The Tipperary team are playing with pace and energy, but it’s still early days.

At this point in the league campaign, Wexford and Clare are in danger of being disqualified.

The first weekend of the series got off to a great start a month ago with the arrival of Storm Éowyn on Friday morning. If the number of season tickets sold before Christmas is any indication, there must be a lot of fan interest in the games and the attendance at the games so far is good.

The first league game was in Wexford and Cork were away. Cork were far too good for the Carmarthenshire side who are currently very short of experienced players. Tipperary had a win and display at the weekend away against Galway.

The second weekend Galway, with ten changes to the team, were much better in Kilkenny, where they took home both league points. In Cork we had a sort of war of attrition with Limerick starting for the first time this year. The teams finished level. The round in division 1B was won by Carlow and they had the upper hand over Waterford.

In the third round, Galway manager Micheál Donoghue made six changes to his team and they put in a strong first half display as they held a ten-goal lead over the league and All-Ireland champions, County Clare. Clare manager Brian Lohan is reportedly left with no choice but to give a number of new players a chance due to a spate of injuries. But as things stand they are now bottom of the table with Wexford in danger of relegation. Remember that the two bottom counties will be relegated to the second division next season and think of the disadvantage that would entail.

I don’t think Tipperary are in any danger of being relegated as they sit top of the table with Kilkenny and Galway. Their game against Limerick last Sunday was the best of all the games played so far in the league campaign. Liam Cahill must be very pleased with the progress they have made and you would expect them to be strong in the Munster competition this year. They were very competitive in that game against Limerick and were neck and neck with them until the end. They have energy and cut in their play, a clear plan and are in their own when they have possession of the ball. All that said, teams led by Cahill are often very good in the league but they are given up by the time the championship starts. We will see.

Those who were thinking of writing a death notice for Limerick, well, they will have to find something new to talk about, because based on the two games so far, John Kiely’s team will be in the spotlight again when all the big prizes are awarded this year. And there is a strong group of players still to return, such as Seáin Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash, Declan Hannon, Will O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan, Cathal O’Neill, Gearóid Hegarty, Tom Morrissey, Séamus Flanagan and Shane O’Brien. None of those were on the field last Sunday when they beat Tipperary. I would say Derek Lyng is quite pleased too but he understands that they still have a lot of work to do.

We will know more about Cork after the next game against Tipperary.

At this point in the league campaign, Wexford and Clare are in danger of being disqualified.

The big weekend for third level colleges is upon us as the Gibbon Cup final is being played today at the Connacht GAA centre. DCU and UL will face each other, with Dublin looking to win the competition for the first time. The Limerick lads are chasing their ninth championship and third in four years.