match since 1965. That there is even a doubt about them progressing to that knock-out phase is a source of no little disappointment to their manager Pat Ryan, the “pesky maths” on his mind after the game.
Seán Moran rounds up the weekend’s hurling action, which included a last gasp victory for Clare over Waterford. Malachy Clerkin was at Cusack Park to see Clare make “a cryptic crossword out of a simplex” – at one stage, they were eight points up. And in Leinster, Gordon Manning saw Dublin miss their chance to beat Kilkenny in the championship for the first time since 1942.
In Gaelic football, Galway got the better of Derry at Pearse Stadium, but their manager Pádraic Joyce was none too happy with the stamp on Damien Comer that saw him exit the game. Paul Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, wraps up the Tailteann Cup action, favourites Kildare cruising to victory over Waterford in Dungarvan. And Denis Walsh writes about the tricky balancing act that faces the GAA when it comes to the broadcasting of its games.
In soccer, Ken Early is wondering if Pep Guardiola might take a leaf out of Jurgen Klopp’s book some time soon and depart before things turn sour at Manchester City. A guilty verdict on those 115 charges regarding Financial Fair Play regulations would, he writes, “poison his legacy”, but for now he’s busy celebrating a historic four Premier League titles in a row.
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In rugby, Gerry Thornley was at the Kingspan Stadium for Ulster’s URC triumph over Leinster, James Ryan’s only consolation after the defeat that he had come through “his first game in a dozen weeks” and is now ready for the small matter of that Champions Cup final. There was no consolation at all for Connacht, though, after their 16-12 loss to the Stormers.
Philip Reid reports on Xander Schauffele’s first major success, the Californian edging out Bryson DeChambeau by a single stroke at the US PGA Championship, while Ian O’Riordan brings news of a “shining performance” by Sharlene Mawdsley at the weekend, the Tipperary woman securing Olympic qualification in the 400m.
TV Watch: It’s Stephen Kenny v Damien Duff in the Premier Division meeting of St Patrick’s Athletic and Shelbourne this evening (Virgin Media Two, 7.45), while Longford take on Dublin in the Leinster minor football final (TG4, 7.30) – after which there is deferred coverage of Clare v Tipperary in the Munster minor hurling final. And RTE’s Against the Head has the best of the weekend’s URC action (8.0).
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