Sunday’s GAA Championship fixtures
Munster SHC Round 4
Tipperary v Waterford, FBD Semple Stadium Thurles, 2pm
Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick, 4pm
Leinster SHC Round 4
Kilkenny v Dublin, UPMC Nowlan Park 3pm
All-Ireland SFC Round 1
Clare v Down, Cusack Park, 2pm
Mayo v Cavan, MacHale Park, 2.30pm
Tailteann Cup Round 2
Leitrim v Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, 1.30pm
London v Westmeath, Ruislip, 2pm
Carlow v Wexford, Netwatch Cullen Park, 2.30pm
Longford v Fermanagh, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 3pm
Joe McDonagh Cup Round 4: Laois v Kildare, O’Moore Park, 3pm
Ahead of the 2.0pm throw-in in Thurles, Malachy Clerkin has a live update on the team news.
Gorgeous day in Thurles for what is pretty much a knock-out game between Tipperary and Waterford. Darragh McCarthy has been brought in to replace Noel McGrath in the starting team for Tipp. Waterford play as named.
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Sam O’Farrell, Ronan Maher, Bryan O’Mara; Willie Connors, Craig Morgan; Conor Stakelum, Andrew Ormond, Jake Morris; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.
Waterford: Billy Nolan; Ian Kenny, Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg De Búrca, Gavin Fives; Paddy Leavey, Darragh Lyons; Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mhony, Jamie Barron; Jack Prendergast, Mikey Kiely, Dessie Hutchinson.
In case you missed it, Dublin got their All-Ireland football challenge back on track with a narrow win over Galway in Salthill yesterday evening, winning their opening round of the All-Ireland series.
Gordon Manning was there, and called it “one of those picture postcard Saturday afternoons in sun-baked Salthill for Dublin”.
He added: “The stamped dispatches mailed back to the capital went something like this – lovely day out west, we had ice cream on the prom and later that evening watched Tom Lahiff put the cherry on top, talk of our demise has been greatly exaggerated. We’ll be home soon, see you at Croke Park.”
Read his full report here –
Sean Moran’s two hurling previews deftly set the scene for what’s in store in Thurles and Limerick.
Tipperary v Waterford, FBD Semple Stadium Thurles, 2.0– Having done a decent job on refitting Tipperary, Liam Cahill knows the importance of getting out of the province to continue the development work and is at the same time mindful of this fixture’s pitfalls. Even with their blank record in the round-robin, Waterford are unbeaten by Tipp since the format resumed in 2022.
The home side did well, however, to bounce back from the Páirc Uí Chaoimh calamity and beat Clare in Ennis. They are getting good, productive form from the forwards and if the defence can lose focus, it brings high energy and will need to if Waterford get a run on them. On balance, though. Verdict: Tipperary
Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick, 4.0– This fixture has created plenty of fireworks since the round robin began, most vividly last year in two matches that Cork nicked despite Limerick having every opportunity themselves.
Even in the league, Limerick chose this fixture to put in a performance and led by four going down the stretch but again, Cork caught them for a draw. The home side will hope to bring further incremental improvement to their packed-to-capacity venue and put pressure on the visitors’ fault-lines: a mysterious disinclination to sustain 70-minute displays and a slight recurrence of the disciplinary issues that dogged their early championship last year.
Good afternoon, and welcome to The Irish Times live GAA blog for what is another massive Sunday in the Munster hurling championship, with plenty of football action too.
In the penultimate round of the Munster hurling championship, Tipperary take on Waterford, at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles at 2pm, followed by the headline clash between Limerick and Cork at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick at 4pm. Two critical games which could ultimately influence the progression of all four teams.
In Leinster, there is also a fourth round meeting between Kilkenny and Dublin at UPMC Nowlan Park (3pm).
In football, Clare face Down (Cusack Park, 2pm) and Mayo host Cavan (MacHale Park, 2.30pm) in the first round of the All-Ireland series, and there are also four games in the second round of the Tailteann Cup; Leitrim v Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, 1.30pm; London v Westmeath, Ruislip, 2pm; Carlow v Wexford, Netwatch Cullen Park, 2.30pm; Longford v Fermanagh, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 3pm
