MATTHEW HURLEY rates Cork’s Division 1A hurling league games in terms of difficulty
Wexford in Chadwicks Wexford Park, Saturday, January 25th, at 5pm
In many ways, the ideal game to start with for Pat Ryan’s side. Wexford can provide a great attacking threat with Lee Chin, Conor McDonald and Rory O’Connor all among the championship’s top scorers in 2024. Cork beat the Leinster side 3-21 to 1-15 in the same ground back in March with Alan Connolly firing home a hat trick. RATING: 3
Limerick in Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Saturday, February 1st, at 7.30pm
Can you remember a league match that will have as much anticipation as this one? Given the way Cork beat Limerick in the 2024 championship, not once but twice, everyone will be excited heading down to the Páirc for this one. The Treaty County has revenge on their minds, a factor which Cork will be aware of. We probably won’t get the same fireworks as their championship bouts but this next clash is still something to look forward to. RATING: 4
Tipperary in FBD Semple Stadium, Saturday, February 22nd, at 7.30pm
In the past, this may have been a game that hurling fanatics would have marked down on the calendar. That doesn’t seem to be the case nowadays. With Tipperary, it is going into the unknown. They could put in a performance to match their glory days, like their draw with Cork in the 2023 championship (4-19 to 2-25) or they could just not show up, similar to their championship bout in 2024 (4-30 to 1-21). It is a hard one to judge. RATING: 3
Kilkenny in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Saturday, March 1st, at 5pm
Granted, this is nowhere near the Kilkenny side of 2006 to 2015. Recently, Walter Walsh and Conor Fogarty announced their retirements, meaning only three of the current panel have an All-Ireland senior medal (TJ Reid, Richie Reid and Eoin Murphy). On the other hand, this is still Kilkenny we are talking about. The history is a great weapon to have in their arsenal and they beat Cork in the league in 2024 (0-21 to 1-17). RATING: 3
Clare in Cusack Park, Ennis, Sunday, March 9th, at 3.15pm
The All-Ireland final rematch. While Cork did beat Limerick twice in 2024, they lost to Clare three times. Albeit, the last of those was after extra time in a pulsating All-Ireland final. Nevertheless, this is a record Pat Ryan’s team wants to put right. It might only be a league game, but this could be a good starting point to a redemption arc. RATING: 5
Galway in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Saturday, March 22nd, at 7.30pm
Like Tipperary, Galway are very hard to predict. They were in the All-Ireland semi-finals in 2020, 2022 and 2023 but they got knocked out early in 2019, 2021 and 2024. Micheal Donoghue is back in charge of the Tribesmen. In his last stint, he won the All-Ireland in 2017 so this might be a Galway side that will turn a corner. Having said that, this is probably Cork’s most winnable game of the 2025 league. RATING: 2
(RATINGS: 5, very difficult; 4, hard; 3, moderate; 2, managable; 1, winnable)