This weekend sees the penultimate stage of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship play out as four counties remain in the hunt for the Liam McCarthy Cup.
In camogie, there are two quarter-finals down for decision in the Senior Championship, while the Athletic Grounds hosts the All-Ireland Minor Football final.
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The first of the weekend’s hurling semi-finals between Limerick and Galway throws in at Croke Park at 6pm on Saturday (live coverage on RTÉ Two from 5.40pm).
Although reigning champions Limerick looked a bit off-colour for parts of their provincial campaign, they rediscovered their rhythm in their one-point Munster final win against Clare. That June 11th victory saw them through to the semis, and the few weeks off may well have helped John Kiely to get his Shannonsiders back to their best.
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Galway on the other hand were forced to take the long road after a similarly narrow loss to Kilkenny in their Leinster final encounter. And there was no let up in their resulting quarter-final clash, with Tipperary battling hard to prolong their summer, ultimately ending in a two-point win for the Tribesmen.
On Sunday, it’s the turn of Kilkenny and Clare at 4pm at Croke Park (live coverage on RTÉ Two from 3.15pm), who met at this same juncture in last year’s championship.
The Leinster champions breezed to victory over a shell-shocked Banner on that occasion, ending Clare’s season with a 2-26 to 0-20 loss.
This year, however, Clare have shown good consistency, taking a win against Limerick in the provincial round-robin stages for good measure. While the Munster final loss was a bitter disappointment for Brian Lohan’s charges, their quarter-final pairing against Dublin proved an opportunity to once again set down a marker. However, there’s no doubt Sunday’s fixture will be an entirely different beast.
Meanwhile, the Glen Dimplex Senior Camogie Championship brings together Antrim and Tipperary on Saturday (throw-in 3.30pm, live coverage on RTÉ Two from 3.15pm), before Cork face Kilkenny on Sunday (throw-in at 1pm, live coverage on RTÉ Two from 1.15pm).
Finally, the All-Ireland Minor Football final will take place on Sunday at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh. The all-Ulster affair will see Derry play Monaghan, with throw-in at 1pm (live coverage on TG4 from 12.20pm).
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