John Horgan on hurling: Cork and Tipp need to deliver in final to save boring league

In all four divisions of the football league, there were issues to be decided on the final weekend of the group stage of the competition.

In fact, at one stage last Sunday in the top division, Mayo were in danger of being relegated to Division 2, Kerry were in a similar situation but when the final whistle sounded across the group both were in the final.

Such were the vagaries of the final day of the group stage of the secondary competition and across the other three divisions it went right to the wire too as far as promotion and relegation were concerned and who would make it through to this weekend's four finals. The calculators were at the ready among supporters, for those in attendance at the games and those at home.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the league when most things in the top two divisions were already sorted.

The absence of jeopardy in the smaller ball game was absent, things were nowhere near as interesting and the only game of any real consequence was the meeting of Cork and Galway at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, a semi-final in all but name and the right to take on Tipperary in the final.

GLOSS

It's well documented now that Cork breezed home in that encounter to set up a final with the old foe that has the potential to go a long way to adding some gloss to a competition that, for the most part, has not caught the imagination of the public.

When the competition was revamped, a new format with just seven teams in both divisions and two being relegated, the thinking was it would change things in the top division into a much more intense and competitive affair and with a lot still in the melting pot going into the final set of group games.

The potential for such a happening looked to be in place at the outset but it ended up being a case of great expectations not being realised.

Yes, we had that Cork and Galway encounter which never rose to any great heights with the issue decided long before the end of the 70 minutes.

Tipperary were already safely berthed in the final of the competition as were Offaly in IB with it being a near certainty that Waterford would join them in the final.

In both divisions the issue of relegation was already sorted, Clare and Wexford dropping down from 1A and Westmeath and Laois heading for Division Two next season.

Overall, there wasn't a whole pile to get excited about on the hurling front, in stark contrast to its football counterpart.

Without doubt, the best two teams in the top flight of the hurling league will contest the final and in the lower division, Offaly and Waterford are deserving finalists.

But unless we get two absolute crackers in those two finals next weekend the hurling league campaign of 2025 will not leave us with too many fond memories.

Yes, where Tipperary were at after being trounced by Cork in last season's Munster championship, their re-emergence as a potential force again has to be viewed in the Premier County as a good news story.

Offaly too, getting themselves ahead of Dublin to get promoted from 1B and make it through to the final has to be looked upon in a very positive light and coming back from where they were, competing in the Christy Ring Cup, a short few years ago shows the great work that's going on in the game in the Faithful County.

FLAT

However, the hurling league overall has been a disappointment, too many games decided far too prematurely and lacking in the intensity stakes.

How many games reached a championship standard, not nearly enough to bring the sweat out through you.

History has illustrated that in the secondary competition, you will always get games when one team is far superior to the other but when the top division contains the top seven counties in the game you are expecting things to be far more competitive and not margins of defeat being nine, 10, 12 and more points dividing teams which was the case in too many instances.

Cork were well into double figures in the goals scored category, the rest some distance behind in that department.

Maybe we expected too much from the revamp and the new format and we didn't take into account that some counties had little or no interest in winning the league outright, just satisfied to retain their top-flight status.

Counties were fielding depleted teams too for various reasons and it was far more about finding fresh blood rather than anything else.

Tipperary were the standout team at the group stage, Clare the biggest letdown and failing dismally to come anywhere near to having a go at retaining the title that they won last season en route to All-Ireland glory a few months later.

Limerick, the fancy of many to regain the McCarthy Cup, didn't appear to be overly interested in having a cut off things as they had done in previous years when they won four All-Irelands on the trot.

As always we never really knew what to expect from Galway while Kilkenny don't possess the depth in resources of bygone days.

Maybe we set the bar too high and didn't take into account the close proximity of the championship and for management teams and players that is the only show in town over the Summer months.

The league has always been a means to an end, counties getting what they want out of it to ensure that they are in the best possible shape for the far bigger tests that they will face in the Munster and Leinster championship.

Cork was miles ahead of the other counties as far as attendance levels were concerned, illustrating again the phenomenal support that there is for this bunch of players.

In The Sunday Times last weekend, top Echo columnist Christy O'Connor made some very interesting observations.

He stated that in the 18 league games played before last Saturday night only four were of a reasonably high standard.

Six matches, he stated, were won by margins of nine or more points, 11 of the 18 games were effectively washouts and only one game in the top division meant anything in the final round of group games.

Maybe we are being a bit too negative regarding the league because, to be fair, it did produce a couple of entertaining games, Cork versus Limerick, Clare v Limerick, Kilkenny-Galway, Tipperary and Limerick to mention just four.

Offaly lit up Division 1B and after losing their opener to Carlow, Waterford came good and showed that they should not be taken lightly when the Munster championship sets sail.

THROWBACK

Having a final involving Cork and Tipp will generate huge interest, a throwback to other times when they both were vying for the number one spot in the hurling chart.

As they say, maybe the best wine is being kept 'til last.