Last weekend’s series of National Hurling League games threw up some interesting results, thus setting up some intriguing possibilities for the final series of games this coming weekend.

Many observers appear to have been startled by Dublin’s destruction of Offaly in Portlaoise. However, as An Moltóir observed in his previous piece on Leinster hurling, Dublin have always been good for at least one win in the league. In the past, Offaly were notorious for their indifference to the league competition, and seem to have turned up with a similar attitude last Sunday. However, with their seriously depleted playing resources, they cannot be so blasé anymore, and they are now faced with a very difficult assignment against neighbours Laois next time out.
With the exception of their blip against Galway, the O’Moore County men have been putting in consistently serious performances, albeit almost always falling short of what was needed on any particular day. In seven games in the league so far they have scored 13-96, which works out at over 19 points per game. They say that 20 points should be every team’s target in a 70-minute game, so on that basis, Laois are not far off the pace. They remain too reliant on James Young for scores, although Damien Culleton in particular has been helping to spread the load this year. Nothing would thrill them more than to consign Offaly to relegation, although one expects we will see a different home team taking the pitch in Birr on Sunday. It is tough on the Offaly men that only a fluky last-minute goal by Cork kept them out of the top tier of the league’s second phase, having won three of their games, and now they are facing relegation in the face. And of course with the adoption at Congress of the Hurling Development Committee’s championship proposals, relegation carries much more serious consequences this year than ever before.

Antrim badly needed a full hand for this year’s league campaign in order to consolidate the progress made last year in both league and championship. However, Dunloy’s progress to the club final robbed them of real depth, and they have struggled to keep up to the pace of first division hurling. They are now the most likely candidates for relegation. However, this will not deny them a place in next year’s senior championship, and the regular games which the new format will provide could possibly benefit the Glensmen more than any other county.

In the top tier, the big result of the weekend was Waterford’s victory over Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn. Waterford, as ever, have blown a bit hot and cold – both within and between matches – in this year’s campaign, but in the two games which really counted – away to both of last year’s All-Ireland finalists – they have shown an unexpected edge of steel. Both games were remarkably similar, with the Déise men having first half advantage of a strong wind but failing to make good use of it, but then showing real defiance with their backs to the wall in the second half. The dropping for earlier games of Tom Feeney, Declan Prendergast and Eoin Kelly appears to have concentrated their minds admirably, with the sudden improvement in Kelly’s form being particularly remarkable.

Cork have been using this league to try out a lot of new players, but with the possible exception of Jonathan O’Callaghan, the results have not been very promising. The extra edge in terms of aggression and scoring power provided by Setanta Ó hAilpín was a crucial factor in last year’s breakthrough, and without him their attack has a toothless look about it. One suspects that the massive cheer which greeted Brian Corcoran’s appearance last Sunday was born more out of desperation than anything else. Certainly the continuing reliance on such as Timmy McCarthy and Mickey O’Connell indicates that strength in depth is in short supply down by the Leeside.

Something similar would appear to apply to Tipperary, whose inability to add to the usual suspects in their front line and at midfield must be quite depressing for their supporters. Their new defenders also haven’t really been tested yet, and their performance against Waterford next Sunday could be quite instructive. Galway, as ever, have been going quite well in the league, but one little episode from last week’s game in Thurles could be telling. With the game in injury time and Galway needing a goal, Alan Kerins got a ball in space on the right in a situation where he could have gone looking for a goal. Instead he took a pointless point. If An Moltóir’s memory serves him correctly, Kerins did exactly the same thing at the same stage of last year’s hurling qualifier against the same opposition in Salthill.

Incidentally, John Gardiner did the same thing for Cork in their game against Galway. Cork needed a goal, and Gardiner got a ball in a promising position about thirty yards out. However, instead of seeking to engineer a goal, he took the easy option of going on the outside of his marker and tapping over a useless point. One could not imagine the likes of Pat Fox, DJ Carey or Paul Flynn behaving in this fashion: it would have been head down and straight for goal. An Moltóir’s point here is to suggest that too many Galway players these days do not have the resolve or edge of steel to win games in the white heat of championship fare.

Finally, the game between Clare and Limerick was as bad as An Moltóir has seen at this level. The poverty of the Limerick attack was appalling, even against what was essentially a Clare second string who should have won comfortably. But fair dues to Pat Tobin who had a go when, just beforehand, James Butler appeared to have given up the ghost. And while some have suggested that Niall Moran’s goal was a mishit, An Moltóir doubts it. A draw was of absolutely no use to Limerick, Moran took a lot of time getting his stance right, and his shot, while deceptive, was struck very cleverly.

Limerick showed in the second half against Waterford that they can hurl a bit, but on this showing they don’t have a prayer against Galway the next day, and a good win for the Tribesmen should see them safely into the league final. If the Clare management’s attitude last week is anything to go by, they won’t be killing themselves in Cork on Saturday night, where the home side will be very anxious to restore some pride. If both these games go as An Moltóir expects, Waterford could afford to lose against Tipperary by up to eight points and still get through to the league final. However, with Nicky Cashin possibly taking a leaf out of Brian Cody’s book of going out hell-bent on winning every game, it is unlikely that the Déise will take to the field in Thurles in such a calculating frame of mind.