GAA tips: John Mullane’s 5 fab picks for the weekend’s club hurling

We are getting right to the business end of the club championships.

Saturday
15:00 O’Loughlin Gaels v Dicksboro (Kilkenny) – Dicksboro to win

This is a city derby in Kilkenny, and O’Loughlin Gaels were my tip to win the Kilkenny championship outright. But, something is telling me that this game is going to Dicksboro, they been clocking up big scores and they’re in a rich vein of form.

Admittedly, it’s very hard to separate these sides and but I reckon the bookies have this a bit wrong, there’s value in Dicksboro. They’ve got Kilkenny star Cillian Buckley and young Bill Sheehan is shooting the lights out for in attack.

They’ve got a good squad and I’m going to give my vote to Dicksboro to win this.

 

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17:00 Ballyhale Shamrocks v James Stephens (Kilkenny) – Ballyhale to win

You can’t judge Ballyhale on the league section of the Kilkenny Championship and it’s when they hit the knockout phase that they come into their own.

That’s was proven in the last two weekends as they’ve racked up big totals on the scoreboard. Last weekend their game with Clara was effectively over after just 10 minutes.

TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly are back to their own selves, and Ballyhale should have more than enough to win. They just have way too much firepower for James Stephens here.

17:30 Killmallock v Doon (Limerick) – Doon to win

You could have predicted the four clubs in Limerick that would have qualified for the semi-finals before a ball was thrown in and that has proven to be the case. Two of those clubs meet here on Saturday evening and this is a mouth-watering affair.

If Killmallock can bring their form from the league section of the championship into this, they could be very hard to beat. But, I’ve been very impressed by Doon.

Doon have some very good players in their side, especially in the likes of Barry Murphy, Pat Ryan and Darragh O’Donovan. I don’t believe the odds-on price on Killmallock is justified and it’s worth going with the value that Doon represent. This one will go right down to the wire though.

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Sunday
14:00 Blackrock v Douglas (Cork) – Douglas to win

This is a big game on the Cork scene and a nice local rivalry. It’s going to be a tight encounter, that’s for sure.

Many people have Blackrock favourites to push on and win the Cork Championship this year. Douglas, for their part, have been very impressive too and knocked out Midleton, who were my pick to take Cork this year.

Douglas have a ton of good personnel in their squad with Shane Kingston, the Cadogan brothers and ex-Cork star Stephen Moylan. I’m going to go with Douglas to advance in this one.

19:30 UCC v Na Piarsaigh (Cork) – UCC to win

This one will all depend on who UCC have available to them. There are games in Limerick and Kilkenny this weekend, so the college could be without the services of players in action in those championships.

But, I believe any starting 15 that take to the field for UCC should be good enough to overcome Na Piarsaigh.

Na Piarsaigh have been disappointing in the championship to date and UCC will be too much for them in this.

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John Mullane’s tips summary:

Saturday

O’Loughlin Gaels v Dicksboro: Dicksboro to win
Ballyhale Shamrocks v James Stephens: Ballyhale to win
Killmallock v Doon: Doon to win

Sunday

Blackrock v Douglas: Douglas to win
UCC v Na Piarsaigh: UCC to win

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What do you think?