Divisional hurling championship set to commence
The Eastern and Western Club Championships to begin today (Saturday).
With the completion of the All County Leagues in the past week it is straight into championship action for the divisional boards this coming weekend with opening rounds of the Group stages of the A, B, and C Junior Championships across both divisions while the Eastern Board has a full round of the Gerry Kennedy Crash Repairs Intermediate Hurling Championship down for decision on Saturday.
Senior clubs Clonea and De La Salle will be in Junior A action Friday when they face each other in Portlaw and the other Junior A game down for decision in the East will see Passage taking on St. Marys in Dunhill on Sunday at 12.30 pm.
Most interest over the weekend will focus on the three Intermediate games taking place on Saturday. First up will be the meeting of St. Saviours and Erins Own in Fenor at 2 pm. Both sides have been hit by players going abroad in recent years and as shown here recently Adam Byrne will be a big loss to Erins Own this year. Group games are all about finding where clubs stand ahead of the knockout championship and we will know more about the prospects of these teams after this game.
We have a real local ‘derby’ clash in Kill at 4.30 pm where one time allies Butlerstown and Ballyduff Lower will clash. Former divisional champions Ballyduff have been badly hit by emigration in recent times with four prominent players now playing in Australia and while Butlerstown too have been hit in that regard they may have an edge here.
The big game of the day will be the meeting of traditional rivals and near neighbours Portlaw and St. Mollerans. This game should see supporters of both teams making their way to Dunhill for the 7pm. start with Portlaw seeking to get off to a winning start in defence of their Eastern title. The Tannery Town men put in a strong performance despite losing to Brickey Rangers in last weekend’s league final and they will be hoping to maintain their momentum from that game here. St. Mollerans looked a much improved side in the early part of last year when capturing a league title but lost their edge towards the final stages of the championship. They have some good young players coming through this year and will be hoping to get off to a good start here.
As can be seen from the fixtures list the Western Board is concentrating on the opening rounds of the Junior B and C championships this coming weekend.
