Last round of games in National Hurling League this weekend - what it could all mean.

If you were listening to the Big Breakfast Blaa on W.L.R.fm this morning, you will have heard predictions made by Keith Barry over a month ago read out, some of which have come through and one was marginally out. One or two of his predictions can still happen, and according to one, we have noting to fear this weekend in the National Hurling League and Waterford will beat Kilkenny by a small margin, meaning Waterford will qualify for the quarter finals of this years league next weekend.

However, we still might need to have the pen and paper at the ready this Sunday afternoon to work out what four teams will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition and what two sides will have to play off next weekend to see which side will drop to division 1B for the 2015 league.

Four of the six teams in Division 1A will qualify for the quarter finals of the league along with four teams in Division 1B. The top team in Division 1A will play the fourth team in Division 1B, the top team in Division 1B will play the fourth team in Division 1A and the second team in Divisions 1A and 1B will play the third team in the opposite group.

Clare currently top Division 1A with six points and are through to the quarter finals. The other five sides are all in with a chance of winning one of the last three places in the quarter finals from the Division.

Galway are currently in second place in Division 1A and a draw in Ennis would seen the Tribesmen advance to the quarter finals. The Winner of the game between Waterford and Kilkenny would also advance while a draw should be good enough for Dublin against Tipperary, but if Tipperary were to win then it could make things rather interesting.

This year’s league is proving to be very close and it would not be too surprising to see two or three teams finish on six points and it is also possible that a number of teams could finish on four points.

Should this happen, the final placing will be decided in a number of ways.

If two teams were to finish on the same amount of points then the winner of the game between the two sides will top the group, as what happened last year when Galway finished above Waterford in the league despite Waterford having a better score difference.

Where three or more teams were to finish on the same about of points, then the results games will not be used. Instead score difference would be used.

If three or more teams were to finish level on points and were also to finish with a similar score difference, the team that scores the most over five games would be the higher placed team and if by some strange coincidence teams were to finish with the same amount of scores, a play off would be used to decide who would top the group.

Should Waterford win in Nolan Park and secure a place in the quarter finals, should they be paired with a team that had three home games in the league section of the competition, Waterford would have home advantage. The same would apply to any team that played two home games that advances to the quarter finals.

However should Waterford or any other team advance that played two home games and are paired with a team that played two home games, then home advantage will be decided by a toss of a coin. The same would apply where teams that had three home games and paired together would apply.

The team that tops Division 1B in addition to winning a place in quarter finals, they will play in Division 1A next year.

The four teams that will contest the quarter finals from Division 1B are known ahead of this weekend’s games. Cork, Limerick, Wexford and Laois have all qualified for the last eight. Only the final placing is to be decided this weekend.

Antrim and Offaly are set to meet this weekend in Tullamore, but regardless of the outcome of the game, the two will have to meet again a week later where the looser will have to play the winner of Division 2A (Kerry or Carlow) to see who will play in Division 1B in 2015. The winner of the second game between Offaly and Antrim will safeguard their place in Division 1B.

Cork can guarantee themselves top spot and a place in Division 1A of next years league should they beat Wexford at Pairc Ui Rinn. If the Model County men win and Limerick were to beat Laois, then Limerick would top the table as a result of their win over Wexford earlier in the league. If the game at Pairc Ui Rinn was to end in a draw and Limerick were to win their game with Laois, then score difference would be used to separate Cork and Limerick who would end level on points as the two drew in the opening round of games. As things stand, Limerick has a superior score difference to Cork so they would top the group.

Division 1A League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Clare	4	3	1	0	96	81	6
2	Galway	4	2	2	0	88	81	4
3	Kilkenny	4	2	2	0	97	92	4
4	Dublin	4	2	2	0	76	83	4
5	Waterford	4	2	2	0	74	81	4
6	Tipperary	4	1	3	0	90	103	2

Division 1B League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Cork	4	3	0	1	76	60	7
2	Limerick	4	2	0	2	90	64	6
3	Wexford	4	3	1	0	81	71	6
4	Laois	4	2	2	0	77	82	4
5	Offaly	4	0	3	1	81	95	1
6	Antrim	4	0	4	0	62	95	0

Division 2A League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Kerry	4	4	0	0	111	68	8
2	Carlow	4	3	1	0	82	55	6
3	Derry	4	2	2	0	65	80	4
4	Westmeath	4	1	2	1	62	72	3
5	London	4	1	2	1	55	65	3
6	Kildare	4	0	4	0	60	95	0

This weekends fixtures:

Division 1A –

Tipperary V Dublin in Thurles at 2pm. Referee - Brian Gavin

Kilkenny V Waterford in Nolan Park at 2pm. Referee – James Owens

Clare V Galway in Ennis at 2pm. Referee – Diarmuid Kirwan

Division 1B –

Cork V Wexford in Pairc Ui Rinn at 2pm. Referee – Barry Kelly

Laois V Limerick in Portlaoise at 2pm. Referee – Alan Kelly

Offaly V Antrim in Tullamore at 2pm. Referee – Johnny Ryan

Division 2A -

London V Kerry in Ruislip at 2pm. Referee – David Hughes

Carlow V Westmeath in Carlow at 2pm. Referee – Sean Cleere

Kildare V Derry in Newbridge at 2pm. Referee – John Keenan

For Quarter Final draws in Division 1:

Tipperary had 3 home and 2 away games:

Waterford had 2 home and 3 away games:

Galway had 2 home and 3 away games:

Dublin had 2 home and 3 away games

Clare had 3 home and 2 away games

Kilkenny had 3 home and 2 away games

Cork had 3 home and 2 away games

Limerick had 2 home and 3 away games

Wexford had 2 home and 3 away games

Laois had 3 home and two away games