The forthcoming matches

All-Ireland SHC Qualifier, Phase Two

Limerick v Wexford, Gaelic Grounds, Today, 5pm – Although they last met in the 2009 qualifiers, when Limerick won by 1-13 to 0-14, this is a relatively novel pairing, and indeed a game both teams will have strong ambitions of winning.

Limerick proved the optimists right when providing a severe test to Waterford in the Munster semi-final, only to be denied a famous victory by the last-minute goal from John Mullane. Yet it underlined the brilliant managerial impact of Donal O’Grady, who somehow has restored both the belief and desire of a team on the brink of total anonymity a year ago.

Full-forward Kevin Downes was one of several players to shine against Waterford, and a repeat performance here should see them through.

Wexford will need to improve on their Leinster semi-final defeat to Kilkenny, although the return of Darren Stamp will help seal up their defence. Goals remain their forte, and with Rory Jacob also passed fit, they’ll need to run at Limerick early on and try to establish a winning advantage that might have made the difference against Kilkenny.

The trip to Limerick, however, won’t help their chances, and if O’Grady maintains his thorough team preparation then the home side will progress.

LIMERICK: N Quaid; D Moloney, S Hickey, T Condon; W McNamara, B Geary, G O’Mahoney; D O’Grady, P Browne; N Moran, J Ryan, D Hannon; G Mulcahy, K Downes, S Tobin.

WEXFORD: N Breen; P Roche, M O’Hanlon, K Rossiter; L Prendergast, D Stamp, M Travers; E Quigley, M Jacob; PJ Nolan, H Kehoe, S Banville; R Jacob, G Sinnott, J Berry.

Referee: M Wadding (Waterford).

Galway v Clare, Pearse Stadium, Today, 7pm (Live on RTÉ 2) – The evening Galway lost to Dublin in the Leinster semi-final in Tullamore, Joe Canning was tucked up in bed before his parents arrived home, and first thing next morning he was out on the field, practising his frees.

Like a lot of Galway people, Canning was having difficulty coming to terms with how poor they’d been against Dublin. Canning himself had missed more chances than he’d converted, and throughout the field Galway were either outclassed or simply outplayed.

Manager John McIntyre admitted straight up that they’d one more chance at redemption – or else all the doubters would be proved right. So this is it, and fortunately the home draw has taken some of the pressure off Galway, and probably helped focus their minds to the task.

McIntyre has made five changes from the defeat the Dublin, and the reintroduction of Ger Farragher and Iarla Tannian should certainly help bolster their attack. Clare will still be on something of a high after their brave display against Tipperary in the Munster semi-final, but with Darach Honan out injured, there is extra pressure on Conor McGrath to repeat his exceptional feats in front of goal.

Inevitably it will come down to who wants it more, and surely that has to be Galway.

GALWAY: J Skehill; F Moore, S Kavanagh, D Collins; D Barry, T Óg Regan, A Cullinane; D Burke, A Smith; J Gantley, G Farragher, I Tannian; D Hayes, J Canning, A Kerins.

CLARE: P Brennan; P Vaughan, C Dillon, C Cooney; P O’Connor, P Donnellan, C McInerney; N OConnell, J Clancy; J Conlon, F Lynch, D McMahon; C McInerney, C Morey, C McGrath.

Referee: D Kirwan (Offaly).

Ulster SHC final

Antrim v Armagh, Casement Park, Tomorrow, 3.30 – Without trying to confuse things, Antrim will be using this as a warm-up to Phase Three of the All-Ireland qualifiers – and the chance to collect a 10th Ulster title in succession as they pass Go.

Armagh have made considerable progress to get this far, beating Fermanagh, Monaghan and Down, and are back in the Ulster final for the first time since 1946, when they lost to Antrim by 6-3 to 2-1. Indeed beating Down in the semi-final by a single point was a major shock, but it’s hard to see any repeat of that here as Antrim march on towards that qualifier.

ANTRIM: C Cunningham; C McGuinness, K McGourty, J McCouaig; K McKeague, M Donnelly, C Herron; B McFall, S McCrory; J Scullion, T McCann, E McCloskey; P Doherty, C McFall, K McKeegan.

ARMAGH: TBA

Referee: D Magee (Down).

Ian O’Riordan

Munster MFC final

Tipperary v Cork, Killarney, 12pm – If omens are anything to go by, Tipperary should approach tomorrow’s Munster minor football final in Killarney with a certain amount of optimism.

When the counties last met in a minor decider back in 1995, Tipp claimed their last success at this grade with a shock 2-6 to 0-10 victory. Sixteen years ago, the minor final was played at Fitzgerald Stadium, and it also served as a curtain-raiser to a Cork-Kerry senior clash.

Tipp, who will contest a third final in four seasons, are fresh from an heroic fightback against Kerry in the semi-final, when the hosts came from 11 points down to win by one. Holders Cork are relatively untested, having scored two victories over Clare in the provincial championship to date.

TIPPERARY: G Slattery; N Sullivan, C O’Sullivan, S Kennedy; C O’Riordan, D Fitzell, A McGuire; S O’Brien, I Fahey; G Henry, P Quirke, B Maher; L McGrath, M Quinlivan, TJ Ryan.

CORK: J McDonnell; J Davis, K Fulignati, S Cronin; K Crowley, B O’Driscoll, TJ Brosnan; S Kiely, D Murphy; M Sugrue, A Cadogan, C Vaughan; D MacEoin, S O’Mahony, C O’Sullivan.

Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry).

Leinster MHC final

Dublin v Kilkenny, Croke Park, Tomorrow, 2pm – Dublin will hope to claim their first provincial title since 2007 when they face current All-Ireland champions Kilkenny tomorrow.

The Dubs came through a tricky semi-final against Westmeath last Saturday by 1-16 to 2-7 and the same starting 15 have been selected with dual players Eric Lowndes, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny and Emmet Ó Conghaile all coming through their MFC win over Kildare last Wednesday unscathed. Kilkenny have shown glimpses of their potential and came back strongly to account for Wexford last weekend with Kevin Kelly pivotal to their chances having amassed 2-16 from two games to date.

The Cats hammered Dublin in last year’s final but the feeling persists that if Kelly can be curbed sufficiently, then Dublin have enough firepower to reverse that result.

DUBLIN: C Ryan; E Lowndes, C OCallaghan, S McClelland; C Crummey, J Desmond, M McCaffrey; G Whelan, C Cronin; E Ó Conghaile, C McHugh, C Kilkenny; P Winters, A Clabby, C Costello.

KILKENNY: A Duggan; J McDowell, C Doyle, E Morrissey; K Walsh, D Cody, O McGrath; C OShea, C Bolger; P Vickery, P Kenneally, K Kelly; T OHanrahan, C Martin, R Reid.

Referee: J Heffernan (Wexford).