Archive for All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 20, 2025 by telescoper

As it was foretold, today sees the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park in Dublin. Unfortunately the weather isn’t great: there’s been quite a lot of rain already today, and the forecast is for more. It’s also extremely humid (93%).

I will however be watching on TV from the comfort of my living room. For those of you in the UK, there is live coverage on BBC2 from 3pm.

This year’s final is between Cork and Tipperary and takes place this afternoon, Sunday 20th July, with the throw-in at 3.30pm. Cork are strong favourites, with bookies quoting odds of 3-1 on (or even shorter). That’s not surprising because they put seven goals past Dublin in their semi-final a couple of weeks ago.

I’ll update this post with the final score (for the files) when it’s all over.

HALF-TIME: Cork 1-16 Tipperary 0-13. A breathless first half with Tipperary playing with just one man up the field and packing the defence to avoid conceding goals, which they did until the very end of the first half when Shane Barrett scored the first. Tipperary actually had the sliotar in the net earlier on, but the goal was disallowed for a square ball: an attacking player cannot be inside the small rectangle (also known as the “6-yard box”) before the ball enters it. Very noticeable that Croke Park is a sea of red – clearly Cork supporters did better at getting tickets!

FULL-TIME: Cork 1-18 Tipperary 3-27. What an amazing turnaround, and a superb second-half performance from Tipperary! Cork completely disintegrated after half-time, scoring only two points in the half to Tipperary’s 23, including three goals (one of them a penalty that also resulted in Cork going down to 14 men). Nothing went right for Cork, who hit the woodwork 4 times even and even missed a penalty, but by then the game was already lost.

Tippperary are the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champions!

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Weekend

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 18, 2025 by telescoper

Just a quick note, primarily for those of you not in Ireland, to point out that this weekend sees the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park. There’s always a fantastic atmosphere for this event and I’m looking forward to it enormously. It’s every bit as big as the FA Cup Final used to be when I was a kid.

This year’s final is between Cork and Tipperary and takes place on Sunday 20th July, with the throw-in at 3.30pm.

For those of you in the UK, there is live coverage on BBC2 from 3pm.

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Farewell to #EAS2025

Posted in Biographical, GAA with tags , , on June 27, 2025 by telescoper

I’m on an early-morning train from Cork to Dublin, missing the final day of EAS 2025. I’d like to thank the organisers and all the contributors for an extremely successful meeting. I’m looking forward to EAS 2026, which will be held in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Yesterday was another busy day, during which I attended – among other things –  sessions on gravitational lensing and a plenary talk by Andy Fabian. The latter event reminded me that in my final year as an undergraduate I took a “Minor Option” on High-Energy Astrophysics lectured by Andy Fabian. That was 40 years ago…

After the scientific programme for the day was over, participants were bussed to Páirc Ui Chaoimh, Cork’s main GAA Stadium, for the conference dinner. Some of the participants had the chance to try their hands at hurling before the food.

After the food, there was traditional Irish music, with the audience joining in the singing and dancing. A good time was had by all.

Incidentally, Cork play Dublin next weekend in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. To the surprise of many, Dublin knocked out Limerick in the quarter-finals. The other semi-final is between Kilkenny and Tipperary. Those people who attempted to put hurley to sliotar last night will be even more amazed at the level skill on display in those games.

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The All-Ireland Hurling Final

Posted in GAA, Maynooth with tags , , , , , on July 21, 2024 by telescoper

No prizes for guessing what I’ll be watching this afternoon. Today’s the day of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park, between Clare and Cork. The weather isn’t too bad; it’s overcast and a bit cool but there’s no rain forecast and it’s not windy. I’m hoping for a good match.

Clare (An Clár) versus Cork (Corcaigh) is not the final I would have predicted before the semi-finals. I thought Limerick and Kilkenny would be the finalists but that just goes to show how little I know. Cork are favourites with the bookies, by the way (4/7 on Cork, 11/8 against Clare) despite the fact that Clare of won the last two encounters between these teams.

If you’ve never been in Ireland for this occasion you won’t realize what a huge event it is. The atmosphere on this very special day is very much like it used to be in England for the FA Cup Final when I was a kid and the build-up just as long, with constant references on both radio and TV. Maynooth is on the railway line going through Croke Park so we see a lot of supporters in their team colours heading to the match. County Clare (which is in the West of Ireland, straddled by Limerick to the South and Galway to the North) is a bit closer to us than County Cork, which perhaps accounts for the preponderance of blue and gold over red and white.

You can watch the whole game live on BBC2 if you’re in the UK. Throw-in is at 3.30pm.

Update: The attendance is 82,300.

Update: HT score Clare 1-12 Cork 1-12. It’s been a much more open game than I expected. Cork started out the stronger team, finding lots of space in the Clare half and shooting very accurately. Robert Downey scored a memorable goal at which point it looked like Cork might overrun Clare, but that didn’t happen and as the half drew to a close Clare became more confident. It’s all square and poised for an exciting second half.

Update: FT score Clare 3-21 Cork 1-27. What an epic game this is! All square on points after Clare conceded a silly free in the dying seconds to allow Cork to equalize. We go to extra time!

Update: Final Score Clare 3-29 Cork 1-34. Drama to the last second, a long free from the Cork goalie lands in the area but Robbie O’Flynn’s shot to tie the game goes agonizingly wide. Clare are the All-Ireland Champions by one-point. What a breathtaking match. Hats off to both teams for serving up a classic! I wouldn’t have complained if it had gone to a replay though…

Here is a clip of Clare’s amazing 3rd goal, scored by Tony Kelly…

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All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Final Weekend

Posted in GAA with tags , , on July 7, 2024 by telescoper

Just a quick post to mention that this weekend saw the semi-finals of this year’s All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship at Croke Park.

Yesterday, after playing very poorly against Kilkenny in the first half,  Clare staged an epic comeback to create an exciting finish, eventually to win by two points (0-24 to 2-16).

Today’s semi-final was even better, with Cork pulling out all the stops against Limerick in the second half in a match that was played at an extraordinary tempo even by the standards of hurling. Cork ran out deserved winners by 1-28 to 0-29. Once again, only two points separated the sides.

Limerick were bidding to win their 5th All-Ireland championship in a row, but they have to settle for four, as the final in two weeks’ time will be between Cork and Clare.

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The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final

Posted in GAA with tags , , , , on July 17, 2022 by telescoper

Today’s the day! Kilkenny v Limerick from Croke Park for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final. Over 80,000 spectators will watch this in Croke Park as well as millions around the world. Let’s hope it’s a good one.

Half Time: Kilkenny 0-16 Limerick 1-17

Reasonably comfortable for Limerick who have been ahead since the 2nd minute. Can Kilkenny fight back in the 2nd half? I’m glad for the sake of the players that it’s “only” 27 °C at Croke Park this afternoon and not even hotter!

Full Time: Kilkenny 2-26 Limerick 1-31

So Limerick have won their 3rd All-Ireland Championship in a row by just two points.

Kilkenny scored two goals in the second half to level the scores at which point Limerick seemed a bit ragged, but Limerick pulled themselves together held on for the victory in what was a thrilling second half. Hurling is not a game for faint hearts but alongside the physicality of the game there is an astonishing level skill: the accuracy of the long-range shooting is quite phenomenal.

Congratulations to Limerick, deserved winners, and commiserations to Kilkenny who made a fantastic game of it. What a magnificent final.

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The 2021 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final

Posted in GAA with tags , , , , on August 22, 2021 by telescoper

This afternoon’s All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park saw reigning champions Limerick beat Cork by 3-32 to 1-22 at Croke Park. The margin of victory (16 points) reflected Limerick’s dominance; their total of 41 points is one of the largest ever in a final. The Bookies were right in having Limerick odds-on favourites (1-5) before the match and they thoroughly deserved their victory. Congratulations to them!

As a neutral I was hoping for a less one-sided match, and Cork actually started off quite well, responding quickly to Limerick’s opening goal with an impressive goal of their own. The game started at a frantic pace and for about ten minutes it looked a pretty even contest, but once Limerick got into their stride they imposed themselves on all areas of the game. The Limerick team not only looked physically bigger than their opponents but also put in a phenomenal work rate, to such an extent that it frequently seemed they had more players on the pitch than Cork. I know it’s a cliché, but at times it really did look like men against boys.

When not in possession, Limerick harried their opponents into making mistakes and when in possession they ruthlessly exploited errors in the Cork defence. In particular they exerted their trademark dominance of the middle third of the pitch, scoring points from long range like a boxer with a longer reach than his opponent and making it very difficult for Cork to play through them. By half time, when the score was 1-11 to 3-18, Limerick were already 13 points ahead and the game was effectively over as a contest. It was more like an exhibition match or some sort of masterclass.

Credit to the young Cork side for the way they stuck to their task despite being comprehensively outplayed. There’s no disgrace in losing to a team as good as the one they played today. In the end, though, the Championship title goes once again to Limerick, who were magnificent.

Incidentally, Croke Park was about half-full for this showcase event with about 40,000 spectators in the ground. Hopefully next year it will be possible to fill it to capacity. I watched it on TV but it makes a huge difference to the atmosphere if there’s a big crowd watching it in the stadium.

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All-Ireland Hurling Final Day

Posted in GAA with tags , , , , , on December 13, 2020 by telescoper

As the absurd Pantomime of Brexit negotiations continues and I prepare for a very busy final week of an exhausting term I’m taking this afternoon off to watch the final of the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship from Croke Park in Dublin. The final is between Limerick and Waterford, and is in effect a re-run of the 2020 Munster provincial final, which was won by Limerick. (The winners of the Leinster and Munster Provincial championships go straight into the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Championship, while the runners-up play in the Quarter-Finals).

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final usually takes place in August or September, but this year’s competition has been rescheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was raining very heavily overnight and into this morning in the Dublin are but the bad weather has cleared so I’m looking forward to a good match. According to the bookies, Limerick are strong favourites at 4/9 with Waterford at 5/2. Throw-in is at 3.30pm. The match will be played in a largely empty Croke Park, which means the atmosphere won’t be the same as in front of a crowd of 80,000 but I hope it will be enjoyable nonetheless. I’m not going to live blog the match but will update at half time and at the end.

As a bonus, the main event is preceded by the final of the Joe McDonagh Cup which is the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. This year’s final is between Antrim and Kerry. Antrim were strong favourites before the match and began the match better of the two teams, but Kerry fought back well from a poor start to lead 1-07 to 0-9 at half time.

UPDATE: Half-time Limerick 0-14 Waterford 0-11. The scoreline doesn’t really reflect Limerick’s dominance, but Waterford are doing well to stay in the game. Only three points in it. I still think Limerick will win.

UPDATE: Full-time Limerick 0-30 Waterford 0-19. Limerick just too strong for Waterford, who had no answer to the relentless accuracy of Limerick’s shooting from long range. Limerick’s defence also impressive, nullifying the threat from Waterford’s full forwards. Congratulations to Limerick.

Yesterday’s Irish Times prediction has aged well…

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On the GAA

Posted in Biographical, History, Sport with tags , , , , , on November 22, 2020 by telescoper

Since moving to Ireland almost three years ago I have (somewhat unexpectedly) become a fan of GAA and regularly watch both hurling and Gaelic football on the TV, which is quite often.

Ireland is very keen on sports generally, with big followings for both rugby and soccer but, at least in terms of attendances, hurling and Gaelic football are by far the most popular sports in Ireland. That’s quite remarkable because these are entirely amateur games. One of the great things about the GAA is that it’s a real grass roots organization, where even games between local clubs can attract very big crowds. (I’m talking about the pre-Covid era there, obviously.) The players tend to be local and there’s a strong involvement of the community in the local clubs.

Hurling is my favourite GAA sport – the level of skill on display is truly awesome and it’s played at an amazingly fast tempo – but I do watch the football when I can too and am more gradually getting into it. Incidentally, these two sports are played on the same pitches with the same goals and the same number of players on each side (15) and have basically the same rules – with a player’s hurley (stick) in hurling being in one-to-one correspondence as far as the rules are concerned with a player’s foot in Gaelic football. The ball of course is bigger in football; the small one used in hurling is called a sliotar. Scoring is the same in both: 1 point getting the ball between the two posts over the bar as in rugby and a goal (3 points) for getting the ball into the back of the net below the bar.

I took a break in the early afternoon yesterday to watch the All Ireland Quarter Final match in the hurling between Galway and Tipperary, an entertaining match played in fine weather which was won by Galway 3-23 to 2-24. Later on, I settled down to watch the Leinster provincial final between Dublin and Meath live from Croke Park in the evening. Given that this match was on the same day as Bloody Sunday it was preceded by a solemn commemoration of those that died a hundred years ago which I thought was beautifully done. Here’s a video tribute made by the GAA itself, played at the end of the pre-match commemoration along with specially-composed music.

After the match there was a wreath-laying ceremony involving the players which was unfortunately spoiled on the television broadcast by a commentator who talked all the way over it.

The match itself was a very one-sided affair, which was effectively all over by half time (when the score was Dublin 2-12 Meath 0-2). It ended Dublin 3-21 Meath 0-9, which is a margin of 21 points: quite a thrashing for Meath. I’m not an expert, but the Dublin side were far more mobile and inventive than Meath and thoroughly deserved their win.

There wasn’t a crowd of course. I think the commemorative event would have been even more emotional if there had been. Watching the actual match though it struck me that we’re all getting used to watching sport in an empty stadium. It’s probably going to take some getting used to the noise when (if) live audiences eventually return.

UPDATE: Tipperary beat Cork in Munster final this afternoon to win it for the first time in 85 years. The team were wearing replica jerseys of those worn by the Tipperary team that played Dublin in 1920.

After all the provincial finals, including a surprise win for Cavan over Donegal in Ulster, the four teams in the semi-finals of the All Ireland Senior Football Championship in 2020 is exactly the same as it was in 1920. The final, between Dublin and Tipperary, was not played until 1922.

(The match played on Bloody Sunday was a Challenge Match not part of the Championship.

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All-Ireland Hurling Finals Day

Posted in Sport with tags , , on August 19, 2018 by telescoper

Just a quick post to note that today is a huge day on the sporting calendar here in Ireland. It’s the final of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship, which will be between holders Galway and Limerick, in front of 80,000 at Croke Park in Dublin.

It will take some doing for this match to be as exciting as the Semi-Final I watched a few weeks ago in a pub in Maynooth, but you never know. That game ended in a draw, and Galway won the Replay. The other semifinal was also a cracker, with Limerick winning in extra time. Galway are favourites to win the game, but there seems to be more support around these parts for the green of Limerick than the maroon of Galway.

Anyway, if you’re bored this afternoon, and have access to cable or satellite TV, then I suggest having a look. If you’ve never seen hurling before then the first thing that strikes you is the phenomenal speed at which the game is played. The sliotar (ball) can travel from one end of the pitch to the other in a second and the players have to be extremely fit. Brave too. This is definitely not a game for faint hearts!

There was heavy rain last night but it has passed over and it should be a good game. I’m sure the atmosphere will be brilliant in the stadium, but Ill be happy to watch in the pub (although it’s sure to be crowded).

UPDATE: Half-time Galway 0-9 Limerick 1-10, the underdogs ahead by 4 points. Frenetic and rather scrappy game with lots of wides. Exciting to watch though. I’m up by two pints of Guinness.

UPDATE: Full-time Galway 2-18 Limerick 3-16. Most of the second half was rather one-sided. When Limerick scored their third goal and went 8 points clear I thought it was all over, but suddenly Galway scored two goals and were right back in it. Nerves jangling, Limerick managef to survive eight minutes of stoppage time. Galway had a free at the end that could have tied the scores but it fell short. Exciting finish but Limerick worthy winners, if only by a single point!

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