PREVIEW: Dublin v Clare All-Ireland SHC Quarter-Final

Following the disappointment of their Leinster final defeat to Galway, Dublin's Senior Hurlers will look to bounce back this Saturday evening, as they meet Clare in their eagerly anticipated All-Ireland Senior Hurling Quarter-Final in Thurles (7.00). 

As incentives go, a place in the last four is as good as any for Dublin, and the Boys in Blue have positive memories from the corresponding stage last year to act as inspiration. 

That famous and heroic win against Limerick twelve months ago provided Dublin supporters with one of their greatest experiences following the team and manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin will be looking to instil that same belief for a clash against a talented Clare side. 

Of course, the teams have met twice already this year with the Banner coming out on top in their NHL1B opener before repeating the trick in the Division 1B League final back in early April.

Clare’s forwards impressed in the first-half that day, with Shane Meehan, Shane O’Donnell and Mark Rodgers to the fore while Peter Duggan remains an obvious threat with his aerial ability on the edge of the square.

Throw Tony Kelly into the mix and that’s as potent an attack as you could wish for and any team that advances from the cut-throat Munster Championship group, or has lifted Liam McCarthy as recently as 2024, will be hugely respected.

Cian O’Sullivan shone in that narrow 2-26 to 3-20 league final defeat, scoring 1-10 in total, and it’s fair to say that his absence through injury against Galway was keenly felt. 

His loss was partially compensated for by the return to action of Seán Currie, but it would be wrong to expect too much from the talented Na Fianna attacker after such a prolonged absence from competitive fare. 

Injuries suffered by Chris Crummey and Liam Rushe also didn’t help Dublin’s cause in the Leinster final and having to replace Brendan Kenny so early was another blow to their chances.

The individual displays of Kilmacud Crokes duo Conal Ó Riain and Fergal Whitely were positives from that provincial final defeat.

Clare are warm favourites for Saturday night but there’s no question that given as clean a bill of health as possible, Dublin possess the belief to take this right to the final whistle and look to progress to the All-Ireland semi final for the second year in-a-row.

For those unable to travel to Semple Stadium, the match will be shown live on RTE1.