Tipperary again have home advantage for league semi

HURLING LEAGUE: SEMPLE STADIUM will host a double bill of Allianz Hurling League semi-finals later this month – affording Tipperary home advantage over Cork for the third successive time this season.

The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) yesterday confirmed the dates and venues for all the remaining hurling league fixtures, starting with the Division One B final between Limerick and Clare on Saturday evening (6pm), with Limerick benefiting from home advantage at the Gaelic Grounds.

Whoever wins there – as well as gaining automatic promotion to Division One A – will contest the semi-final double bill, set for Thurles on April 22nd: Kilkenny, as the top-placed team in Division One A, await the winners of Limerick-Clare (2pm), while at 4pm Tipperary will again face-off against Cork.

Last Sunday saw the teams finish in a thrilling draw, 1-23 apiece, also in Thurles, in front of a crowd of 10,151: the teams also met in the Waterford Crystal Cup in February, when Tipp emerged one-point winners after extra-time in Templemore, which means the league semi-final will be their third meeting in as many months, with Tipp having the home venue for each one.

In the meantime, Dublin and Galway will meet in O’Connor Park in Tullamore for their Division One A relegation play-off on Sunday week, April 15th – the same day as the other divisional finals and relegation play-offs. The curtain raiser for the Dublin-Galway game will be Fingal against Monaghan in the Division Three A final.

The Division One B relegation play-off between Wexford and Laois will be played at Nowlan Park – the teams met on Sunday in what was a sort of a dry run ahead of that game, with Wexford winning comfortably.

As reigning league champions, Dublin could hardly have imagined themselves in a relegation play-off, but they’re happy with the Tullamore venue, and are expecting nothing less than a dogfight against Galway. Joe Canning is expected to be fit again for Galway, having missed all of last month with a shoulder injury.

“That was always our understanding, that it would go to a neutral venue like Tullamore,” said county chairman Andy Kettle, “and that if it happened to be Waterford we were playing it would have been Nowlan Park. Galway trimmed us earlier on in the league, both mentally and physically. We’ll have to up be our game, big time.”

Kilkenny will be without forward Richie Hogan for their semi-final with confirmation yesterday he had suffered a collapsed lung in an accidental collision with Galway goalkeeper Jamie Ryan in the closing stages of Sunday’s 25-point win in Nowlan Park.

Hogan was detained in hospital following the game, and will be out of action for at least four weeks, but could possibly be in contention to return for the league final on May 6th.

Remaining Hurling League Fixtures

Sat, Apr 7th Division 1B Final – Clare v Limerick, Gaelic Grounds 6pm.

Sun, Apr 15th Division 1A Relegation Play-off – Galway v Dublin, O'Connor Park, 4pm.

Division 1B Relegation Play-off – Wexford v Laois, Nowlan Park, 2pm.

Division 2A Final – Carlow v Westmeath, Nowlan Park, 4pm.

Division 2B Final – Kildare v Meath, Parnell Park, 4pm.

Division 3A Final – Monaghan v Fingal, O'Connor Park, 2pm.

Division 3B Relegation Play-off – Donegal v Sligo, Brewster Park 4.30pm.

Division 3B Final – Fermanagh v Warwickshire, Parnell Park, 2pm.

Sun, Apr 22nd Division 1 Semi-finals – Kilkenny v Clare/Limerick, Semple Stadium, 2pm; Cork v Tipperary, Semple Stadium, 4pm.

Division 2A Relegation Play-off – Wicklow v Down, Páirc Tailteann, 2pm.