Loughnane recognises gulf in class

GAELIC GAMES:On the busiest day of the GAA calendar there were enough big winners and even bigger losers to send shockwaves throughout the Allianz National Leagues. And despite the day that was in it, few will be fooled into thinking none of this will count for anything come the summer.

In hurling, the big winners were Kilkenny and Cork, whose respective victories over Galway and Clare sent them straight into the league semi-finals as winners of their division. Below them there was still plenty to play for as the second and third-placed teams chased the four quarter-final places.

In the end they went to Galway, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford. For finishing second in Division One B, Galway get to play Wexford, who snatched third in Division One A; likewise, Waterford get to play Tipperary. Those two games are scheduled for Sunday, most likely a double-bill at Limerick's Gaelic Grounds, with the winners into the semi-finals a week later.

Among the big losers were Dublin, who endured a 4-15 to 1-9 hammering from Tipperary in Nenagh to destroy the last hope of making the play-offs, despite their promising start to the league. And Clare, who narrowly lost to Cork, 1-13 to 0-14, are also left in the void of a mid-table finish. Antrim and Down will be relegated from next season's all-encompassing Division One, while Limerick and Offaly go into a relegation play-off.

There was no doubting the biggest game of the day - despite the limited stakes - with Kilkenny's 1-19 to 0-18 over Galway watched by a huge crowd of around 10,000 in Nowlan Park. Galway manager Ger Loughnane wasn't being fooled by the apparently narrow margin, and afterwards heaped praise on the defending league champions.

"What we really have to take out of this is the difference in class between ourselves and Kilkenny," he said, "and I think between every county and Kilkenny. There is still a big gulf there between the kind of skill and craft that they have.

"From now on it's about working on our skills and technique. We really do have to work on that. But at least today gives us something to aim at. I thought our battling qualities were very good, and we were still in the game with five minutes to go.

"But Kilkenny have so many options all over the field. And to think Henry Shefflin and Cha Fitzpatrick still have to come back into that team. It shows the huge hill that every other team has to climb to take them on."

Meanwhile, down at Wexford Park, the home side were under the assumption they needed to beat Down by 30 points for fear Clare drew with Cork. That wasn't necessary, but Wexford weren't taking any chances and duly delivered the 3-31 to 0-6 victory. That meant Clare would have missed out on the play-off spot even with a draw.

In football, both of the top divisions were further shaken up going into next Sunday's final round of games. Donegal almost surrendered their unbeaten record to Limerick in Division One A but escaped with a draw - 2-12 to 4-6 - and their 11 points from six games already sees them safely into the semi-finals.

So too are Mayo, who recorded another memorable win over Dublin at Castlebar to add to last summer's All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park. Despite trailing 0-9 to 0-4 at half-time, Mayo emerged one-point winners as Dublin inexplicably failed to score in the second half - and also missed a penalty in the final minutes.

In Division One B, Kildare's win over Westmeath leaves them poised to make the play-offs, although they'll need to beat Laois on Sunday to be sure. Laois are joint second with Galway, conquerors of Louth yesterday, and who will be fancied to beat Down next Sunday and also press for a semi-final place.