John Bellew from Lucan Sarfields will have a key role to play against Clare
Dubs take on Clare in Semple
THE Dublin Hurlers find themselves in an All Ireland Quarter final this weekend as they travel to Semple Stadium to take on Clare this Saturday, reports Michael Howley.
A number of local players have been involved in the squad this year with Lucan Sarsfield’s duo Chris Crummey and John Bellew featuring prominently while Palmerstown’s Liam Rushe has returned to the fold.
A solid provincial campaign ended on a sour note as they suffered a heavy defeat to Galway in the final of the Leinster Championship two weekends ago with a 4-15 to 4-29 defeat.
Still, reaching the final assured them of a quarter final place so their All Ireland hopes are still alive as they look to match and hopefully improve on last year’s finish which saw them reach the semi final before bowing out to Cork.
The result now gives them their third fixture against Clare this season with the two teams having met twice already in 2026.
The opening league match of the year kicked off between Dublin and Clare in Ennis with a late goal ensuring that Clare earned a two point victory with a 3-18 to 1-22 scoreline in their favour.
Dublin would go undefeated for the remainder of the league campaign and would face Clare once again in a league final, this time held at the Gaelic Grounds.
It would be another extremely close game between the sides with Clare managing a three point victory with a 2-26 to 3-20 scoreline, a second half resurgence saw Dublin haul themselves back into the game but were unable to get the result over the line on that occasion.
Since then Dublin have reached the Leinster Final picking up wins over Galway and Kilkenny along the way before that final defeat to the Tribesman while Clare have been wholly defeated by Cork and Limerick but established themselves as best of the rest in Munster.
It is set to be an extremely close game between the two sides.
