Senior hurlers vie with Laois for quarter-final spot

Limerick and Wexford are through to the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals as provincial winners ... Tipperary and Kilkenny are through to the quarter-finals... Cork, Westmeath, Dublin and Laois are bidding this weekend for places in the quarter-finals. That's the state of play as the championship moves to the crucial stages. It's preliminary quarter-final time this Sunday with the pairings as follows:

Westmeath v Cork, TEG Cusack Park, 3.0

Laois v Dublin, O'Moore Park, 4.15

DUBLIN v LAOIS

They last met in the championship in 2017 when Dublin won an All-Ireland qualifier tie by 13 points. Dublin won two (v Galway and Carlow), drew one (v Wexford) and lost one (v Kilkenny) of their four Leinster championship games while Laois had a very impressive run in the Joe McDonagh Cup, winning four and drawing one of five games on their way to taking the title.

The Dublin-Laois winners will play Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-finals on the weekend after next.

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP

DUBLIN

Kilkenny 2-23 Dublin 1-21

Dublin 1-22 Wexford 2-19

Dublin 2-22 Carlow 1-13

Dublin 3-19 Galway 0-24

LAOIS

Laois 4-22 Offaly 3-21

Laois 2-24 Antrim 1-19

Laois 5-17 Kerry 1-21

Laois 1-22 Westmeath 1-22

Laois 3-26 Westmeath 1-21 (Joe McDonagh Cup final)

LAST FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP MEETINGS

2017: Dublin 2-28 Laois 1-15 (All-reland qualifiers)

2015: Dublin 4-17 Laois 0-19 (All-Ireland qualifiers)

2012: Dublin 3-23 Laois 1-7 (Leinster quarter-final)

2010: Dublin 0-25 Laois 0-16 (Leinster quarter-final)

2005: Dublin 3-13 Laois 1-10 (Relegation play-off)

*Laois are seeking their first championship win over Dublin since the 2005 Leinster quarter-final which they won by 4-14 to 0-14. Since then, they have lost five times to Dublin by a combined margin of 66 points.

*Dublin last reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2015 when they lost to Waterford. Laois were last in the quarter-finals in 1979 when they lost to Galway.

CORK v WESTMEATH

Kilkenny await the winners of what will be the first championship clash between Cork and Westmeath.

2019 CHAMPIONSHIP

CORK

Tipperary 2-28 Cork 1-24

Cork 1-26 Limerick 1-19

Cork 2-30 Waterford 2-17

Clare 2-23 Cork 2-18

WESTMEATH

Westmeath 3-18 Offaly 0-14

Kerry 1-21 Westmeath 2-16

Westmeath 0-29 Antrim 0-21

Laois 1-22 Westmeath 1-22

Laois 3-26 Westmeath 1-21 (Joe McDonagh Cup final)

*Cork last reached the quarter-finals in 2015 when they lost to Galway by 2-28 to 0-22. They reached the semi-finals direct as Munster champion for the last two years.

*Westmeath last reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 1991 when they lost to Antrim by 5-11 to 1-5.

*Cork won two (Limerick and Waterford) and lost two (Tipperary and Clare) of their four 'round robin' games in the Munster championship.

*Westmeath won two, lost two (including the final last Sunday) and drew one of their five Joe McDonagh Cup games.

ALL-IRELAND & PROVINCIAL GAA HURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019

LEINSTER

Round 1

May 11: Kilkenny 2-23 Dublin 1-21, Nowlan Park. May 12: Galway 1-24 Carlow 1-18, Pearse Stadium

Round 2

May 18: Kilkenny 3-22 Carlow 1-14, Netwatch Cullen Park; Dublin 1-22 Wexford 2-19, Par nell Park,

Round 3

May 26: Galway 0-16 Wexford 0-16, Pearse Stadium,

June 1: Dublin 2-22 Carlow 1-13, Netwatch Cullen Park.

Round 4

June 8: Wexford 2-28 Carlow 0-19, Innovate Wexford Park. June 9: Galway 3-20 Kilkenny 2-22, Nowlan Park Round 5

June 15: Dublin 3-19 Galway 0-24, Parnell Park; Wexford 0-21 Kilkenny 1-18 Innovate Wexford Park.

June 30: Final: Wexford 1-23 Kilkenny 0-23, Croke Park.

MUNSTER

Round 1

May 12: Clare 1-20 Waterford 0-22, Walsh Park; Tipperary 2-28 Cork 1-24, Pairc Ui Chaoimh,

Round 2

May 19: Cork 1-26 Limerick 1-19, LIT Gaelic Grounds; Tipperary 2-30 Waterford 0-18, Semple Stadium.

Round 3

June 2: Limerick 2-24 Waterford 0-10, Walsh Park; Tipperary 3-21 Clare 0-17, Ennis.

Round 4

June 8: Cork 2-30 Waterford 2-17, Pairc Ui Chaoimh. June 9: Limerick 1-28 Clare 0-13, LIT Gaelic Grounds

Round 5

June 16: Clare 2-23 Cork 2-18, Ennis; Tipperary 1-22 Limerick 0-21, Semple Stadium June 30: Final: Limerick 2-26 Tipperary 2-14, LIT Gaelic Grounds.

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 7: Preliminary quarter-finals: Cork v Westmeath, Mullingar; Dublin y Laois, Portlaoise.

July 13/14: All-Ireland quarter-finals: Tipperary v Dublin/Laois; Kilkenny v Cork/ Westmeath.

July 27/28: All-ireland semi-finals, Croke Park.

August 18: Final, Croke Park.

JOE MCDONAGH CUP

Round 1

May 17: Laois 4-22 Offaly 3-21; Antrim 3-19 Kerry 0-14

Round 2

May 18: Laois 2-24 Antrim 1-19; Westmeath 3-18 Offaly 0-14

Round 3

May 25: Kerry 1-21 Westmeath 2-16

June 1: Antrim 3-23 Offaly 4-18

Round 4

June 8: Westmeath 0-29 Antrim 0-21; Laois 5-17 Kerry 1-21.

Round 5

June 15: Laois 1-22 Westmeath 1-22; Kerry 1-18 Offaly 1-16

Final

June 30: Laois 3-26 Westmeath 1-21, Croke Park.