This years final sees a repeat of both the 2016/2016 AI Ireland Semi Finals with the clash of the men from Slievenamon (4/7) against perennial underachievers Galway(7/4). In our opinion this is a clash between the two best teams in the country. Galway were very unlucky in last years Semi Final and it is clear to all, they do not fear Tipperary. It has been a mixed league campaign for Galway, they failed in their initial objective of promotion from Division 1B. New goals were set but they struggled over a depleted Waterford team in the quarter final and beat an ineffective Limerick side in a semi-final that had the intensity of a Junior B challenge match. They now face a Tipperary side who have been at times superb in this years campaign. Their closing 10 minutes against Wexford (who were excellent up to that point) was jaw dropping and they have the rest of the country fearing their capabilities. Although they suffered a blip against Cork, they had nothing to play for and have been flawless throughout the league otherwise. So all this points to an easy victory for Tipperary?? We disagree and heres why. Galway and Tipperary have clashed 4 times since 2015.
2016 Tipperary 2-19 Galway 2-18 (Champ)
2016 Galway 2-19 Tipperary 1-22 (League)
2015 Galway 0-26 Tipperary 3-16 (Champ)
2015 Tipperary 2-18 Galway 0-20 (League)
One win for Galway, two for Tipperary and one draw. Their last two championship meetings were won or lost by a point, while they drew in the 2016 league. They have matched each other consistently and we expect this trend to continue on Sunday. The loss of Seamus Callinan is also a boost to Galway and takes away one of Tipps biggest threats. Our first selection is with Paddy Power, where we will have a 3 point stake on "Either team to win by 1 to 4 points or draw" which has odds of 10/11.
We expect this game to be a thriller and to offer up plenty of scoring chances, Tipperarys forward line are capable of posting big scores but interestingly they have conceded chances in the league thus far.
Dublin 1-8 1-24 Tipperary
Tipperary 2-17 3-14 Kilkenny
Waterford 0-15 Tipperary 1-18
Tipperary 0-28 0-21 Clare
Cork 0-26 Tipperary 3-16
Offaly 3-13 Tipperary 4-28
Wexford 1-19 Tipperary 5-18.
They have conceded over 20 points in 5 of their 7 games thus far. The potential return of Cathal Barrett may strengthen their defence but we feel that Galway have the forwards to post a good score on Sunday afternoon.
Offaly 1-12 6-23 Galway
Galway 3-13 1-21 Wexford
Galway 3-31 1-11 Laois
Kerry 0-12 1-22 Galway
Limerick 1-18 Galway 0-24
Galway 2-22 Waterford 2-19
Limerick 1-11 Galway 1-21
Galway have posted 22 or over points in all their league games thus far. Although they have played admittedly weaker opposition in 1B, this is an impressive stat. They have scored over 22 points against Tipperary in their past 3 meetings also. Our second selection is Galway to score over 22.5 points. We will have a 2.5 point stake at Evens available in Boylesports.
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