Galway vs Kilkenny

Galway's 2017 All-Ireland-winning captain David Burke is in a race to be fit for Saturday's Leinster SHC final showdown with Kilkenny at Croke Park after ...

The Kilkenny team to face Galway in the 2022 Leinster Final has been announced. There are four changes from the team that started in the final round robin ...

Please note that Pensioner tickets can only be purchased on-line and are not available in the Supermarkets. The Kilkenny team to face Galway in the 2022 Leinster Final has been announced. Tickets for the game are still available on-line by clicking HERE or at the usual Centra and Supervalu outlets.

Henry Shefflin faces his old manager Brian Cody at Croke Park - follow the action with Eamon Donoghue . . .

Galway 0-3 Kilkenny 0-7 (11′) Conor Whelan twists one way and points over his shoulder the other way for his second point. Kilkenny are playing with a strong wind at their backs in the first half. Galway are looking to win a first since 2018, and already edged the Cats by a point during their round-robin clash in Pearse Stadium last month.

Kilkenny re-enter Croke Park, with Brian Cody seeking an 18th Leinster title on his watch. I would love to offer a much different gloss but can only report ...

Good luck to the man, a terrific leader, and he had a really good championship first half against Cork in 2021. Both the mighty and the flighty are fallen. He was poorly suited to this role, which seemed to fall his way by default, merely because he was the right corner back. Now Buckley appears a bystander, someone who did not even come off the bench in the recent flop to Wexford. There is a strong sense of barely lidded panic in Kilkenny selections. Enough has been said and written in recent times about the county’s current style of play. There comes a broader issue, the crux of player improvement. I would love to offer a much different gloss but can only report the mood in the county is far from good. The current management has not assembled a team spine. To be honest, the mood hoves as low as I can recall it. Galway established a winning position against Kilkenny in the 2020 Leinster Final, when Jason Flynn struck for a five point lead in the 55th minute. Shunting Cooney into the corner in 2018 so as to place Jonathan Glynn at full forward. Focusing on Cody’s glare at Shefflin suits people who want hurling as, as a slice of Reality TV. Why not treat the game as a game?

Kilkenny and Galway will meet in the Leinster Hurling Final at Croke Park, throwing-in at 7pm.

*** It's a 6th win in the race for the British trainer. Earlier, the Bulls have booked their place in the next round with a 30 point to 27 win over fellow South Africans the Sharks. *** Leinster have booked their place in the semi finals of the United Rugby Championship following a massive win over the Glasgow Warriors this afternoon. The Faithful County had no problems in putting New York to the sword with a 3-17 to 0-11 point win in Tullamore, progressing to the semi-finals of the cup. *** *** The final game of the evening is Clare playing host to Meath. At half-time, it's Clare 1-7 Meath 0-6 with Pearse Lillis hitting the back of the net for the homeside. Last year's beaten All-Ireland finalists Mayo will join Cork in the next round following a 1-13 to 0-12 win over Monaghan in McHale Park. Clare have booked their place in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship. Johnny Coen is in for David Burke in a late change for the Galway starting 15.

Galway's entry to the Leinster championship was always going to be a game-changer. On Saturday evening they will throw down the gauntlet to an opponent in a ...

Another member of that team was Dan Troy, a Newport man, who was hurling with Claughaun in the city. This hit Ireland and schools closed, dances were cancelled and there even were ‘super-spreader events’. The Munster Final was not played until September with the All-Ireland in January 1919. This one is of interest not least because it was held during a pandemic – this of the ‘Spanish Flu’ variety. Their first ever meeting in a Munster Final was all the way back in 1918. It is worth noting that the penalty for defeat will be, most likely, a match with a relatively resurgent Cork in a quarter-final. Clare’s appearances in 1981 and 1995 against Limerick both came after unanticipated wins over Cork. Arguably both counties achieved unexpected wins over Cork and Tipp in 1994 – unexpected at the time of course, the tide of affairs was flowing their way as the following years showed.

What can I read about and listen to on Independent.ie? When I think about the Leinster final – and round two of Cody versus Shefflin – my heart tells me ...