By John Considine
Was the Munster Final between Limerick and Cork the most exciting game of the 2025 senior hurling championship? Possibly not. More about that later but let us make the case for it being the most exciting game of the year. The visual evidence is presented below. The Munster Final comes out top (right) even without extra-time and penalties.
The big red bubble shows that the state of the game (Cork ahead, Level, Limerick ahead) changed more that 20 times and that the teams were within one score (3 points) of each other for close to 92% of the time. The other red bubble is the Leinster hurling final. A less exciting contest. Pairwise comparisons should convince people that the picture has some validity. The yellow/gold bubbles are the two All-Ireland quarter finals. Dublin versus Limerick was more exciting than Tipperary versus Galway. The green bubbles are the All-Ireland semi-finals. Tipperary versus Kilkenny was clearly more exciting than Cork versus Dublin.
The green bubbles can be used to explain the relevance of the size of the bubble. The bigger the bubble then the final outcome is determined closer to the end of the game. The Tipperary v Kilkenny green bubble game went pretty closer to the wire. The smaller green bubble shows Cork went ahead very early and never looked back. The big blue bubble towards the bottom-left is Clare v Cork. This game did go to the wire. A larger bubble produces more excitment at crunch time. So, why is it towards the bottom-left? Before Shane Barrett was sent-off, three-quarters of the game had passed and Cork had a nine-point lead.
These are not all of the games in the 2025 championship. These are the games that people might remember as being shown live on RTE. There was game, not shown live on RTE, that could be deemed to be more exciting than the Munster hurling final. It had over 30 game state changes and the teams were within one score 100% of the time. What was that game?
Cork and Limerick renew rivalry on Sunday in the 2026 League Final. Let us hope it is like the big red bubble rather than the earlier round robin clash between the teams. You will find that game represented by a small, blue bubble on the bottom-left. Limerick went ahead early and stayed ahead. Little excitment.
The green bubbles can be used to explain the relevance of the size of the bubble. The bigger the bubble then the final outcome is determined closer to the end of the game. The Tipperary v Kilkenny green bubble game went pretty closer to the wire. The smaller green bubble shows Cork went ahead very early and never looked back. The big blue bubble towards the bottom-left is Clare v Cork. This game did go to the wire. A larger bubble produces more excitment at crunch time. So, why is it towards the bottom-left? Before Shane Barrett was sent-off, three-quarters of the game had passed and Cork had a nine-point lead.
These are not all of the games in the 2025 championship. These are the games that people might remember as being shown live on RTE. There was game, not shown live on RTE, that could be deemed to be more exciting than the Munster hurling final. It had over 30 game state changes and the teams were within one score 100% of the time. What was that game?
Cork and Limerick renew rivalry on Sunday in the 2026 League Final. Let us hope it is like the big red bubble rather than the earlier round robin clash between the teams. You will find that game represented by a small, blue bubble on the bottom-left. Limerick went ahead early and stayed ahead. Little excitment.
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