National Hurling League 2015 General Discussion

On the back of the recent Clare controversy, showed great guts to dig deep and come from behind to beat Dublin by 2 points. And with 14 men after Bugler got sent off. Can't write them off yet.


Disappointing result for Dublin though, 4 points up against 14 men, you should really be holding onto that kind of lead. Gives Clare an outside chance of avoiding the relegation play-off?

Redmond & McDonald goals early in the 2nd half for Wexford, heartbreak for Laois.

Only a single game left in the hurling league and still a lot to play for:

Division 1A
Clare 2-22 Dublin 2-20
Tipperary 2-22 Kilkenny 1-13
Galway 0-20 Cork 2-17

Great win for Clare against a Dublin side who had started the league so well, and Clare were without Brendan Bugler for much of the game. With the controversy over the Davy O'Halloran interview in the Irish Times and rumours that Colm Galvin is heading abroad, it was a good win for them. It was a must-win tbh, first competitive game they've won in around a year, since they beat Laois in the league quarter-final last year. Tipp gave KK a bit of a battering, it's not completely unexpected though... they did brilliantly to beat Cork on the opening day but with so many players missing, particularly up front through injuries & Ballyhale, Tipp were always going to win this. Galway had a late goal disallowed for square ball so Cork beat them, I think Paudie O'Sullivan scored both Cork's goals and they've bounced back well from that awful first-day loss to top the table.

|Diff|Pts
Cork|+22|6
Tipperary|+9|6
Dublin|+4|4
Galway|-4|4
Clare|-14|2
Kilkenny|-17|2

Remaining Fixtures:
Cork vs Tippeary, Páirc Uí Rinn
Dublin vs Galway, Parnell Park
Kilkenny vs Clare, Nowlan Park

It's been as close as always, but the fixtures have fallen so that it's not as competitive on the last day as it was last year. Cork & Tipp are both guaranteed quarter-final spots and only one of KK/Clare can break into the top 4 and out of the relegation play-off as they play each other. A draw between Dublin & Galway would see them safe but as far as I know, head-to-head takes precedence over score difference if there are only two teams level so if Galway lose to Dublin in Parnell Park, KK & Clare are definitely in the relegation play-off.

I think that will happen tbh, I see it finishing 1. Tipp, 2. Cork, 3. Dublin, 4. Galway, 5. KK, 6. Clare.




Division 1B
Limerick 0-21 Offaly 1-21
Waterford 4-30 Antrim 0-10
Laois 0-25 Wexford 5-22

There was a major shock in the Gaelic Grounds as Offaly beat Limerick; Shane Dowling was sent off after just 2 minutes and Limerick tired towards the end as Offaly rattled off something like 8 scores without reply to get the win. Emmet Nolan got the crucial goal but Limerick hit an amount of wides. Seanie Tobin & Paul Browne scored 0-4 from play each but not enough of the Limerick players were on form, and once Hickey went off, Limerick seemed to crumble. Great result for Offaly though and they're not almost certainly into a quarter-final. Waterford absolutely destroyed Antrim, meaning they only need a draw against Wexford to go back up. Wexford themselves were given a good, tough game by Laois but got a flurry of goals to kill the game and it means that that clash in Wexford Park is a winner-takes-all game, with Limerick consigned to 1B for another year.

|Diff|Pts
Waterford|+57|7
Wexford|+21|6
Limerick|+6|5
Offaly|-9|4
Laois|-30|2
Antrim|-45|0

Remaining Fixtures:
Antrim vs Offaly, Ballycastle
Limerick vs Laois, Kilmallock
Wexford vs Waterford, Wexford Park

Going up to Ballycastle is tough, but surely Offaly will buoyed by the confidence of beating Limerick and do what they need to do? I'd expect Limerick to beat Laois, but they now have room for experimentation, as promotion is out of their hands. I actually have no idea who will win between Waterford & Wexford, maybe home advantage will swing it? Waterford have been impressive this year though, but Wexford have some fine players too. If Waterford do win, Limerick will be able to leapfrog Wexford into second, but if Wexford win, Waterford's scoring difference is likely to be too much.




Hypothetically, if Wexford were to win at home and Limerick & Offaly too; the quarter-finals may look like:


Tipperary vs Offaly
Cork vs Limerick
Dublin vs Waterford
Galway vs Wexford


There would be at least three very good, interesting games there although you'd probably expect the 1A teams to come out on top having been playing at a higher intensity consistently over the past few weeks.



What do you all think?

Mountainlad wrote: »

Are Kilkenny definitely in the relegation playoff now anyway given they've lost to both Dublin and Galway so they will be behind on head to head no matter the outcome?

As far as I can work out, yeah, there's no way that 3 teams can end on 4 points.

Interesting last day in the hurling league. The one match that really mattered the most was the Waterford-Wexford promotion decider and Waterford seemed to win it out handy. Always in front, and opened up a big gap, closed it out well. Down in Wexford Park, against a good Wexford side, they'll be very happy with that. Very strong back division with the likes of De Búrca, Gleeson, Mahony, Connors, Fives all top players. Then you've got a mostly very young attack with talents like the Bennetts, Dunford... Mahony slotting every free and players like Barron & O'Halloran floating around too.

Moving in the right direction, play a nice brand of hurling and must fancy themselves against Galway next weekend.

Offaly make the quarters after a 4-point win over Antrim, while a strong 2nd half display from Limerick means they leapfrog Wexford into second.


Clare ended up losing to a much-weakened KK side, which will be disappointing but it didn't matter in the end as Dublin beat Galway. KK and Clare in the relegation play-off. Dublin were down at half-time but really seemed to step up in the 2nd half, 0-26 is a very good score in the end. And Cork somehow threw away a massive lead to Tipp in what sounded like a thriller. Very high-scoring.


So, as far as I know, we have:

Tipperary vs Offaly
Cork vs Wexford
Dublin vs Limerick
Galway vs Waterford

in the quarters and:

KK vs Clare
Laois vs Antrim

in the relegation play-offs.



I think that is the quarter-final line-up that many would have predicted going into the last day. You'd expect a few good clashes in that, I don't think the 1B teams are much off the 1A teams although the higher-intensity games may give them an advantage when the matches are on only next week.

I think all the home teams will win, except Tipp to beat Offaly.


Dublin in Croke Park will be a good test for Limerick.