Senior hurlers set to face All-Ireland champions Limerick in semi-final

Having won the All-Ireland title for the first time in 45 years last year, Limerick are now on the trail of a first Allianz Hurling League Division 1 title for 22 years.

They take on Dublin in Nowlan Park this Sunday (1.30) in the first semi-final, followed at 3.30 by the second semi-final between Galway and Waterford.

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL: DUBLIN v LIMERICK

Limerick are in the semi-finals for a third successive year (they lost to Tipperary in extra-time last year and to Galway in 2017), while Dublin were last there in 2015 when they lost by a point to Cork in Nowlan Park.

Limerick last reached the Division 1 final in 2006 (they lost to Kilkenny) while Dublin were last there in 2011 when they beat Kilkenny.

Limerick’s only defeat in this year’s League came in Round 4 of the 1A campaign when they lost to Cork, while Dublin’s only defeat was against Galway in Round 3 in 1B.

Mattie Kenny’s men pulled off a great win over Tipperary in the quarter-final last Saturday, the first win a Dublin team had enjoyed over the Premier County on Tipp soil since 1946.

The last Dublin v Limerick League game was in 1B last year when John Kiely’s men won by 12 points in the Gaelic Grounds.

HOW THEY REACHED THE ALLIANZ LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL

LIMERICK

Limerick 1-17 Wexford 2-11
Limerick 1-21 Tipperary 1-14
Limerick 2-18 Kilkenny 0-15
Cork 2-21 Limerick 1-21
Limerick 1-14 Clare 2-11

Limerick 2-22 Laois 0-11 (Quarter-final)

Top Scorers

Aaron Gillane.........1-31 (0-22 frees, 0-2 ‘65s’)

Peter Casey.............1-13

Diarmaid Byrnes....0-15 (0-12 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)

DUBLIN

Dublin 3-15 Carlow 0-18

Dublin 2-19 Offaly 0-12

Galway 0-20 Dublin 1-11

Dublin 1-26 Waterford 4-15

Dublin 0-13 Laois 0-11

Dublin 1-21 Tipperary 0-23 (Quarter-final)

Top Scorers

Oisín O’Rorke.............2-22 (0-14 frees)

Donal Burke.................1-11

Eamonn Dillon.............1-10

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL: GALWAY v WATERFORD

They meet for the second time in two weeks, with Waterford having won in the final round of 1B games on a 1-18 to 2-13 scoreline in Walsh Park.

It was their first meeting since the 2017 All-Ireland final which Galway won by three points. Galway and Waterford last met in League semi-final in 2000 when the Tribesmen won by 2-15 to 1-15 in Thurles.

Both sides lost one game in 1B, Galway going down to Waterford while the Deise were beaten by Dublin, who have also qualified for the semi-finals.

HOW THEY REACHED THE ALLIANZ LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL

GALWAY

Galway 1-27 Laois 2-15

Carlow 0-20 Galway 0-20

Galway 0-20 Dublin 1-11
Galway 2-20 Offaly 0-14
Waterford 1-18 Galway 2-13

Galway 3-21 Wexford 3-11 (Quarter-final)

Top Scorers

Joe Canning............0-50 (0-43 frees, 0-2 ‘65s’)

Jason Flynn.............1-14 (0-8 frees, 0-4 ‘65s’)

Cathal Mannion.....1-11

WATERFORD

Waterford 2-28 Offaly 0-7

Waterford 4-22 Laois 1-15

Waterford 3-15 Carlow 0-10

Dublin 1-26 Waterford 4-15

Waterford 1-18 Galway 2-13

Waterford 0-31 Clare 1-14 (Quarter-final)

Top Scorers

Stephen Bennett.......3-69 (1-56 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)

Tommy Ryan........... 4-5

Shane Bennett...........3-5 (0-1 s/l)

2019 ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE: RESULTS & FIXTURES

ALLIANZ DIVISION 1A
Round 1: Tipperary 2-16 Clare 1-11; Limerick 1-17 Wexford 2-11; Kilkenny 2-18 Cork 0-17.
Round 2: Clare 2-20 Kilkenny 1-22; Wexford 1-18 Cork 0-17; Limerick 1-21 Tipperary 1-14.
Round 3: Cork 1-20 Clare 0-20; Limerick 2-18 Kilkenny 0-15; Wexford 1-15 Tipperary 1-14.
Round 4: Clare 2-22 Wexford 1-22; Kilkenny 0-18 Tipperary 0-17; Cork 2-21 Limerick 1-21.
Round 5: Clare 2-11 Limerick 1-14; Tipperary 1-29 Cork 1-16; Wexford 1-19 Kilkenny 1-12.

ALLIANZ DIVISION 1B

Round 1: Dublin 3-15 Carlow 0-18; Galway 1-27 Laois 2-15; Waterford 2-28 Offaly 0-7.

Round 2: Carlow 0-20 Galway 0-20; Waterford 4-22 Laois 1-15; Dublin 2-19 Offaly 0-12.

Round 3: Laois 3-17 Offaly 2-16; Waterford 3-15 Carlow 0-10; Galway 0-20 Dublin 1-11.
Round 4: Galway 2-20 Offaly 0-14; Carlow 0-17 Laois 0-17; Dublin 1-26 Waterford 4-15.
Round 5: Offaly 4-8 Carlow 1-10; Dublin 0-13 Laois 0-11; Waterford 1-18 Galway 2-13.
Quarter-finals: Limerick 2-22 Laois 0-11; Galway 3-21 Wexford 3-11; Waterford 0-31 Clare 1-14; Dublin 1-21 Tipperary 0-23
Semi-finals: Mar 24: Limerick v Dublin; Galway v Waterford.
Final: Mar 30/31ALLIANZ DIVISION 2A

Round 1: Mayo 0-17 Meath 0-1 7; Westmeath 2-17 London 0-15; Kerry 1-21 Antrim 2-16.
Round 2: Westmeath 4-13 Kerry 2-17; Antrim 3-13 Meath 2-15; Mayo 0-16 London 1-10
Round 3: Meath 3-16 London 0-10; Westmeath 1-17 Antrim 1-15; Kerry 3-18 Mayo 0-9.
Round 4: Kerry 3-27 London 1-11; Westmeath 1-20 Meath 0-20; Antrim 5-18 Mayo 0-13.
Round 5: Antrim 1-16 London 0-17; Kerry 3-15 Meath 0-8; Westmeath 2-12 Mayo 0-6
Final: Westmeath 0-12 Kerry 0-10

Promoted: Westmeath

Relegated: LondonALLIANZ DIVISION 2B

Round 1: Kildare 2-16 Donegal 1-13; Derry 1-16 Down 0-14; Wicklow 2-20 Warwickshire 0-11.
Round 2: Derry 3-18 Donegal 0-12; Down 1-23 Wicklow 0-15; Kildare 8-19 Warwickshire 0-6.
Round 3: Wicklow 2-13 Donegal 0-15; Derry 0-21 Kildare 1-16; Down 1-16 Warwickshire 0-11.
Round 4: Down 3-21 Donegal 1-15; Derry 2-18 Warwickshire 3-11; Wicklow 2-17 Kildare 1-17
Round 5: Wicklow 2-16 Derry 0-16; Donegal 5-18 Warwickshire 0-17; Kildare 0-13 Down 1-6.
Final: Wicklow 1-9 Derry 0-8.

Relegation play-off: Warwickshire 2-10 Donegal 0-14

Promoted: Wicklow

Relegated: DonegalALLIANZ DIVISION 3A

Round 1: Roscommon 3-18 Louth 1-11; Armagh 4-11 Monaghan 0-5; Tyrone 2-17 Lancashire 0-10.
Round 2: Armagh 2-14 Lancashire 0-12; Roscommon 1-21 Monaghan 0-14; Tyrone 2-23 Louth 1-11.
Round 3: Louth 2-12 Lancashire 1-13; Roscommon 0-18 Armagh 1-11; Monaghan 4-12 Tyrone 0-13.
Round 4: Armagh 2-17 Louth 2-6; Monaghan 3-17 Lancashire 0-16; Roscommon 1-26 Tyrone 1-11.
Round 5: Lancashire 2-13 Roscommon 1-6; Monaghan 1-11 Louth 1-10; Tyrone 3-16 Armagh 1-16.
Final: Roscommon 0-14 Armagh 0-11
Promoted: Roscommon

Relegated: Lancashire

ALLIANZ DIVISION 3B

Round 1: Cavan 2-9 Leitrim 1-11; Sligo 2-14 Fermanagh 1-16.
Round 2: Sligo 2-14 Leitrim 0-19; Longford 1-16 Fermanagh 2-7
Round 3: Longford 2-18 Leitrim 0-16; Sligo 4-19 Cavan 2-6.
Round 4: Longford 3-10 Cavan 0-13; Fermanagh 2-15 Leitrim 1-12.
Round 5: Fermanagh 1-13 Cavan 0-6; Sligo 3-15 Longford 0-3.
Final: Longford 2-15 Sligo 3-10 (AET)

Promoted: Longford