Champions and contenders not yet on the March
March 12th, 2010 by Kevin EganIf the world of hurling worked in a similar fashion to the WWE (or the WWF as a few people might remember it) then Tipperary would now, by virtue of their win over Kilkenny, be the reigning All Ireland Champions. In the wrestling world, they may have ended up winning it only after Liam Sheedy came onto the field and hit Tommy Walsh over the back of the head with a steel chair, but they’d still be the champions right now.
Of course in the real world, Kilkenny remain the kingpins and Tipperary are the number one contenders when it comes to championship honours irrespective of any league results – but that means little to punters right now, looking for winners in mid-March.
Right now, neither Kilkenny nor Tipperary are operating at anything close to full pelt. They will get better, but a low key home win over Offaly and a hammering at the hands of the Dubs suggests that both these counties are keeping plenty of juice in the tank right now. Even the match between the two sides was keenly contested but far from impressive in terms of the quality of hurling on display. If the match between Kilkenny and Cork and that between Tipperary and Galway were championship games, then it’s fair to say that 4/11 and 2/5 would represent excellent value about the favourites, but it’s the league and there is no way that either of these counties should be so short against opposition that is clearly in good scoring form.
Granted both Cork and Galway have only won one meaningful match each as their wins over shadow Limerick teams are probably of little merit, and some would argue that Cork’s win over Offaly is hardly the kind of stuff that entitles them to be thinking of de-clawing Cats, but even so both camps should be in good form after starting with two wins out of two and that spirit will bring them a long way.
It shouldn’t be forgotten either that Cork’s last game against Kilkenny was the unmerciful hiding they were subjected to in Nowlan Park last year. Kilkenny players and supporters on that occasion took great joy in reminding the returning strikers of the disparity between the two counties, some of the supporters in a less than gracious fashion. Irrespective of what anyone thinks of the rights and wrongs of the actions of the Cork players last Spring, they wouldn’t be human if the crowing of the Kilkenny supporters that day weren’t ringing in their ears ever since. In front of a partisan home crowd in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, this game has the potential to get very spicy – and if Cork can gain a bit of traction against a very strong Kilkenny half back line, they could cause the Cats some problems. In this regard, the physical presence of Aisake Ó’hAilpín and Michael Cussen will be useful weapons. Cork plus four at 5/6 is definitely the right side to be on in the handicap market and a small 2pt bet is fair value.
The rivalry between Tipperary and Galway lives on as strong as ever and supporters of both of these counties can usually recall vividly some of the great meetings between the two from around twenty years ago. The two counties share a lot of characteristics – a large pick, an underwhelming championship record for the last two decades and plenty of underage success. Tipperary are undoubtedly the better prepared side to take on Kilkenny in the championship in 2010, but as we saw against Waterford, Galway are moving well at the moment and possess a lot of scoring power. Tipperary haven’t got their offensive game in gear yet and will do extremely well to pcik up the points here. We already have an antepost bet on Galway running in this column, but even so, a further 2pt bet on Galway at 9/4 to beat Tipperary is suggested. They will need to get a lot more contribution from their midfield sector, but John McIntyre knows Tipp hurling really well obviously enough, and he should be able to create a plan to counteract Tipp’s possible supremacy here.
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Categories: Hurling
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