Senior hurlers face Galway in crucial duel

Cork, Tipperary, Galway (1A) and Waterford, Wexford, Limerick, Offaly (1B) are through to the Allianz Hurling League quarter-finals ahead of the final round of games next Sunday. The remaining spot will be filled by either Dublin or Clare.

The quarter-final pairings will be as follows: Top 1A v 4^th 1B; 2^nd 1A v 3^rd 1B; 3^rd 1A v 2^nd 1B; 4^th 1A v Top 1B: All those games will be played on next Sunday week.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1A: KILKENNY HEADING FOR RELEGATION PLAY-OFF

Sunday (2.0): Dublin v Galway, Parnell Park; Kilkenny v Clare, Nowlan Park; Cork v Tipperary, Pairc Ui Rinn.

With Cork and Tipperary through to the quarter-finals, the only issue to be decided from their clash in Pairc Ui Rinn is which of them finishes top of the group. Both have won three of four games. This will be their first clash since last year’s All-Ireland semi-final which Tipperary won by 2-18 to 1-11. They also beat Cork (3-25 to 4-19) in last year’s Allianz League quarter-final.

Dublin and Galway are level on four points but irrespective of the result in Parnell Park, Galway will qualify for the semi-finals. That’s because they have beaten both Clare and Kilkenny (2 points each) whereas Dublin lost to Clare so the head-to-head rule could come into play.

If Dublin win or draw with Galway, they will join Cork, Tipperary and Galway in the quarter-finals. If they lose, the Kilkenny-Clare game will decide if Dublin will be involved in a relegation play-off for a second successive year. If Kilkenny win and Dublin lose, Ger Cunningham’s men will avoid the relegation tie as they have already beaten Kilkenny. In that case the relegation play-off would be between Clare and Kilkenny. However, if Clare win and Dublin lose, Dublin will play Kilkenny in the relegation play-off as they lost to Davy Fitzgerald’s men last Saturday.

Irrespective of the result in the Kilkenny-Clare game, Kilkenny, who won the Allianz League title for a third successive year in 2014, will be involved in a relegation play-off against Dublin or Clare.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1B: WEXFORD v WATERFORD IN PROMOTION SHOOT-OUT

Sunday (2.0): Wexford v Waterford, Innovate Wexford Park; Limerick v Laois, Gaelic Grounds; Antrim v Offaly, Ballycastle.

The quarter-finals slots (Waterford, Wexford, Limerick and Offaly) and relegation play-off (Laois v Antrim) are already decided, leaving the promotion place to 1A as the only major issue to be settled in the final series of games.

The Wexford (6 points) v Waterford (7 points) game will decide who tops the group. A draw would be sufficient for Waterford. The counties did not meet in last year’s Allianz League as Waterford were in 1A but they served up a great contest in the All-Ireland qualifiers last July, with Wexford winning by 3-15 to 2-15.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 2A: FOUR STILL BIDDING FOR PLACE IN THE FINAL

Sunday (2.0): Kerry v London, Austin Stack Park; Derry v Wicklow, Owenbeg; Westmeath v Carlow, Cusack Park.

Westmeath (6), Carlow (6), Kerry (5), Derry (5) are all in contention for a place in the final going into the final round. The winners of Westmeath v Carlow will definitely be in the final. However, if it’s a draw and Kerry and Derry win, then all four would be on seven points, in which case scoring difference would decide placings. Westmeath (+37) and Carlow (+32) have much better scoring differences than Kerry (+3) and Derry (+1). Wicklow will be relegated to 2B.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 2B: WHO WILL JOIN KILDARE IN THE FINAL?

Sunday (2.0): Donegal v Kildare, Letterkenny; Meath v Down, Trim; Mayo v Armagh, Elverys McHale Park.

Kildare are guaranteed a place in the final after winning all four games. Down (6), Meath (4) and Down (4) are in contention for the second final place.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3A: THREE CHASING A PLACE IN THE FINAL

Sunday (2.0): Fermanagh v Monaghan, Brewster Park; Tyrone v Roscommon, Omagh; Fingal v Louth, Swords.

It’s a three-way shoot-out between Tyrone (7), Roscommon (6) and Monaghan (6) for the final places. A draw would be enough for Tyrone to clinch a place in the decider.

HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3B: LONGFORD LEAD THE WAY

Sunday: Longford v Sligo, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 1.0; Warwickshire v Leitrim, Pairc na hEireann.

Longford (4), Warwickshire (2) and Leitrim (2) are in contention for a place in the final.

HURLING LEAGUE 2015 RESULTS & FIXURES

DIVISION 1A

Round 1: Kilkenny 1-22 Cork 2-17; Dublin 2-20 Tipperary 0-14; Galway 2-15 Clare 1-17

Round 2: Cork 1-24 Clare 0-17; Dublin 0-25 Kilkenny 3-11; Tipperary 2-18 Galway 0-20.

Round 3: Cork 0-34 Dublin 1-20; Tipperary 2-19 Clare 0-20; Galway 0-20 Kilkenny 0-18.

Round 4: Clare 2-22 Dublin 2-20; Tipperary 2-22 Kilkenny 1-13; Cork 2-17 Galway -20.

Round 5: March 22: Cork v Tipperary; Dublin v Galway; Kilkenny v Clare

DIVISION 1B

Round 1: Limerick 2-16 Waterford 0-22; Wexford 1-24 Antrim 2-20; Offaly 1-24 Laois 0-23.

Round 2: Waterford 3-21 Laois 0-12; Wexford 2-15 Offaly 0-12; Limerick 0-23 Antrim 1-12

Round 3: Limerick 4-16 Wexford 3-18; Laois 1-18 Antrim 1-15; Waterford 2-18 Offaly 1-14.

Round 4: Offaly 1-21 Limerick 0-21; Waterford 4-30 Antrim 0-10; Wexford 5-22 Laois 0-25.

Round 5: March 22: Antrim v Offaly; Limerick v Laois; Wexford v Waterford.

PLAY-OFFS

March 29: Quarter-finals: 1^st 1A v 4^th 1B; 2^nd 1A v 3^rd 1B; 3^rd 1A v 2^nd 1B; 4^th 1A v 1^st 1B.

Relegation: 1A: 5^th v 6^th; 1B; 5^th v 6^th.

DIVISION 2A

Round 1: Kerry 0-14 Derry 0-14; Westmeath 2-20 London 1-8; Carlow 3-17 Wicklow 1-6.

Round 2: Kerry 2-20 Wicklow 1-6; Derry 2-15 Westmeath 3-10; Carlow 3-12 London 0-7

Round 3: Carlow 1-15 Derry 1-13; London 3-12 Wicklow 2-12; Westmeath 3-18 Kerry 0-12

Round 4: Derry 1-10 London 1-9; Westmeath 1-22 Wicklow 2-10; Kerry 1-24 Carlow 3-17

Round 5: March 22: Kerry v London; Derry v Wicklow; Westmeath v Carlow.

Final: April 4: 1^st v 2nd

DIVISION 2B

Round 1: Kildare 0-24 Meath 0-14; Down 1-13 Armagh 0-9; Mayo 3-14 Donegal 1-12.

Round 2: Kildare 2-15 Down 1-12; Meath 3-8 Mayo 0-9; Armagh 1-18 Donegal 2-10

Round 3: Kildare 3-23 Armagh 3-14; Meath 2-15 Donegal 1-4; Down 2-20 Mayo 0-15.

Round 4: Kildare 3-20 Mayo 1-14; Down 4-17 Donegal 2-9; Armagh 1-17 Meath 1-15.

Round 5: March 22: Donegal v Kildare; Mayo v Armagh; Meath v Down.

Final: April 4: 1^st v 2^nd

DIVISION 3A

Round 1: Fingal 3-13 Fermanagh 1-16; Roscommon 1-21 Louth 1-9; Tyrone 1-13 Monaghan 2-10

Round 2: Louth 4-17 Fermanagh 3-7; Monaghan 0-17 Roscommon 1-10; Tyrone 1-16 Fingal 1-15

Round 3: Tyrone 4-13 Fermanagh 2-8; Roscommon 3-24 Fingal 1-11; Monaghan 2-18 Louth 2-13.

Round 4: Tyrone 1-20 Louth 2-7; Monaghan 0-18 Fingal 2-12; Roscommon 0-16 Fermanagh 0-6.

Round 5: March 22: Fermanagh v Monaghan; Fingal v Louth; Tyrone v Roscommon.

Final: April 4: 1^st v 2^nd

DIVISION 3B

Round 1: Longford 1-17 Leitrim 0-10; Warwickshire 5-14 Sligo 0-14

Round 2: Longford 2-16 Warwickshire 2-11; March 15: Leitrim 1-15 Sligo 2-10.

Round 3: March 22: Longford v Sligo; Warwickshire v Leitrim.

Final: April 4: 1^st v 2nd