Hurlers look to bounce back against Banner

Tipperary and Wexford are on their way the quarter-finals of the Allianz Hurling League, with two rounds still to play.

Tipperary (1A) and Wexford (1B) have already taken full points from three games, the only teams in the groups with 100 per cent records. Four teams qualify for the quarter-finals from each group.

DIVISION 1A: ALL-IRELAND FINAL REPEAT IN THURLES SHOWDOWN

Saturday (7.0): Tipperary v Kilkenny, Semple Stadium.

Sunday (2.0): Clare v Dublin, Ennis; Waterford v Cork, Walsh Park.

Unbeaten since losing to Clare in the Allianz Hurling League quarter-final last April, Tipperary will go into Saturday’s clash with Kilkenny on a high after beating Dublin, Waterford and Clare in recent weeks.

Kilkenny ended their losing run with a seven-point win over Cork last Sunday, leaving them in a much better frame of mind for the big clash with their great rivals. They had earlier lost to Waterford and Clare.

Kilkenny and Tipperary met twice last year, with the Cats winning the Division 1A Allianz League clash by five points and losing the All-Ireland final by nine points. Tipperary beat Kilkenny in the 2015 Allianz Hurling League.

Waterford host Cork, having won two of three games so far while the Rebels have won one of three. Waterford beat Cork by three points last year, having also beaten them in the 2015 Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Final.

Clare beat Dublin by two points in the 2015 Allianz Hurling League – the sides did not meet last year as they were in different divisions and were not paired together in the knock-out stages.

DIVISION 1B: WEXFORD STAY ON COURSE FOR PROMOTION

Saturday (7.0): Laois v Limerick, Portlaoise.

Sunday (2.0): Offaly v Wexford, Tullamore; Kerry v Galway, Tralee.

Having beaten Limerick, Galway and Kerry, Wexford are well-primed for promotion as they head into Round 4. They take on Offaly, who have lost all three games so far, but will be very wary after losing to the Midlanders by 2-21 to 3-11 in last year’s Allianz Hurling League.

Galway and Limerick (both two points behind Wexford) will be hoping that Davy Fitzgerald’s men slip up and that they beat Kerry and Laois respectively. Limerick will be away to Laois on Saturday night, having beaten the O’Moore men by 6-29 to 1-12 last year.

Galway, who have the best points differential (+50 points) in the group, travel to Tralee to take on Kerry, who have won one of three games so far.

DIVISION 2A: CARLOW AND ANTRIM SETTING THE PACE

Sunday: Westmeath v London, TEG Cusack Park; Armagh v Antrim, Athletic Grounds; Kildare v Carlow, Newbridge.

Carlow and Antrim, both of whom have taken five of six points, will be ‘away’ on Sunday as they bid to remain at the head of the promotion race. Antrim take on Armagh, whom they beat in last year’s Ulster final.

Carlow, who will be away to Kildare, beat the Lilywhites by five points in last year’s Allianz Hurling League. Westmeath, who got their first win of the campaign against Armagh last Sunday, will be at home to London who have taken one point from a possible six.

DIVISION 2B: WICKLOW LEAD THE WAY

Sunday: Derry v Roscommon, Owenbeg, 1.0; Mayo v Meath, Elverys MacHale Park 2.0; Wicklow v Down, Joule Park Aughrim, 2.0

Wicklow have won all three games while Down, whom they meet on Sunday, have won two of three. Down beat Wicklow by 13 points in last year’s Allianz Hurling League. Meath, whose game with Roscommon was called off last weekend, are still very much in the promotion hunt, having won their first two games. They lost to Mayo by four points in last year’s competition.

DIVISION 3A: MONAGHAN ON FULL POINTS AFTER FOUR GAMES

Sunday: Donegal v Monaghan, Letterkenny; Tyrone v Louth, Carrickmore.

Monaghan are on full points after four games, followed by Donegal on four points from three games and Tyrone on two points from three games.

DIVISION 3B: TOP TWO MEET IN LONGFORD

Saturday: Longford v Warwickshire, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2.30.

Sunday: Leitrim v Sligo, Ballinamore, 2.0

Warwickshire (6 points) take on Longford (4points) in a top-of-the-table clash while Leitrim host Sligo, whom they beat by five points in last year’s Allianz Hurling League.

HURLING LEAGUE 2017: RESULTS AND FIXTURES

DIVISION 1A

Round 1: Cork 0-21 Clare 1-11; Tipperary 1-24 Dublin 1-8; Waterford 1-15 Kilkenny 0-17.

Round 2: Dublin 2-19 Cork 1-14; Clare 2-19 Kilkenny 0-12; Tipperary 1-18 Waterford 0-15.

Round 3: Waterford 2-19 Dublin 1-17; Kilkenny 0-22 Cork 0-15; Tipperary 0-28 Clare 0-21

Round 4: Mar 11: Tipperary v Kilkenny; Mar 12: Clare v Dublin; Waterford v Cork.

Round 5: Mar 26: Cork v Tipperary; Clare v Waterford; Dublin v Kilkenny

DIVISION 1B

Round 1: Kerry 3-14 Laois 0-19; Galway 6-23 Offaly 1-12; Wexford 1-14 Limerick 0-14.

Round 2: Laois 1-26 Offaly 1-20; Wexford 1-21 Galway 3-13; Limerick 6-21 Kerry 3-8.

Round 3: Limerick 1-25 Offaly 3-15; Galway 3-31 Laois 1-11; Wexford 3-18 Kerry 0-12.

Round 4: Mar 11: Laois v Limerick; Mar 12: Offaly v Wexford; Kerry v Galway.

Round 5: Mar 26: Kerry v Offaly; Wexford v Laois; Limerick v Galway.

QUARTER-FINALS

Apr 1 /2: 1st 1A v 4th 1B; 2nd 1A v 3rd 1B; 3rd 1A v 2nd 1B; 4th 1A v 1st 1B

SEMI-FINALS

Apr 16

FINAL

Apr 23

DIVISION 2A

Round 1: Antrim 0-20 London 0-13; Kildare 1-18 Armagh 1-15; Carlow 1-13 Westmeath 1-11.

Round 2: Antrim 2-15 Carlow 0-21; Kildare 1-16 Westmeath 0-14; Armagh 1-13 London 1-13.

Round 3: Carlow 3-22 London 2-7; Westmeath 3-29 Armagh 0-16; Antrim 1-16 Kildare 1-14.

Round 4: Mar 12: Westmeath v London; Armagh v Antrim; Kildare v Carlow.

Round 5: Mar 26: Kildare v London; Antrim v Westmeath; Carlow v Armagh.

Final: Apr 1 /2: 1st v 2nd

DIVISION 2B

Round 1: Derry 1-14 Mayo 1-13; Meath 4-21 Down 1-10; Wicklow 2-17 Roscommon 0-7.

Round 2: Down 1-21 Roscommon 1-16; Meath 2-19 Derry 0-16; Wicklow 2-17 Mayo 1-17.

Round 3: Roscommon v Meath - postponed; Wicklow 1-21 Derry 1-11; Down 2-23 Mayo 0-12.

Round 4: Mar 12: Derry v Roscommon; Wicklow v Down; Mayo v Meath.

Round 5: Mar 26: Down v Derry; Roscommon v Mayo; Meath v Wicklow.

Final: Apr 1 /2: 1s v 2nd

DIVISION 3A

Round 1: Donegal 2-23 Louth 1-14; Monaghan 3-15 Tyrone 1-11.

Round 2: Next Sunday: Monaghan 1-21Donegal 3-14; Tyrone 5-16 Louth 0-12

Round 3: Feb 26: Tyrone v Donegal postponed; Monaghan 1-10 Louth 1-8.

Round 4: Monaghan 2-12 Louth 2-9; Donegal 2-14 Tyrone 0-15.

Round 5: Mar 12: Donegal v Monaghan; Tyrone v Louth.

Round 6: Louth v Donegal; Monaghan v Tyrone.

Final: Apr 1 /2: 1st v 2nd

DIVISION 3B

Round 1: Warwickshire 3-9 Sligo 3-8; Longford 2-13 Fermanagh 0-7

Round 2: Warwickshire 2-12 Fermanagh 1-9; Longford 2-19 Leitrim 3-13.

Round 3: Fermanagh 2-15 Sligo 1-14; Warwickshire 0-18 Leitrim 2-10

Round 4: Mar 12: Leitrim v Sligo; Longford v Warwickshire.

Round 5: Mar 26: Fermanagh v Leitrim; Sligo v Longford.

Final: Apr 1 /2: 1st v 2nd