GAA Winners & Losers: Conor Whelan, the Rossies and the Rebels
It was a great week if you’re a Tyrone or Cork fan, but damaging for Waterford and Donegal.
Winners
Cork Hurling
The Rebels backed up their massive win over Tipperary with aplomb, defeating Waterford on a blistering day in Thurles. Many were left with doubts following their win against the Premier County, but Cork had their game plan and initiated it well against what can be said was a very disappointing Déise display.
Backed up by his faith in youth, Kieran Kingston now has a chance to win Cork’s first Munster title since 2014. Conor Lehane was magnificent again, Mark Coleman is making an argument for young hurler of the year and Patrick Horgan was imperious.
Clare and Cork is going to be an absolute cracker of a final.
Kildare Football
Kildare football is back with a bang. First securing promotion to the Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, they now await their first Leinster Final since 2009 against either Dublin or Westmeath — killing a run of six successive semi-final defeats.
The Lilywhites were imperious, winning the majority of Meath restarts and dominating the first half, taking in a nine point lead — all the while kicking ten wides and missing a fantastic goal chance.
Kildare’s terrific form and scoring effectiveness should hopefully make for a competitive final, which has been dominated so handily by Dublin for the last number of years.
Conor Whelan
What a performance from the 20-year-old, who notched seven points from play and not a single wide. He’s been in tantalising form for the Tribesmen, taking a huge amount of weight off the shoulders of Joe Canning in the scoring charts.
Galway probably needed a more competitive semi-final to keep task with the Wexford machine, but the form of Whelan will have Galway fans purring going into Croke Park in a few weeks time. If Galway go all the way this year it’d be impossible to look past Canning for player of the year, but Whelan presents serious value as high as 33/1 for the award.
Mickey Harte
The mastermind Mickey Harte may have signaled through yet another generation of Tyrone football with their fantastic Ulster semi-final win over Donegal. They were outstanding from start to finish, putting Donegal to the sword with a masterclass in tactics and precision.
Tyrone have had to sit by and watch Donegal dominate recent years in Ulster, but this was a world away from the side which beat Donegal by a mere two points last year — Tyrone were emphatic, going for the kill in remorseless fashion. Harte has guided three Senior Championships to Omagh, six years apart, it has now been nine years since that last win.
The Senior Football conversation could have an Ulster seat come the business end of the season.
Roscommon Football
The Rossies put 2–23 past Leitrim and await a Galway who crawled over the line against Mayo, going most of the second half without scoring. They’ll fancy their chances of bringing home their first Connacht title since 2010.
Losers
Derek McGrath
An awful day all round for Waterford, none more so than for Derek McGrath. Two Munster final defeats in a row and now a whimpered display in the semi-final against Cork, feels like Waterford’s track for provincial and national trophies has taken a side route.
Their neglection of the league now looks like a mistake, albeit going 11 weeks without competitive hurling didn’t help the matter. There is still youthful talent in abundance down in Waterford, but question marks may hang over McGrath if he doesn’t turn the ship straight during the qualifiers.
Donegal Football
It was men against boys — literally — as Rory Gallagher’s men went down wailing to a fantastic Tyrone performance. That means three years in a row without Ulster triumph, and it’ll be difficult to see them push on from here during the All-Ireland conversation.
Austin Gleeson
Adding further insult to Waterford’s performance, Austin Gleeson was anonymous for the Déise. His moment in the highlight reel aside he hit several poor wides and the question marks will quickly hang over him should be continue the year in a similar vein. One of, if not the best young hurler in the county, the expectation and opinion on him will grow if Waterford continue to fail to deliver in Munster and beyond.
Shane Dooley
One of the most talented hurlers in the country, Shane Dooley has been keeping Offaly on the scoreboard for the last five or six years. Another year without a chance at Leinster, and an extremely tough path through the qualifiers awaits. The son of Joe is wasted in this Offaly team.
Páirc Uí Caoimh
The delay in the finishing of the redevelopment down in Cork means the city and county miss out on what could have been an extraordinary summer’s day, with Clare and Cork set to face off in the Munster Final.
It would literally have been all eyes on Cork, on the roll of two fantastic back to back performances, but the travelling Rebels will have to make their way to Thurles once again.
