KILKENNY’S ALL-IRELAND winners will park the celebrations from last Sunday’s triumph against Galway when they return to club action this weekend.
The concluding round of the county senior hurling league takes place tomorrow and Sunday with the top two teams in the six-team groups automatically advancing to the senior championship quarter-finals which are scheduled to be played on October 20th-21st.
The third and fourth placed teams in the two groups will play against each other in October 13th-14th with the winners also advancing to the last eight. The remaining two quarter-final places will be determined from the winners of the games between the fifth and sixth placed teams. The losers of those last two matches will battle it out in the senior relegation final.
This Saturday there are three ties in Group 1 with JJ Delaney involved for Fenians against a Ballyhale Shamrocks team featuring Henry Shefflin, Michael and Colin Fennelly, and TJ Reid in Nowlan Park. In Freshford there is the meeting of St Martin’s, who can call on county panelist Thomas Breen, and Tommy Walsh’s Tullaroan.
Finally in Hugginstown there will be a clash between Danesfort – who will field Richie and Paddy Hogan, and Paul Murphy – and a Dunnamaggin side who will have David Herity, Noel Hickey and Willie Phelan in action.
Ballyhale Shamrocks, who top the group, St Martin’s and Fenians are the three teams in contention for the two automatic quarter-final spots from this group while Tullaroan and Dunnamaggin are tied on two points each and Danesfort are still searching for their first points.
In Group 2 on Sunday there are three games with Carrickshock, the club of Richie Power and John Tennyson, facing O’Loughlin Gaels, who have Brian Hogan, Mark Bergin and Mark Kelly, in Bennettsbridge. Graigue-Ballycallan play Cillian Buckley’s Dicksboro in Tullaroan while James Stephens (Eoin Larkin, Matthew Ruth and Jackie Tyrrell) meet Erins Own (Conor Fogarty) in Ballyragget.
Carrickshock are currently top of this group with seven points while O’Loughlin Gaels have six points and James Stephens and Erins Own have five points apiece. Dicksboro have just a single point while Graigue-Ballycallan are still chasing their first point.
In the Kilkenny intermediate championship this weekend, Walter Walsh (Tullogher-Rosbercon), Aidan Fogarty (Emeralds), Joe Brennan (St Patrick’s), Lester Ryan (Clara), Kieran Joyce (Rower-Inistioge) and Eoin Murphy (Glenmore) are all involved.
