Blog_Shane_Dowling

GAA Hurling Predictions, Betting Tips & Odds | Sat 5th & Sun 6th March

GAA Hurling ambassador Shane Dowling takes a look at this weekend’s action and has plenty of predictions and betting tips to offer.

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Dublin v Kilkenny

He said: “Dublin didn’t score for the last fifteen minutes of the game against Tipperary and if you had told me that last week, I wouldn’t have tipped them to win. In fairness to Dublin and their character they held out and they are going very well.

“It’s still hard to gauge where Kilkenny are at. I know they had a big win over Laois, but they are still hard to judge.

“But I have been really impressed with Dublin this year. They have been playing a lovely style of hurling. Going to Semple Stadium against Tipperary no matter who is on the field is a hard place to go and get a win.

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“It’s not as if Dublin have done it very often, so I’m siding with them again to beat Kilkenny.

“This is a Leinster Championship match and they are going to be meeting each other down the road. While you can say that no All-Irelands are won in this early in the season, teams need to put down a marker and the Dubs are going to want to do that against the Cats.”

Cork v Galway

“Cork will be hard to stop. They had a fantastic win in the Gaelic Grounds. You could say Limerick were understrength and they were, but they still had a lot of good players on the pitch. Cork are playing very good stuff this year.

“In fairness to Galway you would have to wonder how impressive they were when they beat Limerick, when you look at the form of Limerick over the last three games.

“The one thing Galway have compared to Cork is that they are a big strong physical team, whereas Cork are very quick sided.

“They have extremely fast players up top, more so than anywhere else, and it’s hard to see anything other than a Cork win this week if all those same players are playing. They have home advantage too.

“I do think it will be a tight game and will go with Galway in the handicap with +2 at 10/11. I think it will be close, but Cork will edge it in the end.”

Clare v Limerick

“I know Clare ended up having a big win against Offaly at the weekend, but they were drawing at half-time and for large periods of that second half. I don’t think the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game.

“From a Limerick perspective, they have three games played and three losses and not many people would have predicted that.

“They did play Clare earlier in the year in pre-season matches and had a good win. Limerick also travel to Clare in this year’s Munster Championship.

“Maybe Brian Lohan and his troops would want to ensure they get a win there to have a psychological advantage going into the championship.

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“Limerick’s last game in the league is against Offaly and no disrespect to Offaly but they are obviously finding things hard at the top at the minute.

“I would guess that John Kiely would want to play a lot of his main team if you want to call them that to try and get a game under their belts together before they play Offaly. Especially because of the fact so many of them were rested at the weekend gone by.

“I think if Limerick do play somewhat close to a full-strength team, then you’d imagine they would have too much for Clare and I do think John Kiely is going to want to see a huge response from his players.

Waterford v Tipperary

“Liam Cahill’s remarks after their win over Laois were very interesting. He said they are very intent in making the ground a fortress this year and considering they are going to have a few home games in the championship, they are not going to want Tipperary to go down there and get a win.

“It’s funny because Waterford went up to Antrim last weekend and only for a last-minute penalty save by the Waterford goalkeeper Antrim would have won that game. But going up to Antrim is never an easy thing to do. The Dubs only got out of jail up there too.

“I think it will be a different ball game for Waterford this weekend when they are back at home. Tipperary were much better in the last fifteen minutes of their game against Dublin especially when the two McGraths game on the pitch.

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“They seemed to have a lot more balance. They will want to get two points, but it’s not going to be an easy task.

“It’s a Waterford win for me. The main reason being is that I have mental image of Liam Cahill really driving home that they don’t want to lose at home. That is something that they are really going to go after.

“Did they underperform last weekend or were Antrim really good? That’s the question, but Liam will want to get a good performance in and keep a good record on home soil.”

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More about the author:

Shane Dowling is a hurler for club side Na Piarsaigh and previously played at inter-county level for the Limerick senior hurling team.

In 2016 he won a Senior Club Hurling Championship with Na Piarsaigh. He won four Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship titles as well as five Limerick Senior Hurling Championships.

He also won a prestigious All-Star award in 2014.

In July 2020 Dowling sadly announced his retirement from inter-county hurling due to knee issues aged 27.

He currently appears on RTE and other media outlets as a hurling pundit.




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