Galway are through to the GAA hurling Leinster final and will know their opponents on Saturday evening when Kilkenny play Wexford in Nowlan Park (7.0).
Galway play Dublin in Pearse Stadium on Saturday at 7.0 while in the Munster championship on Sunday (2.0) it’s Tipperary v Clare in Semple Stadium and Limerick v Waterford in the Gaelic Grounds.
GALWAY v DUBLIN
This will be only the ninth championship match between the counties, with Dublin leading 5-2 while there was one draw in the previous eight. Galway’s first win came in 2015 and they followed up with another success last year.
Previous Dublin-Galway Clashes
2017: Galway 2-28 Dublin 1-17 (Leinster quarter-final)
2015: Galway 5-19 Dublin 1-18 (Leinster quarter-final) Replay
2015: Dublin 0-20 Galway 1-17 (Leinster quarter-final)
2013: Dublin 2-25 Galway 2-13 (Leinster final)
2011: Dublin 0-19 Galway 2-7 (Leinster semi-final)
1941: Dublin 2-4 Galway 2-2 (All-Ireland semi-final)
1924: Dublin 5-3 Galway 2-6 (All-Ireland final)
1920: Dublin 6-3 Galway 1-4 (All-Ireland semi-final)
*This is Galway’s ninth season in the Leinster senior championship. Their record reads: Played 29; Won 19, Drew 3, Lost 7. Here’s how they fared against individual counties.
Kilkenny: Played 8, Won 2, Drew 1, Lost 5
Laois: Played 4, Won 4
Offaly: Played 6, Won 5, Drew 1
Dublin: Played 5, Won 2, Lost 2, Drew 1
Westmeath: Played 3, Won 3
Wexford: Played 3, Won 3
Galway have beaten Offaly, Kilkenny and Wexford so far in the ‘round robin’ series while Dublin beat Offaly and lost to Wexford and Kilkenny.
There’s nothing on the line in this game in terms of the Leinster championship as Galway are already through to the final while Dublin cannot finish in the top three but are free of relegation worries.
KILKENNY v WEXFORD
Both have won two of three games so far so the winners will take the big prize of a place in the Leinster final against Galway. A draw would suffice for Wexford who have a scoring difference of +17 points, while Kilken-ny are on +3.
LAST FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS
2017: Wexford 1-20 Kilkenny 3-11 (Leinster semi-final)
2015: Kilkenny 5-25 Wexford 0-16 (Leinster semi-final)
2011: Kilkenny 1-26 Wexford 1-15 (Leinster semi-final)
2008: Kilkenny 5-21 Wexford 0-17 (Leinster final)
2007: Kilkenny 0-23 Wexford 1-10 (All-Ireland semi-final)
They meet for the fourth time this year, with Kilkenny having won two to Wexford’s one of the previous three. Wexford won the Walsh Cup final on a free-taking shoot-out when the sides finished level (1-24 each) after extra-time in Nowlan Park in January. Kilkenny won a Round 5 Allianz League game (0-22 to 0-19) in Nowlan Park and later won a semi-final (1-27 to 2-15) in Innovate Wexford Park.
Both Kilkenny and Wexford beat Dublin and Offaly and lost to Galway in the earlier Leinster ‘round robin’ games.
Kilkenny and Wexford have met twelve times in the championship since Brian Cody took over as Cats’ boss in late 1998. It’s 10-2 to Kilkenny in those games, with Wexford’s only successes coming in the 2004 and 2017 Leinster semi-finals.
*Davy Fitzgerald is among a small band who have managed in three counties. He guided Waterford to the Munster title in 2010 and Clare to the All-Ireland title in 2013. His championship record with Waterford, Clare and Wexford reads: Played 26, Won 12, Drew 2, Lost 12.
2018 GAA HURLING ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
LEINSTER
Round Robin 1
May 12: Galway 5-18 Offaly 2-15, Bord na Mona O’Connor Park.
May13: Kilkenny 1-24 Dublin 3-16, Parnell Park.
Round Robin 2
May 20: Kilkenny 2-19 Offaly 1-13, Nowlan Park; Wexford 0-22 Dublin 2-14, Innovate Wexford Park.
Round Robin 3
May 26: Wexford 5-24 Offaly 2-9, Bord na Mona O’Connor Park.
May 27: Galway 1-22 Kilkenny 2-11, Pearse Stadium
Round Robin 4
June 2: Galway 1-23 Wexford 0-17, Innovate Wexford Park
June 3: Dublin 2-24 Offaly 0-13, Parnell Park.
Round Robin 5
June 9: Kilkenny v Wexford, Nowlan Park; Galway v Dublin, Pearse Stadium
July 1: Final, Croke Park.
MUNSTER
Round Robin 1
May 20: Limerick 1-23Tipperary 2-14, Gaelic Grounds; Cork 2-23 Clare 1-21, Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Round Robin 2
May 27: Tipperary 2-20 Cork 1-23, Semple Stadium; Clare 2-27 Waterford 2-18, Cusack Park.
Round Robin 3
June 2: Cork 1-25 Limerick 0-28, Pairc Ui Chaoimh
June 3: Waterford 2-22Tipperary 2-22, Gaelic Grounds
Round Robin 4
June 10: Limerick v Waterford, Gaelic Grounds; Tipperary v Clare, Semple Stadium
Round Robin 5
June 17: Waterford v Cork, Semple Stadium; Clare v Limerick, Cusack Park
July 1: Final
All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals
July 7/8: 3rd placed Munster v Joe McDonagh Cup winners; 3rd placed Leinster v Joe McDonagh Cup run-ners-up
All-Ireland quarter-finals
July 15: Munster runners-up v Preliminary quarter-final winner; Leinster runners-up v Preliminary quarter-final winner.
July 28: All-Ireland semi-final, Croke Park
July 29: All-Ireland semi-final, Croke Park
August 19: All-Ireland final, Croke Park.
JOE McDONAGH CUP
Round 1: Antrim 5-25 Meath 2-18; Carlow 0-21 Kerry 0-18; Westmeath 2-21 Laois 1-21.
Round 2: Kerry 3-20 Laois 0-19; Antrim 2-16 Carlow 0-19; Westmeath 4-24 Meath 2-17.
Round 3
May 19/20: Westmeath 2-12 Kerry 0-15; Laois 1-20 Antrim 1-19; Carlow 0-21 Meath 1-14.
Round 4
June 3: Kerry 0-18 Meath 0-16; Carlow 2-25 Laois 2-15; Westmeath 2-19 Antrim 1-20.
Round 5
June 9: Meath v Laois; Carlow v Westmeath; Antrim v Kerry.
Final: July 1, Croke Park
