Ahead of the final weekend in the National Hurling League, we look at the possible permutations in 1A and 1B and wonder what Tipp will turn up at Semple Stadium on Sunday?
Looks like something big is going to go down
Such has been the fairly manic nature of Division 1A of the National Hurling League this season that we have been left with the unlikely scenario that every single team in action this weekend is in contention for a spot in the league final while also being in danger of ending up in a relegation play-off.
If you want to have a look at the very complicated permutations click here, but at least there’ll be no holding back!
What many also wouldn’t have predicted at the start of the campaign is that the two teams who had been tipped as the most likely relegation candidates would be leading the way going into the final weekend and although it could all go Pete Tong for Waterford and Clare this weekend, they deserve credit for more than holding their own so far.
The danger for the opposition facing both sides this weekend – Galway away to Waterford and Tipperary at home to Clare – is that they have been so inconsistent to date that they can’t be relied upon to deliver a performance when it is most needed.
With one of Kilkenny or Cork also destined to finish on four points – barring a draw in Nowlan Park – there is a very good chance that it will be two of the leading Championship contenders battling it out for relegation and that one of them will be absent from Division 1A next season, and a team really needs to be cutting their teeth in the top flight if they want to have a genuine tilt at Liam McCarthy.
When there are only six teams in a division it is always going to be arse-clenchingly tight and all guns will definitely be blazing in the fight to avoid being bottom of the pile when the fat lady sings.
Done and dusted in 1B?
The situation in Division 1B is a lot less muddled than the top flight and it would be a major surprise if it doesn’t turn out that Limerick and Dublin will be battling out for promotion in the final in Croke Park next month.
With four wins from four to date, the Treaty men are already assured of their place in the decider and the Dubs will join them there if they can fend off the challenge of a Carlow side who haven’t earned a single point to date.
Barring an unlikely series of events, Anthony Daly’s Dubs will have secured a place in the 1B final by Sunday evening
Miracles seemingly happen in the GAA more than other sports, but Offaly and Wexford will need one of loaves and fishes proportions if they are to reach the league final as both of them need to beat Antrim and Limerick respectively, pray that Carlow can beat Dublin and then hope that they end up with the healthiest scoring difference in a three-way contest for the runners-up spot.
Conversely, if both teams end up losing on Sunday they will be dragged into a similar points difference battle to see who joins Carlow in the relegation play-off, but despite all the potential implications, if come Sunday evening Dublin haven’t made the league final and Carlow and Antrim haven’t ended up in a relegation play-off then one of those miracle things has probably ended up happening after all.
Which Tipp team will turn up?
Davy Fitz has no doubt been preparing thoroughly for the trip to Semple Stadium this weekend, but it will be hard for him to have spotted any sort of patterns about the hosts given their Jekyll and Hyde like performances to date.
In the two games they have won so far, Tipp have accumulated a cumulative total score (6-39) of almost double what they managed to put up in the two games they have lost (1-27). There have been contributing factors in the displays of both Cork and Waterford when Tipp lost and a leaky defence at Pearse Stadium where Tipp were successful, but there’s no doubting the fact that the Premier have blown hot and cold so far.
As long as they don’t end up being relegated Eamon O’Shea won’t be too bothered about still having some cobwebs to blow off at this stage and the form of some key players – Brendan Maher, Seamus Callanan and Lar, for example – will be an encouraging aspect for him to take from the league campaign so far.
With promotion at stake and the relegation play-off still rearing its ugly head in the mirror, as is the case for all teams in 1A, you’d fancy Tipp to deliver a performance when it matters in front of a home crowd on Sunday.
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