This weekend, the pinnacle of Irish hurling will be on full display as Cork and Clare clash in the highly anticipated All-Ireland Hurling Final. The match will place at the 80,000 seater Croke Park in Dublin and promises to be an enthralling encounter between two of the sport’s most storied teams.
The young Cork team have had a bumpy road to the final. They were beaten by Waterford and Clare in their first two outings. However they stormed to a thrilling win (3-28 to 3-26) at Pairc Ui Chaoimh against Limerick to stay in the championship. They followed that up with wins over Tipperary and Offaly to reach the quarter finals. Cork then beat Dublin 0-26 to 0-21 to set up a big semi final against their Limerick rivals. Though they were unfancied, they pulled off a huge win (1-28 to 0-29) to guarantee their final appearance.
Clare hit the ground running in this championship winning 3 of their 4 opening round robin matches (including a win over Cork), but then lost the Munster final to Limerick (1-26 to 1-20). They then beat Wexford well (2-28 to 1-19) to set up an All-Ireland semi final against Kilkenny. In a great contest, Clare came away with the spoils and booked their place into the All-Ireland final, winning 0-24 to 2-16.
This promises to be an intriguing final as both teams have been waiting a long time to take the Liam MacCarthy Cup home. Clare’s last win was in 2013 against Cork after the game went to a replay. Corks wait however has been a little longer, 2005, when they beat Galway by 5 points. With Limericks ‘Drive for 5’ (5 championships in a row) now over, perhaps a new kingpin can emerge?
There is nothing quite like All-Ireland final day in Dublin as the masses converge on Croke Park or ‘HQ’ as it’s often referred to. For those unable to attend the match (or get tickets!) at Croke Park, the All-Ireland Hurling Final will be broadcast live on RTÉ2 and BBC2. Throw in will be at 3:30 PM BST, with expert analysis and pre-match build-up to set the stage for what promises to be a fast paced and epic contest.
Johnny Murphy (Limerick) referees.
Update: Clare won (3-29 to 1-34)!