Saturday, Cork v Waterford: Seamus Harnedy to score a goal anytime – 17/10
Amazingly, for the second time in two seasons Cork must take on a Waterford side who have nothing left to play for in the Munster Championship. It’s fair to say that the Déise have struggled massively since the introduction of the round-robin system in the province in 2018 and have only managed a woeful record of one point in seven games.
However, Rebels boss John Meyler will be acutely aware of a backlash this Saturday night after his side were given a ferocious fright by Waterford under the same circumstances last season.
After losing to Tipperary on the opening day, Cork have been left with no margins for error if they hope to secure three Munster titles in-a-row.
A shock victory at the Gaelic Grounds last time out has aided that cause, but Meyler and co know that nothing but a win at Páirc Uí Chaoimh will do. With a wealth of experience in the forward unit to call on, one man the Cork manager can always trust to deliver is his captain Seamus Harnedy.
The St Ita’s man is Cork’s go-to-guy attacker when it comes to winning primary possession and he has developed an eye for goal recently that has helped his county get back to the very top of the game. Harnedy was stone cold in front of the posts in last year’s Championship, scoring an impressive totally of 3-16 and he’s already grabbed a goal in this season’s campaign against Tipperary, so don’t surprised if he nets again on Saturday night.
Sunday, Kilkenny v Galway: Kilkenny to win – 4/6
In a weekend of huge clashes in Munster, this Leinster smash-up at Nowlan Park could well be the showstealer. At the very least you can expect more crashes than the Indy 500, because both Kilkenny and Galway love nothing more than to get physical – especially with each other.
The pair got together three times last season with the Tribesmen claiming victory in two of those battles. This year could be a different story though, as they have to struggle on without star soldier Joe Canning.
While everyone seems to have no sympathy in Leinster for Carlow’s whipping boys, Canning’s absence was clearly felt in Galway’s rather fortunate draw with Wexford and could play a huge part in this one too. Brian Cody’s Cats have started with four points from two games and he’d love nothing more than to seal a place in the provincial final against their biggest rivals in Leinster.
Kilkenny haven’t lost in the Championship on their own patch since 1949 and we don’t see The Cats being clipped in this one either, back the home side at 4/6.
Sunday, Limerick v Clare: Limerick (-3) – 10/11
After a victory in their first fixture away to Waterford, all seemed rosy in the Clare camp heading into a three-week break. However, The Banner were given an unwelcome dose of reality last Sunday when Tipp came to town and completely shattered their proud home record in the Championship with a 13-point hiding.
It doesn’t get any easier for them either, as next on the agenda is a short hop to their noisy neighbours for a throw-down at the Gaelic Grounds. Limerick looked back to their best as they recovered from opening day jitters against Cork to utterly mangle Waterford 2-24 to 0-10 in Walsh Park.
John Kiely’s men rediscovered the ruthless streak last week that was sorely lacking in the second half against The Rebels and he’ll be hoping his charges will be horrible hosts for The Banner.
Clare may have been the only side to defeat Limerick on their run to that historic All-Ireland success in 2018, but we don’t see the Treaty County being so hospitable this time around and we’re tipping them to do it with a bit to spare in Sunday’s late game.
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