So the line-ups are now known. No real great surprises with maybe Galway expected to get their ahead of Waterford or Cork.

Kilkenny

Well the forwards have been disappointing with the number of wides and they haven't clicked as well as they have in earlier contests. They still managed to rattle up big scores witha large number of wides to boot. Plenty of talent to come off the bench and they look like they will score 20+ points against anyone. Henry has been great but some of the older stalwarts not at levels achieved before. Power has been immense and I can see him leading the KK attack for many years replacing Henry as the figurehead with TJ Reid being the playmaker. The defenders have been awesome with Jackie Tyrell fantastic, Tommy his usual hurler of the year and JJ fantastic. Noel Hickey whilst skinned by Dublin once, has been very solid and looks like he is getting back to his old self minus maybe a yard or two of pace but Noel never really relied on his pace with sheer hurling ability making him a class act. PJ Ryan was dodgy in the Galway match but after the man of the match display last year in the final, we'll forgive him. I think the really scarey thing about Kilkenny this year is the strength of the bench. It is awesome and if 4 or 5 lads under-perform there are unreal lads to come in as back-up. I'd be worried about a red card from an over stringent ref. I think we are nailed on for the final.

Cork
Could the real Cork please stand up? Fantatstic against Tipp. Half back lined hurled like of old. Beautiful ball into Asiake who destroyed the Tipp full back line, every player harrying and hurrying. But since they have had near abject displays. Against Limerick and teh two first halfs aginst Waterford they were awful. The forwards, all 6, looked incapable of scoring and the plan was limited to bombing high balls into Asaike with no weher near the quality of ball delivered in the Tipp game. ben O'connor has been poor by his standards; Murphy and Horgan annoymous. And Cussen seemed to waste a lot of ball albeit has a lot more skill than Asaike. Naughton, Curren, Gardiner and Cusack all been outstanding. Cadogan needs to concentrate on hurling. Same with Asaike and his constant maoning to the ref. 1-9 they are as good as anyone, 10-15, they are definitely the weakest of the 4 teams left and can't see them getting a score that would threaten any of the remaining teams unless they have another day like that against Tipp. Can't see them beating KK as this is one of the matches all the KK people have been waiting for.

2nd post to follow as never knew you had a max character count....

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 27/07/2010 16:47:31    725880

Waterford
So they are being described as KK lite in places. But I'd disagree. Their backs have definitely more steel than previous years. The young corner back who was on the De La Salle Harty Cup winning team is one of the young players of the year. The problems at full back don't seem as apparent with Lawlor and they have managed to contain the number of goals conceded. Browne has been excellent. At 37 he is as good as ever. But they are over-reliant on Kelly and Mullane up front. If Mullane isn't firing I struggle to see where their scores will come from. He is the heartbeat of the team. I don't think they will concede alot, but like Cork see them not scoring enough. For whatever reason, I have this sneaky suspicion that they will beat Tipp in a low scoring game. A Munster championship secured. A final place again may await.

Tipperary
Redeeming themselves after the Cork shambles. They were played off the pitch and didn't look like a team that would make a quarter final let alone a semi final that day. Building up a head of steam with some decent wins in the qualifiers followed by sneaking past Galway. I'd be worried about some of the easy goals they have given away against Cork and Galway but the way they took their goals show what a full forward line they have. Half forward remains a problem but McGrath's flick for the 2nd goal was beautiful; one of the play's of the season. With Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett and young Mcgrath they could beat anyone but the worry still is that not enough ball will get past the half forward line into the full forward line against either Waterford or Kilkenny and if they defend like they did for the Galway goals, the cats could run riot.

Still expect us Cats to win. Nothing new during the year has been learned to say differently.

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 27/07/2010 16:58:21    725911

Kilkenny will win same old same old apart from munster hurling has lost all its appeal elsewhere...
Maybe giving Kilkenny a handicap of 13 players to play with might work then again they'll probably still win!

stfechin (Meath) - Posts: 74 - 27/07/2010 17:03:45    725930

Cork played well against Tipp because Tipp went training the day before. Cork are poor. Kilkenny will win the non event of a semi-final by twenty something points. I think Waterford and Tipp is a 50/50 game being honest. If Waterford win, then I fear a repeat of two year's ago. If Tipp win we could have a great final between Kilkenny and Tipp.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 27/07/2010 18:02:40    726046

Too many handlin errors by all but Kilkenny. The Cats will punish that kinda sloppiness. That will be the difference.

gaelantrim (Antrim) - Posts: 1616 - 27/07/2010 18:08:07    726059

bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 1140

726046 Cork played well against Tipp because Tipp went training the day before. Cork are poor. Kilkenny will win the non event of a semi-final by twenty something points. I think Waterford and Tipp is a 50/50 game being honest. If Waterford win, then I fear a repeat of two year's ago. If Tipp win we could have a great final between Kilkenny and Tipp.

Waterford were much improved against KK in the semi-final last year but its hard to see beyond KK.

kerrykerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1779 - 27/07/2010 18:25:00    726077

bennybunny...."Kilkenny will win the non event of a semi-final"....its an event to us CATS!

Puddersthecat (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1692 - 28/07/2010 15:49:20    727233

i would love it if cork beat kilkenny..but its not going to happen

having said that im going up to the match in the hope that somehow kilkenny will have an off day..

pidge (Cork) - Posts: 543 - 28/07/2010 16:14:55    727283

Kilkenny will beat Cork by a big margin methinks.

I think the Déise could spring a surprise on Tipp. I've not been impressed with Tipp at all this year and think that they gone backwards since last year.

Kilkenny v Waterford final.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13838 - 28/07/2010 16:30:28    727310

I have a sneak feeling that we could be about to witness the first Munster All-Ireland Final since 1997 correct me if im wrong. The first since 2001 without a Leinster county or Just say Kilkenny not Leinster!!!!

WildPundit (Tipperary) - Posts: 1709 - 28/07/2010 16:35:37    727328

All logic points to a comfortable KK win. Personally if our lads compete for every ball and give it their all for the full 70 minutes I'll be satisfied. I would agree with Pudders assessment up to midfield we are a match for anyone but our forwards just do not possess the skill levels to trouble a great team like Kilkenny. Having said that I'm still clinging to the hope that we might pull an amazing performance from somewhere,( shur we can always hope.) The other semi could go either way but I would make Tipp favourites I definitely believe that they are the only side that could possibly stop the 5 in a row.

corkcelt (Cork) - Posts: 4388 - 28/07/2010 16:43:52    727343

Pudders

What I meant by a non-event is that it will not be a close game. It will be like Limerick v Tipperary last year. That is my opinion and if my poor phrasing caused you distress, I apologise. Anyway, if you enjoy watching events like that, sure enjoy your day out and more power to you.

Corkcelt

I do not think 1-9 we are as good as anybody else. We are handy in a few positions but guys like Eoin Cadogan and Shane Murphy are untried against Kilkenny. Tom Kenny is an outstanding midfielder but can not do everything on his own. I do not think Naughton wins enough ball himself. He is good at keeping it, running with it but not battling for it. Tom Kenny has all those qualities and Gerry O'Connor has them but has been blighted with injury for years and is not the player that he used to be. As you said, our forwards are not up to it.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 28/07/2010 17:10:46    727392

kk should win comfortably but the same was said in 04 .cork just dont have enough scoring forwards and as bunny said naughton is no midfielder id like to see ray ryan accomadated if sean og is fit maybe in midfied he is solid on ball and well able to compete. move cathal to right half jerry to centre and cussen on edge of square leave aiskie on bench. im not very confident but its 15 vs 15 and if cork get goals maybe ......

booboo (Cork) - Posts: 1382 - 28/07/2010 18:34:59    727501

Judging by Cork's performance against Antrim, KK should win fairly comfortably. Cork were sloppy at times and Aisake o'hailpin doesn't look like a decent full forward. Tipp and Waterford will be an interesting one. Tipp looked good on Sunday, but Waterford seem to have a doggedness about them, so could be a close on. I'll plump for Tipp and a repeat of last year's A-I final.

Tongo (UK) - Posts: 1795 - 29/07/2010 08:22:21    727787

Booboo

I think it was different in 2004, theres a lot bigger gap between Cork & KK now than there was back then. This Cork team was at their peak that time, they were on for 3 in a row in 2006 until KK took over the show. Cork should have won in 2003 aswell I think so we all knew that Cork were a major threat to KK that time but they don't look any threat to the Cats now based their recent performances, im sick of saying it, Cork need a major clear out and lots of new blood!

Anything can happen on the day I suppose so we all hope for a close game but hard to see it. The sad thing is, eventhough they are way behind KK, Cork are still 1 of only 2 teams (Tipp aswell obviously) that have any hope of beating KK as the likes of Ben O C, Gardiner, Donal Og, Curran etc have been on winning sides against KK in the past so they wouldnt lack belief but ultimately class should prevail and KK have an unlimited amount of that.
And I hope Tipp beat Waterford, dont get me wrong, I have great time for that Waterford team but for the simple reason, I think Tipp would have some hope against KK, I couldn't see Waterford troubling them.

JGiles (Limerick) - Posts: 88 - 29/07/2010 16:59:27    728561

Cork need a major clear out and lots of new blood!

How could any manager have a clear out in Cork?

The players are so full of themselves that if say Cusack & O Halpin were left of the panel the rest would walk & no young fella would want to ''cross the picket'' if ya like.

Rebuilding that Cork team after this current clique is not going to be easy.

sam57 (Louth) - Posts: 1502 - 29/07/2010 17:14:26    728586

Kilkenny are ten points better than the other 3 teams left, although they havent played any good teams yet.

Cork caught Tipperary tactically. Tipp for some reason decided not to mark the Cork half-back line and also decided to allow the incredibly limited O Halpin to shine. They lost the game rather than Cork winning it. Cork were very poor in my opinion against Waterford. They could still put in a great performance against Kilkenny, but they put in an incredible performance against KK two years ago under Gerald Mc and then complained it was his fault. Best match that Cork team ever played and they still lost by 6 points. I think that they are a weaker team now, and it will take heroics from Curran, Gardiner, Niall McCarthy and Ben O'Connor if they are to win. If they passed the ball to their talented players rather than bombing it in on the full-forward then they have a chance. Jackie Tyrell and Hickey will eat O Halpin.

Tipp have gone backwards since last year. Although last year they surprised me with their performance in the final, so maybe something similar could happen this year. I will be surprised if they dont beat Waterford. They have gotten this far this year without big games from Corbett or Kelly and they will come good yet. Their positioning of Noel McGrath in the corner amazes me when theyve had problems in midfield and half-forward. Brendan Maher has been their real star so far and him alongside Shane McGrath at midfield is very strong. Tipp's form has been terrible but they have class. I worry more about their backs than forwards, conceding so much to a poor Galway and Cork is not good.

Waterford are a bit of a puzzle to me. They have won Munster, but took two games to finally beat Cork. Their team is set up to play tight games and by crowding the middle they are limiting their own scoring potential. This tactic could either work or fail spectacularly if they get to a final vs KK. Browne and the Brick have been outstanding, Shane O'Sullivan has been good, but their forwards look poor apart from Mullane. Even Kelly hasnt been great. I totally agree with anyone who would suggest this team is better than the Waterford of 4 or 5 years ago. But they have taken advantage of Cork and Tipp being poor and the amazing downward slide of Wexford, Limerick, and Clare to be comfortably one of the best 4 teams around ahead of Galway.

KK to beat Cork by ten. Tipp to beat Waterford by 2. KK to beat Tipp by between 6 and 10 in the final.

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2581 - 29/07/2010 18:31:01    728757

If any Cork manager left out Cusack they would deserve to get the chop as he is now proving to be one of the best goalkeepers we have ever had. If he does not like our county secretary or if people do not like him because of his lifestyle choices, that does not diminish his abilities as a goalkeeper.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 29/07/2010 18:50:33    728802

I think it might be a Cork Waterford All-Ireland final.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6548 - 29/07/2010 19:04:20    728819

sam57, thats uneducated rubbish...the unfortunate fact of the matter from a Cork perspective is that we have nobody else good enough to step up to the plate. No AI U21 title since 1998 or Minor since 2001. Not even a Munster final appearance in these grades for the past few years. We are in an indefinate period of decline unless proper structures are in put in place at underage level. Its hard to remove those who are getting older when the alternative isn't producing the goods to date. Look at Limerick, the clearout (forced or otherwise) meant a whole raft of young players brought in, but they had no experience on the team to give leadership.

anihel (Cork) - Posts: 30 - 29/07/2010 19:35:45    728855