Galway conclude their Allianz National Hurling League campaign on Sunday (19th March) when they travel to Westmeath in Round 5.
Only a particular set of results, plus a near 30-point swing in scoring difference will be enough to sneak Henry Shefflin's charges into the final four.
Throw-in at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday is 1.45pm and we'll have LIVE coverage here on Galway Bay FM.
CORK AND TIPPERARY BOOK SEMI-FINALS PLACES
Cork and Tipperary have been the form teams in Division 1 of the Allianz Hurling League, each winning all four games and guaranteed to enter the semi-finals as Group A and B winners.
Cork top Group A and will meet either Kilkenny or Waterford in the semi-final while Tipperary will play Limerick, Clare or Galway. Westmeath and Laois will meet in a relegation play-off.
DIVISION 1 GROUP A: LIMERICK BEST-PLACED TO JOIN CORK
Sunday: Limerick v Wexford, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 1.45; Westmeath v Galway, TEG Cusack Park, 1.45; Clare v Cork, Ennis, 1.45.
Cork (8 points) have reached the semi-finals with a game to spare, with Limerick best placed to take the second slot. They are on six points, followed by Galway and Clare on four each.
A win or draw for Limerick at home to Wexford would earn them a semi-final spot but if they lose and both Clare and Galway win, scoring difference will decide who joins Cork in the last four.
Westmeath, who came up from 2A this year, will face a relegation play-off with Laois.
Limerick beat Wexford by three points (1-11 to 0-11) in last year’s League.
Cork beat Clare by 2-30 to 2-21 in last year’s League but the Banner gained revenge in the Munster championship, winning 0-28 to 2-20.
Galway beat Westmeath by 3-36 to 1-17 in last year’s Leinster championship and by 5-34 to 1-16 when they last met in the League two years ago.
Top Scorers
Aidan McCarthy (Clare).............1-40 (25 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)
Killian Doyle (Westmeath)..........0-30 (22 frees, 1’65’)
Evan Niland (Galway)................0-30 (21 frees, 3 ’65s’)
Shane Kingston (Cork)...............1-22 (0-17 frees)
Tom Morrissey (Limerick)...........0-21 (7 frees)
Conor Cooney (Galway).............0-17 (9 frees)
Micheál Houlihan (Limerick).......0-16 (12 frees)
Ross Banville (Wexford).............1-11 (9 frees, 2 ‘65s’)
Conor McDonald (Wexford)........2-7
Ian Galvin (Clare)........................2-7
DIVISION 1 GROUP B: WATERFORD AND KILKENNY IN RACE FOR SEMI-FINAL PLACE
Sunday: Waterford v Kilkenny, UPMC Nowlan Park, 1.45; Dublin v Laois, Parnell Park, 1.45; Antrim v Tipperary, Corrigan Park, 1.45
A large crowd is expected in Nowlan Park on Sunday for the Kilkenny v Waterford clash, which will decide who joins Tipperary in the semi-finals. Having won all four games to date, Tipperary are guaranteed a semi-final place, irrespective of how they fare against Antrim. There’s nothing at stake for Dublin and Laois in terms of qualification/relegation as the Dubs are in mid-table while Laois will finish bottom and face a relegation clash with Westmeath.
Kilkenny (6 points) v Waterford (5 points) will be very interesting as both sides are determined to take their case into the knock-out stages.
Kilkenny beat Waterford by six points (2-21 to 0-21) in last year’s League. Dublin beat Laois by 2-31 to 1-24 in last year’s League and by 1-20 to 2-15 in the Leinster championship. Tipperary beat Antrim by 7-28 to 1-17 in last year’s League.
Top Scorers
Donal Burke (Dublin)..................1-43 (22 frees, 1-0 pen, 2’65s’)
Billy Drennan (Kilkenny).............1-42 (0-30 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)
Conal Cunning (Antrim)..............1-35 (29 frees, 2 ’65s’)
Jason Forde (Tipperary).............2-31 (0-16 frees, 0-2 ‘65s’, 0-1 s/l))
Stephen Maher (Laois)................0-24 (0-20 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)
Gearoid O’Connor (Tipperary).....0-24 (16 frees, 2 ’65s’)
Stephen Bennett (Waterford)......2-15 (2-0 pens, 0-15 frees)
Jake Morris (Tipperary)...............5-5
Austin Gleeson (Waterford)........0-15 (11 frees)
Martin Keoghan (Kilkenny)..........1-9
Keelan Molloy (Antrim)................2-6
Eoin Cody (Kilkenny)....................2-6 (0-2 frees)
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ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE 2023 – FIXTURES & RESULTS
DIVISION 1
GROUP A:
Round 1: Galway 0-23 Wexford 0-15; Cork 2-17 Limerick 0-22; Clare 4-27 Westmeath 0-14.
Round 2: Limerick 1-27 Clare 2-18; Cork 4-24 Galway 3-22; Wexford 2-23 Westmeath 1-15.
Round 3: Cork 2-21 Westmeath 0-21; Clare 6-25 Wexford 1-18; Limerick 0-24 Galway 0-19.
Round 4: Galway 1-24 Clare 0-22; Limerick 1-27 Westmeath 1-15; Cork 2-14 Wexford 0-18.
Round 5: March 19: Clare v Cork; Westmeath v Galway; Limerick v Wexford
GROUP B
Round 1: Kilkenny 1-18 Antrim 0-15; Waterford 2-19 Dublin 3-16; Tipperary 2-32 Laois 0-18.
Round 2: Waterford 2-31 Laois 2-19; Tipperary 2-24 Kilkenny 1-21; Dublin 0-28 Antrim 2-19.
Round 3: Tipperary 2-23 Dublin 0-24; Waterford 1-22 Antrim 0-17; Kilkenny 0-34 Laois 1-18.
Round 4: Tipperary 4-23 Waterford 0-25; Antrim 3-18 Laois 1-18; Kilkenny 2-15 Dublin1-17.
Round 5: March 19: Antrim v Tipperary; Dublin v Laois; Waterford v Kilkenny.
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March 25/26: Division 1 semi-finals;
April 8 or 9: Division 1 final
