John Horgan: Tipp have huge momentum and can Cork and Kilkenny cope with four-week break

For this year anyway, hurling's old order has been restored, the game's big three of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Cork back together again as three of the four contestants in the two All-Ireland semi-finals.

The fourth, Dublin will be hoping to prevent those three adding to their lengthy list of McCarthy Cup victories when the curtain is drawn on the campaign next month.

Prior to last weekend, Kilkenny and Cork had booked their places in the last four and it was confidently predicted that Limerick would be joining them but Dublin deservedly took care of business against them in the first of the two quarter-finals.

Tipperary were fancied to get the job done against Galway but when it's Galway there can be a hesitancy to rush to the bookies to put the few bob on their opponents.

However, there was never much of a doubt about the Premier County's return to headquarters for the first time since 2019 with Kilkenny emerging from the opposition dressing room next weekend in the Sunday semi-final.

So, for the first time since 2014, the big three will be participants on the penultimate weekend of the season.

Before a ball will be pucked in anger in either semi-final the thinking already is that it will be Kilkenny, Cork decider but it would be foolish in the extreme to assume that will be the case.

Yes, the probability is that Kilkenny and Cork will be the two fancies to emerge but that is far from being a certainty.

Kilkenny legend TJ Reid. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

Both Tipperary and Dublin have booked their places on merit based on how well they performed in the quarter-finals against Galway and Limerick respectively.

It's been a championship season of a number of surprises thus far, Dublin the standout story with their quite sensational victory over Limerick, Clare, the reigning champions, failing to make it out of Munster and Tipp's re-emergence as a genuine contender again after their trials and tribulations of the past few seasons.

The primary objective of any of the leading counties is to be involved at the business end of the season.

They may get knocked down once or twice along the journey and all four semi-finalists have been on the receiving end this season, Cork losing to Limerick at the round-robin stage, Tipperary to Cork, Kilkenny to Wexford in Leinster in what was effectively a dead-rubber and Dublin losing twice, to Galway and Kilkenny.

But in the current and very successful format, the ability to be able to reinvent yourself in the aftermath of a loss can be the key to subsequent victories.

Cork more than all the rest certainly did that after that 16-point drubbing to Limerick and it has mostly been upwards and onwards since.

It was all about Dublin last weekend and John Kiely graciously declared that the after-match conversation should centre around their terrific performance and not Limerick's failure after a contest that gripped the hurling world throughout. Tipp's fine victory over Galway was nowhere near as compelling an encounter as the other game was but on the evidence presented, the Premier exhibited that they are now a force to be reckoned with again.

Yes, Galway, not for the first time this season were very flat and it was the type of game that had the outcome written all over it long before the end.

But that should not take from Tipp's display, the fine balance of experience alongside more youthful exuberance is starting to yield a dividend and the depth of their squad was evident too in the Gaelic Grounds.

Jason Forde was terrific last Saturday, delivering some quality points which included two sublime efforts from sideline pucks.

John McGrath had a very impressive first-half return and appeared not to be overly happy at being withdrawn in the second half, his brother Noel taking over and firing over a fine point.

Jake Morris is bringing the potential that he always possessed to the forefront much more and is now becoming a leader in this team. Young Andrew Ormonde was superb last Saturday, bagging the Man of the Match award with a haul of five points.

Darragh Stakleum was another sub who impacted while at the back Michael Breen, Eoghan Connolly and Ronan Maher made significant contributions.

Tipp's only ambition at the start of the season was to get out of Munster and thereafter anything achieved would be a bonus.

Well, they certainly are in bonus country now and their collision with Kilkenny has the potential to be one of those games that will be etched in the memory bank.

So, we are now left with only three more inter-county games left, and we are still in the month of June.

That surely can't be right and in the past, the two provincial hurling campaigns would not be at the finals stage yet.

One of them would probably be played on the date that the All-Ireland final is pencilled in for now Surely an extra week or two would not present major difficulties but the powers that be seem to be far too set in their ways when it comes to scheduling.

The split season, for the most part, is working well and in general, the players seem to be happy enough with it.

But a bit of tweaking around the scheduling would make it a whole lot better, particularly extending the inter-county season.

The founding fathers must be turning in their graves that games of such great magnitude are now being decided on a penalty shootout.

Whatever about Gaelic football, where hurling is concerned it's wrong, wrong, wrong and let's hope we don't get any more of them in the games that are remaining.

Next week the entire concentration will be on the two hurling semi-finals and the potential that's surely contained in them.

HAMMERED

When Limerick hammered Cork at the round-robin stage anybody that might have suggested that they would not be involved in either of the two semi-finals would have been told that they needed their head examined.

Well, that has come to pass now and would one be right in saying that the All-Ireland race has suddenly become far more open.

In the ranking list where the four are concerned, Cork are probably ahead of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Dublin.

Tipp and the Dubs have the benefit of being more recently tested on the big stage as a result of their quarter-final participation.

The provincial winners always have to cope with how the four-week break is dealt with and that has been an issue once or twice in the past.

But more often than not it hasn't and with the attention to the smallest of details now being addressed by top-notch backroom teams it should be all systems go for Cork and Kilkenny with Dublin and Tipp ready to spoil any pre-All-Ireland final parties that might be planned on Leeside and Noreside.

Overall, thus far the fare on offer has been good without reaching the heights of more recent times.

But despite the fact that only three games remain, there is ample time for all that to change.

It's the calm before the storm this weekend.

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