Tipperary set to cut loose

Antrim v Tipperary There is much evidence of the fresh enthusiasm and vibrancy in Antrim hurling injected by new manager Dinny Cahill. The Tipperary man, who has coached most of tomorrow's opponents at underage level, hasn't just brought Antrim back to the top of Ulster hurling after a two-year absence but has also uncovered some new talent, brought some of the older players back to their best, and inspired a more ambitious panel.

He insists Antrim aren't going to Croke Park just to admire the new-look stadium. Antrim had slipped back in the last couple of years, but his belief this team can contest with Tipperary appears genuine. Yet this match still bears all the signs of a swift extermination. It's been seven weeks since Antrim beat Down to win the Ulster title, a game they controlled well but only won by four points.

That seven-week lay-off is not the sole drawback for Antrim. Two of their main play-makers, Conor McCambridge and Aidan Delargy, won't start because of injury, and instead the under-21s, Johnny Campbell and Ciarán Herron, get the call-up.

There just doesn't seem to be any way Antrim can get out of Croke Park without a heavy beating from Tipperary, who have gone through the whole range of emotions in recent weeks. But having got over the loss of their Munster title, they are no less focused now on holding on to their All-Ireland.

Manager Nicky English has put up the obvious guard against complacency, and puts out his strongest team. Two weeks ago they left Offaly for dead with the sort of performance that supported the idea that the Munster final was perhaps an off-day.

Unless players like Brian O'Meara, John Carroll and Eoin Kelly suffer another major dip in form, Antrim's fate may well be outside their hands. Cahill reckons the key to containing Tipperary is containing their possession, but on the fast and open surface of the new-look Croke Park that's an unlikely proposition. Tipperary to cut loose from the start.

TIPPERARY: B Cummins; T Costello, P Maher, P Ormonde; E Corcoran, D Kennedy, P Kelly; T Dunne, N Morris; B Dunne, C Gleeson, B O'Meara; E Kelly, J Carroll, M O'Leary.

ANTRIM: D Quinn; M Kettle, C Kelly, J Campbell; M McCambridge, K McKeegan, C Herron; C Cunning, J Connolly; L Watson, C McGuckian, L Richmond; B McFall, P Richmond, G O'Kane.