Plenty of Drama as last four in Senior Hurling Championship are confirmed.

The quarter final pairings for this years county senior hurling championship were confirmed over the weekend with the staging of the final round of games in the league section of the competition in the two groups.

Games in group A were played at venues across West Waterford on a Saturday evening with group two games going ahead twenty four hours later at Walsh Park, Kill and Fraher Field.

Ahead of this past weekend’s games, De La Salle, Fourmilewater and Ballyduff Upper had qualified for the knockout stages in group one, while Mount Sion and Passage had qualified in group two.

The game at Cappoquin on Saturday evening between Ballyduff Upper and Fourmilewater was in effect a dead rubber game with the only thing to be decided which of the two would finish second and third.

Both sides were short of first choice players and both sides also played without the players on the county minor team that are most likely to feature in the upcoming All-Ireland final.

The opening half proved to be an even battle with the sides retiring level at the break (1-5 to 0-8) the goal coming on twenty four minutes for Ballyduff Upper from Kevin Casey.

Fourmilewater were well on top in the second half, striking the first seven scores of the half, including a goal from Jamie Barron on thirty eight minutes which gave Fourmilewater a 1-11 to 1-5 lead.

At the three quarters stage mark in the game, Fourmilewater had stretched their lead to eight points (1-15 to 1-7) and they continued to dominate the game to run out comfortable 1-21 to 1-9 winners.

At Clashmore Lismore were always on top. There was never any doubting what the final outcome of the game would be, the only thing to be decided was the winning margin and then Lismore would have to wait for news from Fraher Field to see if their efforts were all in vein.

Lismore in total struck seven goals over the course of the hour. Former inter county star Dan Shanahan struck the first two goals of the game, the first coming on ten minutes and the second coming ten minutes later.

Chris O’Gorman added a third goal for the Heritage Town side on twenty four minutes which helped Lismore to a 3-14 to 0-9 lead at the break.

In the second half, Lismore continued to control proceedings. Paudie Prendergast hit their fourth goal on thirty nine minutes and on forty six minutes John Heneghan added a firth which gave Lismore a 5-19 to 0-14 lead.

Dave Howard added a sixth for Lismore on fifty three minutes and the route was complete for An Rinn a minute from time when Jordan Shanahan crashed Lismore’s seventh goal.

An Rinn in their first season back in the senior ranks since they were relegated in 2009 finished bottom of the group and will face Roanmore in a relegation play off in the coming weeks.

Both sides throughout the championship have suffered their share of injuries, but the 2012 intermediate champions will go into that game in somewhat of a confident mood as after hitting nineteen points in this game, a tally that would win most games would have won most games and they would have had something to spare as well.

All Lismore’s hard work in the game with An Rinn was to prove to be for nothing however as their neighbours Tallow pulled off what some have described as a surprise win over last years county senior hurling champions, De La Salle who were short several members of that winning team.

Tallow opened the game brightly hitting two early frees from Paul Kearney and they added the first goal of the game on seven minutes when Thomas Ryan finished superbly to give them a 1-2 to 0-2 lead.

De La Salle missed a good chance to come right back into the game on twelve minutes when Eoin Madigan won his side a penalty but Jake Dillon saw his effort saved by Shaun O’Sullivan in the Tallow goal.

Tallow added a second goal in sixteen minutes, Thomas Ryan again sending the umpire to reach for the green flag, a score which gave Tallow a 2-2 to 0-2 lead.

The remainder of the half proved to be an even enough encounter as Jake Dillon put over a brace of frees for De La Salle and Paudie Nevin added one from play, while Paul Kearney added two for Tallow and Aidan Kearney added one to give Tallow a 2-5 to 0-5 lead at the switch of ends.

Tallow began the second half as they did the first putting over a brace of scores, but De La Salle responded with points fro John Coady, David Green and Adam O’Sullivan.

Former inter county hurler Bryan Phelan in between efforts from Paul Kearney and Shane McCarthy gave Tallow a 2-9 to 0-9 advantage at the three quarter stage mark in the game.

De La Salle however were to finish the game the stronger of the two sides, as Adam O’Sullivan, Jake Dillon with a brace and John Coady all landed points, with Tallow’s sole response coming from William McCarthy which helped his side to a 2-10 to 0-13 victory and a place in the quarter finals.

On Sunday evening, Mount Sion were to prove too strong for Roanmore at the Kill venue.

The Monastery Men were always on top in this game and lead 0-4 to 0-1 after fifteen minutes.

At the break they lead 0-10 to 0-4 and they continued in the second half to be the stronger of the two sides.

At the three quarter stage mark in the game they held a 0-13 to 0-6 advantage and in the final quarter of the game, the two sides split eight points evenly between them as Mount Sion ran out 0-17 to 0-10 winners.

At Walsh Park, for much of the first half very little separated neighbours Ballygunner and Passage.

A Brian O’Sullivan goal on three minutes was to prove to be a crucial score for Ballygunner who needed to win this game to secure a place in the last eight of the championship.

Just past the quarter of an hour mark Ballygunner held a 1-2 to 0-3 advantage, and at the break they had stretched the gap between the sides to four as they went in leading 1-7 to 0-8.

At the end of the third quarter Ballygunner lead 1-13 to 0-8 and they stretched that lead even further on forty seven minutes when JJ Hutchinson rattled the Passage net.

Inter county minor panel member Sean Hogan pulled a goal back for Passage three minutes from time, but it was to prove to be a mere consolation score as Ballygunner ran out winners on a 2-17 to 1-9 winners.

There was plenty of drama at Fraher Field where the nearest of neighbours Dungarvan and Abbeyside clashed in a must win game for both sides.

An estimated attendance of around 3,000 filed through the turn styles to see both these sides serve up a battle that the final outcome was in doubt right up to the finish.

Abbeyside were to have the better start in this game and after nine minutes they held a 0-3 to 0-1 lead, but from here to the break, Dungarvan were to proved to be the better of the two sides and they retired to the dressing rooms holding a 0-9 to 0-4 advantage thanks mainly to the unerring shooting by Patrick Curran with older brother Cormac as well as inter county player Jamie Nagle also getting their names on the score sheet in the first half.

The opening exchanges of the second half proved to be even enough as both sides traded scores.

On thirty nine minutes Mark Gorman put over a free to leave his side trailing 0-13 to 0-7, but when Patrick Hurney finished a long range Richie Foley free to the net two minutes later the tide began to turn.

Hurney added another point to leave two between the sides and when Gary Hurney was pulled down inside the box on forty nine minutes, Stephen Enright made the long trip up field to take a penalty and he made no mistake in giving his side a 2-8 to 0-13 advantage.

Dungarvan needing to win if they were to advance to the knockout stages of the championship with Ballygunner winning in Walsh Park hit back with a brace of Patrick Curran frees to give Dungarvan a one point advantage with nine minutes to play.

It was now Abbeyside that had to show what they could do as they would bow out of the competition if both Dungarvan and Ballygunner were to win, and they hit back with a brace of Mark Gorman points to give them the advantage with two minutes to play.

There was still time for Drama as Cormac Curran levelled matters with a minute to go, and with just seconds left of the clock Mark Gorman put over a free to give Abbeyside the lead.

Nobody however was leaving the ground early and in stoppage time Dungarvan won a free less than thirty metres from goal. Patrick Curran had no other option but to send go for goal. The supporters of both sides held their breath as Abbeyside brought fourteen men in front of their goal, while Dungarvan had twelve players in front of the Abbeyside goal and the County Minor star standing over the ball.

Abbeyside were able to prevent the ball from reaching its destination, and the full time whistle soon followed. Abbeyside won by a goal, but for some Abbeyside supporters the win was worth a lot more to see their neighbours from across the harbour go crashing out of the championship.

With the final whistle came the confirmation of the quarter final pairings. De La Salle and Ballygunner will mean in what surly will be the tie of the round. Mount Sion and Tallow have served up some lively battles in the last few years and they must meet once again, while the other quarter finals see Abbeyside and Fourmilewater clash in an all Western Clash while two sides from opposite ends of the county Passage and Ballyduff Upper also meet in the last eight.

The quarter finals of the championship are pencilled in for the weekend of September 14 and 15, and while it is to be confirmed it could well be expected that An Rinn and Roanmore could clash in the relegation play off.