With competition increasing in the Allianz Hurling League, league tables developing with some shock results occurring already, read our in-depth review of proceedings this far.
Division 1A
At the top of Division 1A, few will be surprised with how the table has unfolded after several rounds of fixtures. Tipperary quick out of the blocks, albeit caught by a Limerick side short on a number of championship starters. Whilst Kilkenny are ticking over as normal with a couple of wins even though they will be disappointed with the Galway loss and the second half performance against Wexford.
Galway will be happier after their most two recent performances. Their lacklustre opening encounter against Tipperary saw the Munster side bring a barrage of intensity to their play (a league trait of Liam Cahill’s teams we’ve yet to see transfer to championship success) but the most disappointing for the Tribesmen that day was the fight and drive. They seem to have fixed that and initially away in Nowlan Park was a good place to start, not many would have seen that win coming after week one. A home win on the rough Salthill turf v Clare will also breed confidence in the followers from the West.
Clare have found themselves in a precarious position, to avoid finishing second bottom and facing relegation. The All-Ireland champions must win at least three of their last four games that include Wexford and Cork at home and sandwiched between away trips to Limerick and Tipperary – not an easy task and surely not one Mr Lohan will be happy about, but I’ll not be surprised should they get enough to stay. The question is who would replace them in the bottom 2?
As you may notice I haven’t mentioned Wexford. They are struggling and at the start of the year would’ve been most peoples favourites for the drop. Unfortunately for them it proving that way still. They are possibly in reality the 3/4th ranked team in the Leinster Hurling Championship depending on how you rate Dublin (and maybe even Offaly following their promising start to their league campaign). The hope is they show enough of the type of hurling they provided in the second half v Kilkenny to give them hope of building for a good run at the championship. No doubt the target for the year would’ve been to stay up, but also get out of the Leinster Hurling Championship group. While both are still possible, only one seems realistic.
As for Cork, Limerick and Kilkenny. They will all be content, you imagine that they can do enough continue to blood new players, systems and ideas while avoiding the danger of a drop. I wouldn’t breathe comfortably just yet as I believe there’s a spanner in the works somewhere offering an abundance of nervous excitement come late March for many small ball supporters.
Division 1B
Division 1B has not surprised me, with the exception of Carlow’s win over Waterford. Personally, I think Carlow are closer to 1A than many would consider and Waterford are closer to the teams they will face in the league this year despite many holding hope that 20/30 years of recent tradition would suggest otherwise.
Dublin will fancy heading straight up and no doubt have their eyes set on nothing short of that and playing in a Leinster final as being below expectations. Waterford now hope they can do enough to get up – anything else would be below the standards they expect of themselves. Offaly and Carlow could yet have something to say about that. Carlow’s victory over Waterford, although a shock to many has hallmarks of recent years, they have taken positives from results against Kilkenny and others recently. They have moved between what I would consider level 1 and level 2 for the guts of 20 years now, with only a consistent few years in those level 1 competitions. A lack of senior clubs has also hampered their development at times. However, they will have eyes on a Joe McDonagh triumph in 2025, and now potentially after taking one scalp hope they can finish second in Division 1B.
Offaly will also see that as a target for league. A more traditionalists hurling county than other teams around them they have had to build from level 3 in recent years. I do believe they have enough to maintain league status but will likely prioritise staying in the Leinster championship for 2025. This will sustain them better in the long run. They defeated an Antrim side who now in both away fixtures look to have struggled with Davy’s +1/sweeper/man back system.
Antrim must be the only team who have struggled with this system – most others understand it enough and are capable of overcoming it, Dublin and Offaly the most recent. It’s a system that has been used for almost 10 years, so many teams now have simple ways to play against it. Davy is right, it could be a trough before there’s a peak, but I’m not sure Antrim can afford that with 2 set for the drop to D2. And as it stands they look to be the bottom ranked team in the Leinster championship. Something needs to change to keep Antrim from having a very disappointing year, and thats a bleak outlook even at this early stage.
Laois and Westmeath would’ve been most peoples favourites for the drop and while Westmeath are likely still there Laois will hope a win against Antrim albeit away would be a chance to get a vital two points. They will not fear Carlow at home and be looking at it as a great chance to stay in the second tier of the league.
For now it proves very interesting in the top two divisions, and while I’m not sure the number of teams are perfect for the broader hurling development (I promise to return to this in time) I yet don’t have the answer but the level of jeopardy and success with 2up 2 down has certainly meant most teams are having to consider the league as a bigger priority than previously. This alone makes it better for most of us, just maybe not Davy, Keith and potentially Brian at this moment in time.
The GAA Pulse 
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