Galway and Tipperary in rerun of league final

Yesterday's draw for the quarter-finals of the Guinness All-Ireland hurling championship threw up the most enticing fixture since these matches became part of the GAA calendar three years ago. In a rerun of the National Hurling League final of last May, League holders Galway will face defeated Munster finalists Tipperary for the first time in a championship match since 1993.

In the other quarter-final, newly-crowned Ulster champions Derry will take on yesterday's beaten Leinster finalists Offaly. This is the third year running that Offaly have drawn the long straw and been rewarded for anaemic provincial final displays with the easier quarter-final draw.

Reaction to the line-up was predictably muted with neither Galway nor Tipperary wanting to concede anything in the publicity stakes. "We won't have to do much homework," said a cagey Galway manager Matt Murphy, fresh from having accurately predicted the pairings outside the room where RTE was televising the draw. "Sure it's all the one. We always knew if we were going to win an All-Ireland we were going to have to beat three of the best four teams in the championship. It doesn't matter really what order we play them in."

What has he made of Tipperary's performances since defeating them in the League final? "I won't tell you that. I won't go on record on that." Pause. "Sure they beat Clare. They must have improved a lot. We couldn't beat Clare last year."

Tipperary captain Tommy Dunne was philosophical about the outcome. his team have had three major championship outings since the League final, culminating in the Munster final defeat of eight days ago. "That's the way it goes. There was a one-in-three chance of getting Galway and they probably are the toughest team we could get at this stage. They beat us quite comprehensively in the League final and we haven't seen them since then and obviously, they've seen us a fair bit. "Last week's display wouldn't be good enough for us to go further in the championship."

Galway's centre back Cathal Moore pondered the old dilemma his county faces each year - coming in cold against seasoned opponents.

"We reached the final of the League and that's all we could have done and luckily we won it. It remains to be seen whether the lack of competitive action is going to make the difference."

Yesterday's action on the field was disappointingly one-sided with big wins for defending champions Kilkenny over Offaly in the Leinster final and for Galway's footballers in the Connacht semi-final against Sligo.

Pride of place goes to the hurlers of Derry who took their first Ulster hurling title since 1908. In a cracking encounter they led Antrim comfortably at half-time - 3-4 to 0-5 - before losing the lead in the second half. Before the end they staged a grand recovery to take the title from the holders by a point on a scoreline of 4-8 to 019 with captain and leading light Oliver Collins hitting the winner.

At the other end of the scale, Kilkenny easily held on to their Leinster title, 2-21 to Offaly's 1-13. Goals from D J Carey and Charlie Carter were the key ingredients in the victory and Offaly, despite a good start, faded as the second half turned into a procession.

Startlingly less competitive was Sligo's challenge to 1998 All-Ireland football champions Galway at Markievicz Park. The home side had held Galway to a draw on their last three appearances at the venue but yesterday, they trailed 0-14 to 0-0 at half-time. The second half was scarcely more encouraging before John O'Mahony's team ran out winners by 0-22 to 0-4.