It’s the battle of the Liams, says Shane McGrath, as Monday morning’s hurling qualifier draw pitted Tipperary against an in-form Waterford in this Saturday’s All-Ireland hurling quarter final.
The other side of the draw will see Cork, buoyed by their defeat of Clare on Saturday, taking on beaten Leinster finalists Dublin who will be aiming to bounce back from their provincial final defeat to Kilkenny.
You would probably call it a nightmare draw for Tipperary, who having watched Liam Cahill’s Déise side run rings around Galway at the weekend, will be concerned if they have it in the legs to keep into them. If there is one weakness in this Tipperary side, it is probably a lack of pace which is something Jamie Barron, Peter Hogan and co. will fancy themselves to exploit.
Elsewhere, Cork will be playing with confidence but so too will Dublin, as they hope to recover from the covid chaos that stalked them last weekend. As for the semi-finals, provincial finalists and teams who have met in this championship already will be kept apart which means that Tipperary can only face Kilkenny in a semi-final while Dublin can only face Limerick. Cork could still end up playing Kilkenny, however – but only in the event that Tipp are knocked out by Waterford.
But first, bring on Saturday’s quarter finals.
Hurling qualifier draw
Tipperary v Waterford
Dublin v Cork
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