Cork hurling: Ranking the other counties left in the race for Liam MacCarthy

CORK and Wexford’s third-placed finishes in the round-robin stages ensure that they are the first counties to find their place in the All-Ireland series, while the remaining spots will be confirmed with the provincial deciders and the upcoming Joe McDonagh Cup final this weekend.

Laois and Offaly will be focused on returning to Leinster rather than any potential endeavours in the All-Ireland championship this year, which means that for Cork, there’s really no excuse not to advance to the quarter-final, where they’ll play either Dublin or Kilkenny.

DUBLIN 

You would assume that the Rebels will face Dublin, but they’ve had an impressive season so far and could spring a surprise to Derek Lyng’s side if they’re not careful.

They’ve put together some impressive results in this year’s Leinster Hurling Championship, suffering just one defeat – a 1-28 to 2-23 loss against Kilkenny.

The Dubs beat Carlow by five and Antrim by 20, and added time goals from Danny Sutcliffe and Cian O’Sullivan salvaged a draw against Wexford.

Their most impressive result was certainly the win over 14-man Galway – a convincing six-point triumph in the final round of fixtures to book their place in the final and a chance at a first Leinster title since 2013.

Donal Burke has led the scoring for Dublin this year at centre-forward, while his namesake Conor has produced some impressive performances in midfield.

The pair combined for 1-15 against Kilkenny and 1-11 against Galway.

They boast a pretty impressive scoring spread under Michael Donoghue after five rounds of championship hurling, and will certainly be aiming for an All-Ireland semi-final. They’ve managed at least a goal in every game, and it’s certainly something they’ll look to hit Cork with should we see that quarter-final matchup.

KILKENNY 

We all know what Kilkenny are capable of, but even the 36-time All-Ireland champions are not impenetrable – as shown by their draw with Carlow in round three.

TJ Reid’s longevity has been key again this year, but they’ve conceded goals in every game apart from their 5-30 to 0-13 dismantling of Antrim. That is a weakness, especially if they face Cork.

Eoin Cody missed most of the campaign with an ankle injury but returned with 1-3 against Dublin. The 2023 All-Star recipient will be a threat, as are forwards John Donnelly and Martin Keoghan.

Eoin Cody wasn’t the only All-Star recipient to be sidelined– as Adrien Mullen also went off against Antrim with a thigh injury, and returned as an unused sub during their win over Wexford.

If their stars can stay fit, Kilkenny will be there or thereabouts at the latter stages, but like with Cork, they’ve been fighting an uphill battle so far this year.

WEXFORD 

As they’re on the other side of the draw – Cork can only meet Wexford in the All-Ireland final.

It’s highly unlikely that either side will make it that far, let alone face each other in the decider, but the All-Ireland Hurling Championship is capable of surprises.

Lee Chin remains one of the best players in the country, and when he plays well, so do Wexford, as evident in their dominant win over Carlow, as well as the defeat of Galway. It’s corner-forward Rory O’Connor who has stood out for the Yellowbellies this season though, scoring a combined 1-18 from play.

But as Antrim and Dublin have shown, Wexford are incredibly inconsistent. If they can make it beyond the quarter-finals, it will have been a successful season.

CLARE 

Clare’s Tony Kelly has raised a lot of question marks this season and is yet to make a championship start. The four-time All-Star missed the trip to Cork, but in his three substitute appearances he’s picked up a total of 1-4.

In his struggle to return to the starting 15, Aidan McCarthy has emerged as Clare’s biggest scorer, and delivered from dead-ball situations as usual.

Mark Rodgers and David Fitzgerald have also impressed, while defensively the Banner have been excellent this season. Adam Hogan and Rory Hayes have stood out in the corner-back positions, and veteran John Conlon has continued to excel.

They will certainly be targeting the title again this year – but whether they can manage that feat remains to be seen, as John Kiely’s Limerick look immovable for the fifth year in a row.

LIMERICK 

Chasing five in a row, Limerick are title favourites for a reason.

With quality in every area and some of the best hurlers of this generation in Gearoid Hegarty, Aaron Gillane and Cian Lynch, anything less than another All-Ireland title will be viewed as failure.

They may very well be Cork’s semi-final opponents.

In the past, Limerick have dealt with everything thrown at them in the knockout stages, but it won’t last forever. They will be beaten at some point in the coming years, and there’s no reason it can’t be in 2024. 

Clare and Kilkenny will be the obvious pretenders to take the crown, given they’ve been closest to doing so in the last number of years.

But giving Cork the dark horse title may be a blessing. Either way, we’ve got an exciting