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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 July 2022
kilkennyobserver.ie
Hurling matters
Sport
TJ Reid’s accuracy will be crucial
Cats seek to lower the Banner
Final berth up for grabs in Croker clash GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final
Photos by INPHO Eoin Cody can be sure of close attention
Kilkenny vs Clare Croke Park, July 2nd
BY NIALL SHERRY SPORTS EDITOR SPORTSEDITORKILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
A place in the 2022 All-Ireland senior hurling final is the prize on offer when Kilkenny face-off against Clare tomorrow evening (throw-in 5:30pm) in the Capital. The travelling faithful from both counties’ will be Dublin-bound on Saturday, as they hope to cheer their team onto a Liam McCarthy decider against the winners of Sunday’s clash between Limerick and Henry Shefflin’s Galway. Before the Cats and Banner start dreaming of the decider, they will lock horns at headquarters in what many have cited as a clash too close to call. The bookies have Clare as marginal favourites, and that will suit Brian Cody and his charges. Kilkenny have taken the shortest, most direct route to the last four, whereas the Banner negotiated a tricky quarter-final clash with Wexford which saw them prevail by 4 points, having overturned a 6-point deficit with around 10 minutes left on the clock. Brian Lohan will know that his side cannot afford to let the cats build up a
6-point lead in similar fashion, as Cody’s men are unlikely to surrender such an advantage coming down the home straight. Meetings between these two sides in the championship are not plentiful, we are still in single figures. The most recent meeting came at the same stage of the competition, back in August 2006, when the Cats prevailed by 8 points, thanks to a massive 1-13 haul from, yes, you guessed it, one Henry Shefflin. The Banner’s only championship win over the Noresiders came in 1997, when Ger Loughnane’s outfit had a 4-point semifinal win over the men in stripes. Leinster Champions Kilkenny will look to continue their decent record over Clare tomorrow, and showcase their provincial status to good effect. Munster sides appear to have dominated the All-Ireland series for the last few years with one of ‘their lot’ winning Liam in each of the last four years. In 2017, 2018 and 2021, three of the last four standing were Munster teams. Same story in the National League. Up until Clare turned the tide against Darragh Eagan’s Wexford a fortnight ago, it looked like Leinster would provide 3 out of 4 of this year’s semi-finalists. Lohan’s charges had different ideas. Had you have told me that the Model County would hold the mighty Tony Kelly
