Then there were four. The Hurling Championship is two weekends away from the end as an exhilarating summer hits top gear. Galway, Clare, Cork and Limerick stand tall and will do battle in two weeks for a place in the All-Ireland Final.
It is at this time of the year that excitement hits fever-pitch, so much so that the earlier portion of the Championship tends to be forgotten. In order to address this, Balls.ie introduced the rolling All-Stars. Since the first week of Championship, we've doled out the All-Stars and updated them week-by-week. The format is simple, one good performance is not enough to knock out the existing holder, it has to be a similar level of consistent showings.
Without further ado, here is round 7 of the rolling All-Stars.
1.Anthony Nash (out) - Eoin Murphy (in)
Murphy gave one of the best goalkeeping displays in living memory against Limerick to complete an already impressive year. Nash has been superb and could potentially have two more opportunities to regain his place.
Aaron Gillane gets the point after a superb save from Kilkenny's Eoin Murphy! pic.twitter.com/eo7brTdy8y
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 15, 2018
Whatever about a fantastic game lets not forget one of the best goal keeping performances I've ever seen by Eoin Murphy
— Tony Browne (@TonyBrowne05) July 15, 2018
2. Colm Spillane
Safe for another week at least. A huge challenge next against Limerick's explosive inside forward line.
3. Daithi Burke
What a duel this will be in Croke Park, Burke vs John Conlon. Just what happens when planets collide?
4. Pat O'Connor
Wexford never offered enough to really press Clare's back six but nevertheless, they can only play what is in front of them and were comfortable.
5. Padraic Mannion
The form of both Mannion's this season adds another string to Galway's already impressive bow.
6. Cillian Buckley (out) - Declan Hannon (in)
Hayes got the best of Buckley last weekend. It has not been an outstanding year for centre-backs. Cleary, McInerney, Mahony and Buckley have all had good but unspectacular years. A spot that is certainly up for grabs.
7. Chris Crummey
Holds down his spot having built up credit in the bank with his performances against Kilkenny, Wexford and Galway.
8. Darragh Fitzgibbon
The Cork man has played at both midfield and half-forward this year and impressed in both.
9. James Maher
Maher was brilliant for Kilkenny against Limerick and hit 0-3 from play.
10. TJ Reid
0-7 against Limerick, Kilkenny looked to have done enough to address their reliance on Reid by re-introducing Richie Hogan but it wasn't to be. On the other side, Kyle Hayes put his hand up for inclusion. Needs to back up that performance against Cork.
11. Joe Canning
Canning hit 0-10 last time out to secure Galway a Leinster title and now only Clare stand in the way of a second All-Ireland final in two years.
12. Peter Duggan (out) - Tom Morrissey (in)
For the second game in a row, Duggan faded after half-time and was eventually taken off last week. Morrissey showed what he is capable of earlier this summer against Cork when he hit 0-8 and he was just immense against Kilkenny.
Moments of class wins tight games, Tom Morrissey’s point.....
— Jackie Tyrrell (@MrJackieTee) July 15, 2018
13. Patrick Horgan
Holds his spot after an impressive Munster championship.
14. John Conlon
With a semi-final on the horizon, Conlon looks all but assured his place in the team at this stage.
John Conlon with another fine score for Clare! pic.twitter.com/rolY66aaQD
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 14, 2018
15. Seamus Harnedy
The Cork captain is in the form of his life right now.
Harnedy no bullshit , no nonsense, pure leader , class player, love the way he plays
— Ken McGrath (@kenmcgrath78) July 1, 2018
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