“Ye do yere bit and we’ll do our best for ye,” Fitzy texted back. With two minutes remaining in the Páirc, Finn McGarry, Dublin’s third-choice keeper, arrived down to me on the sideline. “Waterford are up by two,” he said. We were nearly there. Four successive points had just put Dublin up by two before Ben O’Connor reduced the margin to the minimum. Those last couple of minutes were agonising but the Dubs held on and Waterford’s win in Walsh Park secured Dublin’s first league final appearance since 1946. Before the format was changed the following year and league semi-finals were reintroduced, there was always that intrigue when the teams at the top of the division were battling for those first and second spots to reach the final. It was never going to require Jeff Stellingesque facial contortions like on ‘Soccer Saturday’ but there was still far more potential for drama. Back then there were eight teams in Division 1, compared to seven now, but there’s been nothing like that theatre this spring, with two of the three games this evening dead rubbers. We’re just lucky that we’ve got one game with something on the line, with the winner of Cork and Galway advancing to the final, or a draw being enough for Cork. Every team takes the league for what it is, and what they want out of it, but the three teams still left with a chance of winning the competition – Cork, Galway and Tipperary – want to win it. Cork need a trophy on the table. Tipperary are gagging to get to a final to get their supporters fully behind them again. Micheál Donoghue saw in 2017 how much of a boost Galway got from winning the league by following it up with an All-Ireland. A Cork-Tipp final now would be a first league final meeting between the pair since 1960, which would be incredible. I’m really looking forward to it because both sides will be going all out for the win. Reading some of the articles in the Echo during the week, which is a fantastic resource for GAA insight, especially Cork material, you get the sense of how much excitement is building around the county for this team. An All-Ireland is what everyone in the county really wants but a first league title in 27 years has an appealing ring to it too, especially when Cork have lost so many finals in recent years. I was reading Patrick Horgan’s interview, where he said that this is the best Cork panel he has been involved with in his near two-decade stint with Cork. When you go through the numbers, Hoggie is probably right; it is going to be very hard for Pat Ryan and his management to pick their best 15 when they do have everyone available. With some big names having recovered from injury, Cork have the luxury now of picking a really strong team. Mark Coleman is back. Seamie Harnedy, Alan Connolly and Shane Kingston are on the bench. The team is packed with electrifying pace. And that is going to be a big headache for Galway on a pitch like the Páirc. The surface is the very same as Croke Park, which suits lightning pace, and crucifies teams which struggle to match that speed. I’m not saying that Galway are slow but no other team is blessed with Cork's speed. That’s a huge challenge for Micheál and his players, but it’s also a massive opportunity for this group to measure where they really are four weeks out from travelling to Nowlan Park for their opening Leinster championship game. There has to be a response from Galway after their last game against Limerick when they looked a beaten docket before a ball was thrown in. Galway also know that a win here completely flips the narrative again and stamps their ticket into a league final against Tipp. Imagine how appealing that would have sounded to the players on the evening Tipp annihilated them in their opening league game in Salthill in January? This also presents some of the new and younger Galway players a chance to sample a championship-type atmosphere, because the Páirc will be rocking, with the Cork supporters in full voice, fully expecting to win. Galway won’t travel in huge numbers so it will be all red noise but that’s another test. I expect Galway to play well but I’d be shocked with anything other than a Cork victory. It's hard to know what to make of the Tipp-Clare and Limerick-Wexford matches in Thurles and the Gaelic Grounds this evening. Tipp have one eye on a league final so it’s realistic to expect Liam Cahill to rest some big names. Still, he won’t want Clare to beat them in Thurles when Tipp have been on such a roll. Clare are already relegated but Brian Lohan will need a response after the absolute no-show against Cork. Another blowout here, even with nothing to play for, would heighten anxiety around Clare’s form. This will still come down to how Tipp approach the match. They have left off their U20s but if they want to keep the pace up and go full-bull, which they probably will two weeks out from a league final, I’d expect them to win. Similar to Clare, Wexford and Limerick have also begun their championship preparations, but I’d be confident that Limerick and Wexford will go at it a lot harder than Clare and Tipp. It's a perfect game for Keith Rossiter and his players, especially taking on the All-Ireland favourites when having close to their starting 15 fit for the first time all spring. Rossi isn’t getting too much stick for relegation because the squad were so decimated with injuries and retirements. The young players have to keep evolving and developing and this campaign has been a solid learning curve for them, even if some of those learnings have been painful. I expect Wexford to go all out here but I still fancy Limerick. Elsewhere, Waterford should take care of business against Offaly – and not leave the door open for Carlow if they beat Westmeath and Laois beat Dublin - to ensure a repeat Division 1B final pairing with Offaly. In Division 2, Kildare have a tricky away game against Meath in Trim, where a win for Meath would see them leapfrog Kildare and join Down in the final. However, I expect Kildare to win. Finally, it’s been another very sad few days for the Cork and extended hurling communities with news of the sad passing of Ger Fitzgerald. I marked Ger a few times when I played corner-back and he was a fierce hard player to try and deal with. As corner-back play was starting to evolve in the early 90s, and coming from St Flannan’s, I wanted to try and play from the front but trying to get out past Ger Fitz was a fair ordeal when he was such a big physical presence. As an army man too, Ger was as hard as nails. I first saw him up close – but not close enough as I wasnt picked to start the match – when Clarecastle took on Midleton in Ennis in the 1987 Munster club championship. Midleton ran a drag with us and Ger filled his boots in the process. They were some club team. The following year, six months after they’d won the All-Ireland club, we played Midleton in the opening round of the Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland 7s. Communications back then wasn’t what it is now and we only realised who we were playing first when we got up there. I nearly collapsed. They had the best 15 in the country so imagine how good their best 7 were? We had a good row with them but Midleton leathered us on the scoreboard. That was an iconic Midleton team. Ger bled black and white. He was a great Cork man too. At just 60, it’s another great man taken far too young. I’d just like to extend my condolences to Ger’s family and friends and to the Midleton and Cork hurling communities.