Who will take the Waterford News and Star Cup off De La Salle.

Round one of this years County Senior Hurling Championship takes place this coming weekend with games to be played at three venues across the county.

City giants Ballygunner and Mount Sion get this years championship underway on Friday evening at Walsh Park.

Two games are down for decision at Fraher Field on Saturday evening. Abbeyside and Passage get proceedings under way at 6pm and is followed ninety minutes later with the clash between reigning champions De La Salle and Ballyduff.

Three games are on the cards for Sunday. Fraher Field again stages a double header; the first game sees Roanmore take on last years beaten finalists Dungarvan in the first game of the day and is followed with the meeting of Fourmilewater and Lismore which could well prove to be the game of the weekend.

The last game in the first round of games takes place at Cappoquin on Sunday evening when Tallow and last years intermediate champions An Rinn clash with the game having a 7pm throw in.

So who will win this years Waterford News and Star Cup. Right now its hard to tell as there is at least five or six teams who will feel that they have a very realistic chance of winning, with at least two or three others that are not far off the mark and who are capable of beating anyone on a given day.

De La Salle:

Last years champions were dealt a hammer blow last week when Stephen Daniels, one of their outstanding players over the past four or five years picked up a serious injury while playing a challenge game with the Waterford Senior Hurlers against Offaly.

He is set to miss most if not all the year and will leave a major void in the team. With Eoin Madigan and Conan Watt set to sit out the first round or two of games with injuries, it further weakens their team and will give confidence to the teams that they are set to play in the opening round of games.

These injuries will mean that Kevin Moran will be more important than ever in their own half of the field while in attack John Mullane and Jake Dillon will be the players that they will look to most for inspiration.

Dungarvan

Can last years beaten finalists repeat what they achieved last year and go that step or two further.

Whether they will do as good as they did last year  depends on what lessons that their youthful set up have learned. There is a theory that some have which states that to win a final you have to loose one first. De La Salle did it a few years ago and have won three finals since loosing with a young teams and now people are wondering can Dungarvan do the same.

Last year they looked for Gavin Crotty, Shane Kearney and in particular Jamie Nagle for leadership and they turned up trumps. They will need the threeo who are possibly the three most senior members of the first choice team to show the same leadership this year and will need others to do likewise.

They have some exciting young players coming through from their minor team last year like Ryan Donnelly, Kevin Daly and Patrick Curran. They have accumulated a lot of experience over the past few weeks playing against some of the best college sides in the country in helping Dungarvan Colleges and Dungarvan CBS to win All-Ireland Finals. Can they now play to the same level as they did on the colleges scene against players with considerably more experience. The next few weeks will tell.

Fourmilewater:

After a number of years knocking on the door and becoming the nearly team of the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship, Fourmilewater made a major break through last year and reached the semi final stages of the championship where they lost our to Dungarvan.

The question just like in the case of Dungarvan after going so close last year can they go that step or two further this year.

They have players of the highest order in Liam Lawlor and Shane Walsh while Jamie Barron as made the break through to the inter county set up and in the games he has played as acquitted himself well. They are able to call on Conor Gleeson this year and is a player to look out for going into the future, not just in hurling but in a variety of sports.

If there is a weakness in the Fourmilewater team it could be in their full back line. If they are willing to rob Peter and pay Paul, playing Liam Lawlor at number three and maybe Brian Wall at six, then they in my view could go a long way in 2013.

Mount Sion:

Mount Sion last year reached the semi final stages of the championship which surprised some. They are a side that are said to be in transition. Many of the players that helped them win the last of their record thirty five titles are no longer playing but the likes of Tony Browne, Ken and Eoin McGrath as well as Ian O’Regan, all very experienced players are still available to them.

They have some good young players coming through in the likes of Ian Galgey and Martin O’Neill, both who have played for the county in recent years.

Add in the likes of Stephen Roche and Owen Whelan and you can see the standard of player that the Monastery Men are bringing through.

Its hard to see them adding to their Roll of Honour this year, but one thing you never do with Mount Sion is to write them off.

Ballygunner:

Ballygunner last year had a very disappointing year. While they reached the knockout stages of the championship, they did so not as easily as they did in previous years, and when they lost out to Mount Sion at the quarter final stages of the championship, many were somewhat shocked.

They have some considerable talent in their panel. They have Stephen O’Keeffe, Pauric Mahony, Shane O’Sullivan, Barry Coughlan and Brian O’Sullivan currently with the senior inter county team.

Outside of the five, throw in the likes of Wayne Hutchinson, Alan Kirwan, Harley Barnes, Ian Kenny and Stephen O’Sullivan, and you can see why the ‘Gunners’ in the eyes of many are the side that are most likely to challenge De La Salle for this years title.

Lismore:

Lismore are knocking on the door for some time now, but have not added to their three County Final’s since they won early 90’s.

They went out of last years championship at the quarter final stages of the championship, going under to De La Salle by the smallest possible margin despite getting wrote off by many ahead of the match when it became known that Maurice Shanahan would not be playing because of suspension.

Lismore’s biggest problem seems to be in the last number of years is get as many players firing on all cylinders on the one day. If and when this does happen then someone will get a hurling lesson from them.

Abbeyside:

Four or five years ago, Abbeyside looked like a side that were going to make a major breakthrough in the senior hurling championship. They reached the final in 2008 but were beaten by De La Salle and since then they have slipped back some what.

There may be a good reason for this. In the same time they are knocking on the door of the football championship, winning a number of titles, and maybe like many before them are finding it difficult to find a balance between the two codes.

They are in a very tough group this year and could well find it difficult to get out of it, especially if they miss Richie Foley for any lengthy period of the competition. Their opening game against Passage is going to be crucial to their chances in 2013, with it and it’s a case of Tuas maith leath na hOibre, but if they were to go under, they are playing catch up and will have a number of tough games to come.

Tallow:

The Bridesiders are the surprise team of the championship with the past two years. In 2011 they reached the county final and recorded some good results on route, but last year they were shocking to say the least, and were somewhat fortunate to make the last eight of the competition.

What Tallow side shows up in 2013 remains to be seen. Questions would have to be asked of those over the team last year, especially when it came to picking the team. They had a number of players that were playing in positions that appeared to be alien to them and after loosing Aidan Kearney mid way through the league stages of the competition, they found it very difficult to replace him as he was playing well up to that point.

If they can field a full strength side from the off this year which could include the likes of Thomas Ryan, James Murray, David and Paul O’Brien etc. they will be a match for most. A lot will depend on the form of Thomas Ryan, a player I have seen come up through the ranks from under ten at the Ballyduff Tournament. If he was to hit a few early scores in each game be it from play or placed balls, then there is no reason why they can’t reach the knockout stages of the championship.

Passage:

The side have acquitted themselves well since coming up to the senior ranks six years ago, culminating in reaching the semi finals of the championship in 2010. Since then however they have slipped back some what, reaching the quarter final stages of the championship in 2011 and missing out on a place in the knockout stages of the competition last year.

They have some quality players in the likes of Eoin Kelly, Noel Connors, Killian Fitzgerald, Mark Wyse and Tommy Connors.

Eoin Kelly and Noel Connors missed key games for them last year which was possibly the difference in them not reaching the knockout stages of the competition.

If they were to be able play a full part in every game in 2013, there is no reason why they cant reach the quarter final stages of the competition at the very least and from there, anything can happen.

Roanmore:

When a club reaches the senior ranks, their main target or hope for the next year or two is to try and retain their senior status, something that Roanmore have done since winning the intermediate county final in 2010. Now however, they have to show that they are capable of moving up to the next level and make an all out bit to reach the last eight of the championship.

There best results last year was a draw against Tallow and a win against Dunhill who were relegated one year after winning the Intermediate title.

In Gavin O’Brien they have a player of some quality. The question has to be asked and its only Roanmore that can fully answer it, do they over rely on the young forward. Most would suggest they do and have a point when they argue that if he is kept quiet they will struggle for scores.

Its hard to see them battling it out for a place in the last eight of the competition. Most would see them as one of the favourites to be relegated this year, but maybe such claims can be used to spur them on to prove their doubters wrong.

Ballyduff Upper:

The side from the North Cork/West Waterford border side won the Waterford News and Star Cup in 2007 but last year they needed to withstand the challenge of Dunhill in a relegation play off to retain their senior status for 2013.

They are set to be minus the services of Stephen Molumphy for a considerable portion of this year and he will be a major loss to them, and with uncertainty about the availability of Adrian Power, it could be another tough year for the side from the Village.

Many of their player now regarded as veterans, the emergence of the likes of Cian Leamy, Michael Kearney and Kevin Casey manages to bring down the average age of the team some bit.

They have one of the smallest pools of players not just in the county, but in the country, as they are surrounded by the likes of Lismore, Ballysaggart, Araglen, Ballygiblin, St Catherine’s, Kilworth, Fermoy, Castlelyons, and Tallow, and if they suffer injuries, which they are reported to be carrying going into this weekend’s round of games, then it could be another long year for them.

An Rinn:

An Rinn are back playing Senior Hurling having last done so in 2009 when they were relegated after just one season in the top flight.

They did well last year to come out of a very difficult Western Intermediate Hurling Championship ahead of the likes of Cappoquin, Tourin, Ardmore and Clashmore who many believe would have been a head of them in the pecking order to reach the top flight of hurling within the county and then went on to beat a disappointing Portlaw side in the county final.

They brought in Peter Power late last year and he set his seal on the team helping their first touch etc.

Last year they had a solid half back and centre field pairing which helped them to win first the western and then county finals, but they will have to be even more solid in the senior ranks if they are to help their club to retain their status for 2014.

Donie Breathnach is likely to be their stand out player, but Liam Ó Lonáin will also be crucial to their hopes as will Christy Breathnach who was key to both Dungarvan Colleges and Dungarvan CBS in their recent successes.

They have what they will see as a favourable opening game against Tallow which if they win will go a long way towards helping retain their senior status but if they loose, it could be a long difficult year, especially as they are a duel senior club. The club is hosting the Annual Comortas Peil competition at the end of the month and they will want to do well in that. If this is the case, they will have some considerable amount of preparation put in with the footballs in the past number of weeks and it remains to be seen what workload they have done in hurling.