*Ryan Taylor gets away from Conor Burke in the Allianz NHL Division 1B final. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
DUBLIN stand in Clare’s way of reaching a fourth All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final in five years.
Provincial finals held over the weekend have determined the line-up for the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals with Clare facing off with Dublin for the third time this year while Cork and Offaly will do battle.
GAA chiefs on Monday night confirmed the fixture details for the quarter-finals. FBD Semple Stadium will host both games but not as a double header. Clare versus Dublin takes place at 19:00 on Saturday June 20th with the meeting of Cork and Offaly on Sunday June 21st at 15:30, both games will be broadcast live on RTÉ.
All-Ireland quarter-finals have often been held as a double-header but Offaly’s first appearance at this stage in two decades factored with the strong Cork bandwagon has led to a high demand for that fixture in particular.
Clare and Dublin have already met twice this year with victory secured by Brian Lohan’s charges in both outings. They faced off in the first round of the Allianz National Hurling League with Clare winning 3-18 1-22 in Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg on January 25th.
They later met in the Division 1B final in TUS Gaelic Grounds on April 5th, Clare running out 2-26 3-20 winners, having led 2-15 2-5 at half time.
It is the first championship meeting between the counties since June 2023 when Clare powered to a 5-26 2-17 win in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals in the Gaelic Grounds, Tony Kelly netting a hat-trick.
Last weekend, Dublin fell to a 4-29 4-15 defeat to Galway in the Leinster SHC final. It was the first provincial success for the Tribesman at the grade since 2018.
Should Clare and Cork emerge as the winners in the quarter-finals, then it will be Clare against Limerick and Cork versus Galway in the All-Ireland semi-finals. An Offaly shock over Cork would see them face Limerick and set up a Clare versus Galway semi-final.
