Weekly Digest - 12 September 2013

Senior Hurling

It’s a big weekend on the County Senior Hurling front as four games are down for decision and there is also a relegation play off down to be played.

The games have been previewed elsewhere on my blog. Listed below are details of the fixtures.

Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final – Ballygunner V De La Salle in Walsh Park on Saturday at 5-30pm
Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final – Tallow V Mount Sion in Fraher Field on Sunday at 1-30pm
Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final – Ballyduff Upper V Passage in Fraher Field on Sunday at 3pm
Senior Hurling Championship Quarter Final – Abbeyside V Fourmilewater in Fraher Field on Sunday at 6pm
Senior Hurling Championship Relegation Play Off Final – An Rinn V Roanmore in Kill on Saturday at 3pm.

East Intermediate Hurling

The semi finals of this year’s Eastern Intermediate hurling championship are due to be played this coming Sunday in Walsh Park.

It is a pity that the double header does clash with the three games down for decision in the senior championship at Fraher Field, but at this time of the year, the hands of the divisional boards are heavily tied as they have just a small period of time each weekend when they can play games.

Dunhill who were relegated from the Senior Championship are involved in the first game against Clonea which has a 2-45 throw in. Dunhill having played in the senior championship last year would in the eyes of many be the favourites going into this game but they could have it all to do as Clonea are an experienced outfit at this grade of hurling and added to what they had to pick from in previous years at the start of this year.

The second game sees Portlaw who won the championship in the east of the county last year take on De La Salle’s second string team.

Portlaw looked good last year in winning the Eastern Final but they were heavily beaten by An Rinn in the final. De La Salle are going all out to win this championship this year. Recently when they found themselves struggling for numbers in the senior grade, they opted to call upon members of the third string team to fill the gaps rather than to break up their second string team.

Clonea and Portlaw get the nod to win and clash in the Eastern Final in a few weeks, but the chances of Dunhill and De La Salle cannot be dispelled to easily.

Details of Fixtures.

Dunhill V Clonea in Walsh Park on Sunday at 2-45pm

Portlaw V De La Salle in Walsh Park on Sunday at 4-30pm

Western Championship

The Western divisional board have a number of very attractive games on their programme for the weekend.

In the Junior Hurling second string competitions, Brickeys and Ballysaggart clash in Fraher Field on Friday evening at 7pm while at the same time in Ballyduff near neighbours Tallow and Lismore clash, and on Sunday in Cappoquin, Abbeyside and Shamrocks meet again in the second string competitions.

In Junior Hurling proper, Colligan and Geraldine’s drew last week in the first of the semi finals and are due to meet again on Friday night under the lights at Fraher Field. The game has a 8-30pm start and with nothing between the sides last weekend supporters of both sides could have a late night in Dungarvan especially if the game was to go to extra time.

Colligan will be looking to the likes of Johnny Wall, Gavin Whelan, Sean Dempsey, John Morrissey, Dean McKenna and Colin Dunford to see them through this game while Geraldine’s will be looking to Pat and Ger O’Donovan, Jerome Maher, Aidan Dwyer, Danny O’Keeffe and Raymond Connery.

The second semi final goes ahead on Saturday evening at 5-30 between Ballysaggart and Modeligo at Lismore.

This could prove to be a good game of hurling. Ballysaggart had reached the semi final ahead of the last round of games in the league section of the competition, a round that Modeligo ensured they would be playing this weekend by comprehensively beating Kilgobinet.

Modeligo have a number of good and experienced players to choose from. The experience will come from the likes of John and Pat Fitzgerald, Shane Troy and Padraig McCarthy while Pa O’Donovan, Michael Troy and inter county minor star Tom Devine will offer the youth.

Ballysaggart also have a team with a nice blend of youth and experience. Ronan Walsh, Daniel Devine, Kenneth Cashell, Darren Meagher as well as Kieran, Shane and Stephen Bennett will be key to their chances.

Geraldine’s and Ballysaggart were the teams that finished in the top positions in the group after the league stages of the competition and get the nod to advance from these semi finals.

In the Intermediate hurling championship two quarter finals are down for decision. Cappoquin and Brickeys are through to the semi finals and they await the winners of this weekends games.

Ardmore and Shamrocks meet in the first of the quarter finals at Fraher Field on Saturday evening. Both sides have a nice blend of youth and experience, meaning the end result could well prove to be an entertaining game of hurling.

Shamrocks will be looking to the likes of long standing goalkeeper Liam Murphy, the O’Donovan’s Colm and Shane Roche and former inter county star Eoin Murphy to see them through this game.

Ardmore will be looking to Seamus and Declan Prendergast as well as former inter county goal keeper Clinton Hennessy and rising stars Conor O’Shea and Michael Cronin to provide inspiration.

The second quarter finals will see Clashmore take on Stradbally.

Both of these sides are possibly best known as football clubs but both are also very good hurling sides.

Clashmore are getting Brian O’Halloran back to fitness after an injury that kept him out of contention for much of the year, but they can also call upon the likes of Tadhg Bourke, Paul O’Connor, Ed O’Halloran and Darren Foley who have all played minor for Waterford in the last few years.

Stradbally’s stand out player in Michael Walsh, but they also have good hurlers in the likes of Trevor Curran, Shane Lannon, Tony Grey and the Aherne’s.

These two games could well go to the wire. Shamrocks and Clashmore get the nod to advance in the two games, but as always, don’t write off the chances of Ardmore and Stradbally too easily.

Details of Fixtures

Junior Hurling – Friday              Brickeys V Ballysaggart in Fraher Field at 7pm                                                                                                    Tallow V Lismore in Ballyduff Upper at 7pm

                                                       Colligan V Geraldine’s in Fraher Field at 8-30pm

Intermediate Hurling – Saturday        Ardmore V Shamrocks in Fraher Field at 5-30pm

                                                            Clashmore V Stradbally in Fraher Field at 7pm

Junior Hurling – Saturday                   Ballysaggart V Modeligo in Lismore at 5-30pm

Junior Hurling – Sunday                      Abbeyside V Shamrocks in Cappoquin at 12 noon

Minor Hurling

After winning the All-Ireland final last Sunday, the stars of that team did not have long to celebrate their win as the minor championship restarted after a short break on Wednesday evening.

It was a night that rained goals across the four divisions.

In Division one, St Carthage’s had a 3-17 to 1-9 win over Abbeyside, Roanmore beat Dungarvan1-12 to 0-11 while in the all city clash, Ballygunner had a comprehensive 3-19 to 1-14 win over Mount Sion.

In division two, Sacred Heart and St Oliver’s had to share the spoils, the game ending in a 1-18 to 3-12 draw, it rained goals at Colligan as Naomh Brid beat Brick7-12 to 7-10, Cappoquin had a 2-16 to 0-18 win over Passage and Clonea had a 3-18 to 3-8 win over Clan na Gael.

In division three, An Gaeltacht had a 3-17 to 2-15 win over Clashmore, Cois Bhride were too strong for Ardmore winning 4-16 to 1-6, Fourmilewater won by the smallest possible margin, 2-14 to 2-13 away to Ferrybank and Portlaw proved too strong for Ardmore, winning 10-10 to 5-5 in Portlaw.

In Division four in the battle of the two Ballyduff’s, it was Ballyduff Lower that came out on top against Ballyduff Upper, winning 4-13 to 3-13. The game between Saint Saviours and Saint Mary’s resulted in the Ballybeg based men getting a walk over from the mid county side.

Ladies Football

This coming Sunday, the Ladies Football County Board have a big fundraising day at the Al-Eile Stud Farm in Kilgobinet.

Four Provincial and three All-Ireland trophies won by sides from the county will be on display on the day.

Entry to the Stud Farm this year will be free, however, buckets will be placed around the farm and those calling to it are asked to be as generous as possible.

Members of the All-Ireland winning under 14 and 16 teams will be present on the day, and former inter county player and current international rugby player Niamh Briggs will also be present.

Camogie

A Waterford under 14 team will travel to Dublin on Saturday to take part in an All-Ireland blitz. The team is preparing for this competition with some time. The best of luck is wished to the team.

County U13 Hurling Finals

The County under 13 Hurling finals take place on Saturday in Walsh Park.

The Division one final between Abbeyside and Mount Sion will throw in at 12-30 and will be followed by the division two final between Cois Bhride and Clonea at 2pm. The days programme gets under way at 11am with the meeting of Kilrossanty and Ballygunner ‘B’ at 11am.