And then there were ten. The departure of Antrim and Laois last weekend cuts the field for the GAA hurling All-Ireland senior championships to ten as the season enters July, a month that will see the Leinster and Munster champions crowned as well as eliminating six more counties. Two will have their participation in this year's championship ended next Saturday when All-Ireland champions, Clare host Wexford in Cusack Park, Ennis (3.30) and Tipperary play Galway in Semple Stadium, Thurles (7.0).
The action on Sunday will take place in Croke Park (4.0), which will see Dublin attempt to retain the Leinster title against Kilkenny, who are seeking to win the crown for the first time since 2011.
They meet for the seventh time in six seasons in the Leinster championship, with Kilkenny winning four to Dublin's one, with one draw, from their previous six meetings. Dublin's big breakthrough came last year when they beat Kilkenny in a Leinster semi-final replay in Portlaoise. It was Dublin's first championship win over Kilkenny since 1942 and paved the way for a first Leinster title success since 1961 when Anthony Daly's men beat Galway in the final.
Dublin are seeking to retain the Leinster title for the first time since winning the double in 1941-42 while Kilkenny are seeking their 14th title in 17 seasons, having lost out it 2004-2012-2013. The sides met in the Allianz League in Parnell Park in mid-March when Dublin won by 1-22 to 3-13. Dublin led by 1-16 to 1-6 at the interval after playing with the wind before a Kilkenny rally cut the margin to three points. Dublin held on for a win in a game where Danny Sutcliffe scored 1-5 from open play.
Dublin 0-22 Wexford 1-14, Wexford Park (Leinster semi-final)
As reigning Leinster champions, Dublin received a bye into the semi-final where they beat Wexford by five points. Wexford led by three points after nine minutes but Dublin were in front by half-time, 0-11 to 1-6. They added another 0-11 in the second half while Wexford responded with 0-8.
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Brian Cody's men have scored a total of 11-73 (average 4-24) in three games against Offaly, Galway (draw and replay) were easy winners over Offaly in the third round, Kilkenny were held to a draw by a late Galway goal burst before winning the replay by eight points.
Brian Cody is in his 16th season as Kilkenny manager. In that period, they have played Dublin nine times in the championship, winning seven, losing one and drawing one.
Anthony Daly has managed Clare and Dublin in championship action against Kilkenny. From nine outings (three with Clare, six with Dublin), he has presided over one win, two draws and six defeats.
Kilkenny are seeking their 69th Leinster title while Dublin are chasing their 25th.
Kilkenny (68 in total): 1888-93-95-97-98-1900-03-04-05-07-09-11-12-13-16-22-23-25-26-31-32-33-35-36-37-39-40-43-45-46-47-50-53-57-58-59-63-64-66-67-69-71-72-73-74-75-78-79-82-83-86-87-91-92-93-98-99-2000-2001-2002-2003-2005-2006-2007-2008-2009-2010-2011.
Dublin (24 in total): 1889-92-94-96-1902-06-08-17-19-20-21-24-27-28-30-34-38-41-42-44-48-52-61-2013.
This will be only the fifth championship meeting between the counties, with Clare having won all four previous clashes. Their most recent meeting was last July when Clare won an All-Ireland qualifier tie after extra-time. They led by six points at half-time in normal and by four points in the closing minutes before a strong finish earned Wexford a draw, thanks to a goal from Jack Guiney who scored 1-8. However, Clare were a much more potent force in extra-time, eventually running out ten point winners in what was a launch pad for their march to All-Ireland glory.
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Cork 2-23 Clare 2-18 (Munster semi-final)
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Wexford 5-19 Antrim 0-21 (Leinster quarter-final)
Dublin 0-22 Wexford 1-14 (Leinster semi-final)
They meet in the championship for the first time since 2010 when Tipperary won the All-Ireland quarter-final tie by a point in Croke Park. Prior to that, they hadn't met since 2005, when Galway won an All-Ireland quarter-final clash, also in Croke Park. The sides clashed in this year's Allianz League in March when Galway won by 3-16 to 1-19 in Pearse Stadium. Tipperary are seeking their first championship win since beating Waterford in the 2012 Munster final. Since then, they have lost to Kilkenny (2012 All-Ireland semi-final and 2013 All-Ireland qualifiers) and to Limerick (2013 and 2014 Munster semi-finals).
Galway-Tipperary championship games are usually very close encounters. Two of their last six clashes were won by a point (2010, 2003); three by two points (2005, 2000, 1993) and one by three points (2001). Wins stand at 3-3 each from those six games Tipperary being successful in 2010, 2003 and 2001 while Galway were successful in 2005, 2000 and 1993.
Galway 1-22 Laois 0-23, Portlaoise (Leinster quarter-final)
Galway 5-16 Kilkenny 3-22, Tullamore (Leinster semi-final)
Kilkenny 3-19 Galway 1-17, Tullamore (Leinster semi-final replay)
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Limerick 2-18 Tipperary 2-16, Thurles (Munster semi-final)
Group Qualifiers: April 27: London 2-17 Carlow 2-17; Antrim 0-23 Westmeath 2-11; May 4: Antrim 2-18 Carlow 1-17 Laois 1-15 Westmeath 1-9; May 11: Laois 1-22 Carlow 0-14; Antrim 1-17 London 2-7; May 18: Carlow 0-14 Westmeath 1-9; Laois 2-13 London 0-16; May 25: Antrim 0-22 Laois 0-20; Westmeath 2-12 Laois 1-12.
Quarter-finals: June 1: Wexford 5-19 Antrim 0-21; Galway 1-22 Laois 0-23; June 7: Kilkenny 5-32 Offaly 1-18, Nowlan Park.
Semi-finals: June 14: Dublin 0-22 Wexford 1-14, Wexford Park; June 22: Galway 5-16 Kilkenny 3-22, Tullamore; June 28: Replay: Kilkenny 3-19 Galway 1-17, Tullamore.
Final: July 6: Dublin v Kilkenny, Croke Park.
Quarter-final: May 25: Cork 1-21 Waterford 1-21; June 8 (replay): Cork 0-28 Waterford 0-14, Thurles.
Semi-finals: June 1: Limerick 2-18 Tipperary 2-16, Thurles; June 15: Cork 2-23 Clare 2-18, Semple Stadium.
Final: July 13: Cork v Limerick, Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Round 1: June 28: Waterford 2-22 Laois 1-15, Walsh Park; June 29: Offaly 2-19 Antrim 1-20, Ballycastle.
July 5: Clare v Wexford, Ennis; Tipperary v Galway, Thurles.
Round 2: July 12: Offaly and Waterford will take on the winners of Galway v Tipperary and Clare v Wexford (Draw to be made)
July 27: Beaten Leinster and Munster finalists v Qualifier winners.
August 10: Dublin/Kilkenny v quarter-final winners, Croke Park.
August 17: Cork/Limerick v quarter-finals winners, Croke Park.
September 7, Croke Park.