[caption id="attachment_70074" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Dublin's Liam Rushe and Ger O'Halloran of Galway in action during a league game last month. "]
Divison 1A of this year’s National Hurling League looks like it’s going to be very tight this year. The top three counties in division 1A and the top county from division 1B will qualify for the League semifinals and two counties who finish bottom of division 1A will play-off to decide who will be relegated. So there will be a lot of pressure on reigning National League champions Dublin when they host Cork in a double header at Croke Park on Sunday next with Dublin footballers playing Armagh in the second half of the bill. The Dubs, who beat Kilkenny in last year’s League final, were well beaten by Galway in their opening game and another defeat to Cork on Sunday would send them into the relegation play-off zone.
Dublin has a few long term injuries and All-Star Liam Rushe, who injured his hip against Galway will also miss the Cork game. Cork looked very impressive in their opening round win over what was a weak Waterford side. But there is great optimism on Leeside since Jimmy Barry-Murphy returned and I wouldn’t rule out a Cork win on Sunday. Elsewhere Waterford will not get any sympathy from neighbours Kilkenny when the Cats visit Walsh Park on Sunday. Although five players retired from the Kilkenny panel during the winter, Kilkenny are showing no signs of slowing down with plenty of talent still available to manager Brian Cody. The third division 1A game on Sunday will be in Semple Stadium where Tipperary play Galway. Joe Canning, who had looked very sharp while playing in the Fitzgibbon Cup, is out for a few weeks, but new Galway manager Anthony Cunningham has discovered another promising star in Niall Burke, who scored ten points in their win over Dublin. Galway always seem to do well in the League and I fancy them to win in Thurles.
In division 1B Clare are already looking like they could be the ones to top the table. Davy Fitzgerald seems to have done a good job with the Bannermen over the winter months and they fairly blew Limerick away in the opening game. On Sunday Clare should pick up two more points against Antrim in Ennis. Wexford, who lost to Antrim first time out, are at home to Offaly on Sunday and an away win here wouldn’t surprise me. In the remaining game in division 1B Laois are home to Limerick.
TAYLOR TO GET
STAR TREATMENT
Irish boxer Katie Taylor has been invited to feature in the official London 2012 films as one of the great Olympic prospects, even though the Bray girl has yet to qualify for the games. The films, which will be broadcast by NBC and the BBC, will be shown at all venues at the London Game the opening ceremony of which is projected to reach a world audience of around four billion. The films will feature top Olympic and Paralympic athletes as well as stars from the world of film, music and television. Each athlete will speak of fulfilling their ambitious, overcoming adversity or preparing for the Games. Katie, who will hope be one of Ireland’s best medal prospects at the London Games, hopes to qualify at a tournament in China in May. And assuming Katie makes it to London for the Games she will not be forced to wear a skirt, as had earlier been suggested.
GILES TO LEAD PARADE
The Dublin St Patrick’s Day Committee is continuing with their sporting theme for Grand Marshals and this year’s special guest will be former Irish soccer superstar Johnny Giles. When his playing days were over Giles managed the National team from 1973 to 1980 and nowadays the 71 year-old Dubliner is a popular match analyst on RTE television. The Dublin Parade has been led by sportspeople like: Packie Bonner, Mick McCarthy, Paul McGrath and Micheál O Muircheartaigh in recent years. The Cork St Patrick’s Day parade will also have a sporting theme and the parade on Leeside will be led jointly by the Cork Senior Camogie team and Cork Senior Ladies Gaelic Football team. Between them the two Cork teams have won 11 All-Ireland senior finals in the past decade.
BIG JACK BREAKS HIP
A fellow former Irish manager and Leeds colleague of Giles’s, Jack Charlton, broke his hip last week when he fell down the stairs at his home in Northumberland, England. Big Jack, who will be 77 in May, said: ‘‘I tripped going down the stairs and the next thing I knew was that my knee was banging against my head and I was on the floor.’’ Charlton underwent surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle on Friday and expects to be allowed home later this week.
NEW BOSS FOR SLIGO
Sligo Rovers found a replacement for manager Paul Cook just three days before the start of the new season. Forty-one year-old Ian Baraclough, who previously managed Scunthorpe United, has now taken over at The Showgrounds. Liverpudlian Cook, who did very well in five seasons at the Showgrounds, returned to England last month to take over as manager of Accrington Stanley.
