Fans of both Dublin and Galway hurling can take a lot of optimism from their respective county's performances after this weekend's action in the Electric Ireland Minor Hurling Championship.
Two quarter-finals were played out at opposite ends of the country. In the first intercounty fixture to be played at the newly refurbished Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Galway came out on top against Clare by a resounding score of 2-19 to 1-12 on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile later that evening, Páirc Esler was the venue for the clash between Dublin and Antrim. Dublin were the stronger team throughout and ultimately prevailed by a wide margin with it finishing up, Dublin 2-20 to Antrim's 0-11.
Dublin will now go on to play Cork in one semi-final while Kilkenny await the Tribesmen.
Players from Dublin and Galway make up the nominees for the Electric Ireland Minor Player of the Week voting after their wins. You can cast your ballot every week on Electric Ireland's Facebook page, and get involved in the conversation through the hashtag #GAAThisIsMajor.
Sean Currie - Dublin
The Na Fianna forward accounted for a whopping 2-13 of his side's total. While Dublin had a firm grip of the match throughout, leading by 0-10 to 0-03 at the break, it was Currie's two second half goals which really killed off Antrim's challenge.
What's most impressive is that just four of Currie's points came from placed balls as Antrim's defence really had no answer for him all evening.
Having already scored 0-28 throughout Dublin's previous three matches this season, Dublin will likely need Currie to keep up his sensational form in order to take down Munster champions Cork in their semifinal encounter.
Jack Canning - Galway
Nephew of Ollie and Joe, Jack Canning appears well capable of living up to his family's illustrious name. He notched 1-3 from play as he helped fire Galway past Clare.
This was Galway's first match of the campaign but they showed no sign of rust in front of goal thanks to shining performances from the likes of Canning.
Though excellent from start to finish, it was in the 22nd minute that Canning really made his mark on the match as he sent a rasping shot into the back of the net. It was the first of three goals, and by far the most crucial one as the Portumna man put his team in a position of dominance which they never seemed likely to relinquish.
Hurling is in the blood in Portumna, as this photo from 2006 of Jack and Uncle Joe shows.
Darren Morrissey - Galway
While the Galway forwards understandably generated a lot of buzz on Saturday afternoon, their defensive players deserve a great deal of credit too as they restricted Clare to a score of just 1-12.
It's worth noting too that Clare's goal was nothing more than a late consolation so the contest was never really in doubt thanks to commanding performances at the back.
Captain Darren Morrissey deserves special mention in that category as the Sarsfield man led from the back with distinction throughout.
This kind of leadership will be needed to an even greater extent with bigger tests ahead, namely Kilkenny in the other upcoming semi-final. The Cats have dispatched of everyone in Leinster with relative ease having tallied 13-78 across their four matches en route to claiming the Leinster title so Galway will need a similarly water-tight defensive performance next time out.
You can cast your vote for the Player of the Week nominees every week on Electric Ireland's Facebook page.
