Last weekend saw Galway issue the performance of the round as they defeated Kilkenny by fifteen points.
The second round of fixtures will go a long way to determine the top three in the province next month. Hawkeye Sidekick picks out the pregame storylines from Leinster.
Will Kilkenny deliver this weekend?
It has been a difficult season for Derek Lyng and Kilkenny with injuries and players unavailable for selection. After Galway’s thumping league win, plenty expected a Kilkenny reaction to right those wrongs last weekend. It never materialized.
Kilkenny’s performance lacked confidence. What is their style of play? It was incoherent. The ability to pass through the lines is inconsistent, and the distribution to Cody and Reid in the full forward lacked quality. The middle third unit struggled with Galway’s run game where Rory Burke had an impressive outing.
Huw Lawlor is a massive loss in the full back line. Lawlor’s aerial ability, speed, and ability to read play from full back were incredible. His absence has been felt without question as Mikey Carey has attempted to fill the void but at the expense of Kilkenny’s half-back unit balance.
Tonight is an opportunity to reset the season for Kilkenny. Wexford travel to UPMC Nowlan Park looking to secure a second win of the campaign. Motivation should be in ample supply for both counties given their historic rivalry. Kilkenny, to a man, needs to turn up and secure a win. If a second loss is registered, the season will spiral out of control.
Wexford enters this fixture in good form. Their victory over Kildare was a tough watch at times, but Lee Chin continued where it left off last season, scoring 1-12. Wexford needs more scoring threat from those around Chin to be in a position to defeat Kilkenny tonight. I expect a thundering response from the Cats tonight.
Can Offaly continue to show progression against Galway?
This is the marquee fixture of the round. Offaly impressed many with their off-the-cuff hurling display against Dublin last weekend. Offaly was unlucky not to secure full points last week. Screeney, Mitchell, Duignan, Rigney were all excellent.
It shows that Offaly, on their day, can compete with anyone in the country when on form. The question this weekend for Offaly is whether they can retain their performance consistency against a Galway side who are in a confident mood after last weekend.
Galway last week, even before the John Donnelly red card, played with precision and control. The ability to go through the lines on point. There were minimal first-touch unforced errors. Everything was slick, precise, and on point. The debutantes of Burke, Niland, and Rabbitte were impressive with a combined score of 3-11.
The same question of performance consistency needs to be raised for Galway. There have been several false dawns since 2017 in Galway hurling. The fixture this weekend needs to see another impressive performance from Galway. Offaly may be without Bourke and Ravenhill for the fixture but will test Galway defensively with their inside forward threat.
The hope is that Offaly delivers and evolves in this encounter. Galway should win, but it will be a good barometer of where both sides are entering into round three of the championship.
Dublin holds the aces against Kildare
There has been genuine disappointment in certain Dublin quarters over last weekend’s draw. Offaly’s forward threat exposed more worrying defensive issues for Dublin. The positive for Dublin was how they secured a draw at the death. Donal Burke took the leadership to strike from long range. It could be a pivotal point come the end of the round-robin series.
This weekend sees Dublin host Kildare whose work rate, physicality were in full show against Wexford last weekend. Jack Sheridan impressed in attack, but others struggled. Kildare’s biggest issue will be scoring power, and Dublin holds all the aces in the middle third.
Conor Donohue is building a strong season of work. 1-2 against Offaly. Dublin has had the edge over Kildare in recent fixtures. The All-Ireland qualifier last season was one-sided. The 1B league fixture earlier in the year saw an emphatic Dublin win. Can Kildare deliver goals to test a clearly nervous Dublin full-back line unit? The evidence would suggest not.
Dublin should win this fixture and rebuild confidence for tougher assignments ahead.
Predictions
| Fixture | Leo | Mark | Kieran | Ruairi |
| Kilkenny vs. Wexford | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | Kilkenny |
| Dublin vs. Kildare | Dublin | Dublin | Dublin | Dublin |
| Galway vs. Offaly | Galway (Offaly to be competitive) | Galway | Galway | Galway |
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