A barrage of first half goals saw Ballyhale Shamrocks roar their way into the semi-finals of the Kilkenny senior hurling championship.

Leinster U21 HC semi-finals Kilkenny v Carlow, Netwatch Cullen Park (J Heffernan, Wexford), 7.30pm.

A super goal from Keith Hogan, brother of county star Brian, fired holders Clara to victory over a young James Stephens team in the first round of the Kilkenny senior hurling championship yesterday.

ALL-IRELAND SHC FINAL REPLAY:

Kilkenny SHL

Kilkenny’s Michael Fennelly returns at centre-forward for tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final clash against Limerick.

Kilkenny continue the policy of rotation for tomorrow’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1 final in Semple Stadium (throw-in 3.30pm).

Galway footballers have suffered a massive blow with the news that Michael Meehan will not feature in this year’s championship.

All-Ireland intermediate club champions Clara have marked their return to the Kilkenny senior hurling grade in spectacular fashion by winning the league.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy and John Allen will shake hands on the sideline on Sunday as opposing managers, after steering Cork and Limerick respectively into the Munster SHC final.

Cork have named the same side that beat Clare in the Munster SFC semi-final for Sunday’s provincial decider against Kerry.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte will give debuts to three players in tomorrow’s All-Ireland SFC qualifier clash with Offaly in O’Connor Park in Tullamore (3pm).

Lar Corbett is winning his battle to be fit for Tipperary’s Munster semi-final against Limerick on June 9 — but Kilkenny are remaining surprisingly tight-lipped about their injury list ahead of facing Offaly on the same day.

Kilkenny received a massive boost over the weekend with news that TJ Reid is ready to resume his inter-county career.

Brian Hogan, a vital cog in the Kilkenny defence, is in danger of missing the Cats' All-Ireland SHC quarter-final clash with Limerick.

There was good news for Kilkenny fans as JJ Delaney and Michael Fennelly returned to action, but it was Eoin Larkin who grabbed the headlines in the latest round of the Kilkenny senior hurling league.

TODAY

ST MARTIN’S (Muckalee) and James Stephens eased into the Kilkenny SHC semi-finals yesterday, but league kings and championship favourites Ballyhale Shamrocks and neighbours and fierce rivals Carrickshock must meet again after a thrilling draw.

IT was something of a phoney war in that both sides were keeping a little in reserve for the championship, but Ballyhale Shamrocks picked up their first title of the year when winning the senior hurling league final against James Stephens on Saturday.

EDDIE BRENNAN has been recalled to the Kilkenny team for tomorrow’s All-Ireland final, with TJ Reid losing out.

THE Kilkenny senior hurling league final, which will be played two weeks after the All-Ireland final, will be contested by champions Ballyhale Shamrocks and old city foes James Stephens.

Kilkenny hurler PJ Delaney has been ruled out of the Cats' plans for the rest of the Championship, following an operation on a troublesome hip injury.

IT WAS a bad weekend for the 2010 county finalists as both O’Loughlin Gaels and Carrickshock suffered defeat in the fourth round of the Kilkenny senior hurling league.

WEXFORD in Wexford Park isn’t the fixture Henry Shefflin would have chosen for Kilkenny’s championship bow this summer, but the former hurler of the year has nonetheless welcomed the decision to playSaturday week’s fixture away from Croke Park.

BEATEN All-Ireland finalists O’Loughlin-Gaels are the only team with a 100% record in the two groups of the Kilkenny Senior League after three rounds.

HENRY SHEFFLIN is more than happy to play the long game right now.

Ballyhale Shamrocks, the All-Ireland club hurling champions and five in-a-row championship chasers in Kilkenny, got a sharp reminder of how difficult life will be without Henry Shefflin when they crashed to defeat against great rivals James Stephens in the SHL final.

FOR years the Kilkenny-Tipperary rivalry lay idle, softened by the few intermittent meetings that the passing summers deemed fit to bestow, but the Fenians club experienced its resurrection first-hand this time last year.

THE Powers of Carrickshock are no strangers to All-Ireland finals but Sunday’s events in Croke Park will be extra special even by their dizzyingly high standards.

Kilkenny have chosen a strong side to face Waterford in a Senior Hurling game to mark the opening of Mooncoin GAA Club’s new complex on Sunday.

FOR most counties, an All-Ireland final involvement enhances public interest in the domestic championships and it will be no different in Nowlan Park when the Kilkenny hurling semi-finals are decided tomorrow.

ALL the excitement of the All-Ireland final put to bed, it’s back to serious club business in Kilkenny and Tipperary this weekend, the senior club championships in both counties at quarter-final stage with one exception.

BRIAN CODY has always lauded his opponents, no matter how inept the challenge or how heavy the defeat his side has inflicted upon them, but compliments for his own troops have been less forthcoming.

Fenians clubman PJ Ryan will make a rare championship start for Kilkenny when the All-Ireland champions take on Offaly in tomorrow's Leinster SHC semi-final (Portlaoise, throw-in 4pm).

SEARCHES were continuing last night for a gang who rammed gardaí manning a checkpoint after a robbery at a scrap metal compound.

In a bid to freshen up his options for the 2006 season, Kilkenny boss Brian Cody has omitted seven regular players from his squad for the upcoming Walsh Cup and National League campaigns.

THE struggle between club and county continues in Antrim. With the county U21 hurlers due to play Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final in Navan on Saturday, several clubs are reluctant to release their players because of county championship matches the following day.

PJ Delaney, a 1993 All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, has received the all-clear from doctors to restart his hurling career.