A crowd of 3,224 is not what you expect for a first-round Munster SHL fixture on a cold and, at times, wet evening in mid-December. Then again, this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill pre-season blowout.

Cork’s side for tonight’s Munster U21HC semi-final against Waterford in Páirc Uí Chaoimh (7.30pm) will feature five players who have played in this year’s provincial senior championship while none of the Déise side saw action.

DCU were always in control of this all-Dublin clash between two colleges hoping to reach their first Fitzgibbon Cup final and they will now hope to bring the trophy back to the capital for the first time since 2001.

Fitzgibbon Cup Group B: University of Limerick 3-29 - Dublin Institute of Technology 4-17: It proved all too easy for the hurlers of University Limerick in this Fitzgibbon Cup clash.

Kilkenny won the first All-Ireland at the redeveloped Páirc Uí Chaoimh, off the back of a strong second-half showing, writes Eoghan Cormican.

Cork’s nine-year wait for a Munster MHC final appearance is over as Denis Ring’s young troops produced a hugely impressive performance to down the reigning champions in this evening’s semi-final replay.

The incentives for the Cork minor hurlers are many: To be the team that ends the county’s nine-year wait for a Munster final appearance at this level, to end the reign of the 2016 All-Ireland champions, to exact revenge for defeat by Tipperary at this hurdle last year, and to ensure there are two Cork teams at Semple Stadium on July 9.

AIB All-Ireland Club IHC final

Nenagh CBS 0-20 De La Salle College 2-13 (after extra-time): Tipperary All-Ireland minor winner Jake Morris again emerged as the game changer on a gusty afternoon in Cashel yesterday.

Tipperary All Ireland minor winner Jake Morris hit three extra time points as Nenagh CBS progressed to the last four of the Harty Cup at a breezy Cashel this afternoon.

Tipperary 7-12 Galway 2-12

Munster MHC play-off - Waterford 1-20 Tipperary 1-17: Waterford minor hurling boss Stephen Gough got the response he craved from his team at Walsh Park on Saturday. 

Nenagh CBS 4-18 Thurles CBS 0-14: Holders Thurles CBS crashed out of the Dr Harty Cup after their Tipperary rivals Nenagh CBS produced a devastating second-half performance in Templemore yesterday.

Limerick 1-23 Tipperary 2-13: Don Flynn’s Limerick made it through to a first Munster intermediate hurling final since 2011 with a comfortable seven-point victory over Tipperary in yesterday’s semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds.

Tracton 0-18 Kilworth 1-10: Tracton outscored Kilworth by 10 points to two in the second half of this Cork Premier IHC tie to secure victory at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday.

Blarney 2-13 Kilworth 0-15: Two heavyweights every year in the Cork Premier IHC went head to head in the second of the double headers in the Páirc Uí Rinn yesterday.

Limerick IT 1-19 DIT 1-13: Limerick IT registered their second successive win as they overcame DIT in their Fitzgibbon Cup, Group D clash at the Parnells ground in Coolock.

Dublin 4-20 DIT 1-12

Cork Premier IHC: Kanturk 0-21 Kilworth 1-16

Kilkenny passed a test of stamina to take back their second Tony Forristal U14 title in three years at Walsh Park on Saturday evening.

Kilworth 2-13 Inniscarra 1-12

Carrickshock 4-14 Shamrocks 2-14

Clare 1-17 Tipperary 2-10

Tipperary 5-19 Cork 2-13

There was a huge crossover of personnel when Tipperary secured an All-Ireland senior and U21 hurling double in 2010.

Tipperary 2-18 Limerick 2-11

Kilworth have been knocking on the Cork IHC door for a few years now and yesterday in Páirc Uí Rinn they finally knocked it down.

Kilworth 2-14 Argideen Rangers 0-16

Kilworth are the first team into the Cork IHC semi-finals after easily beating Fermoy in Ballygiblin last evening.

Seven times since the inception of this competition in 1964, Clare have met Tipperary in the Munster final and seven times they have lost.

This was a tame defence of their Munster U-21 hurling title by champions Limerick at the rain-sodden Gaelic Grounds last night.

For those of you nostalgic for the way hurling was played before the days of tactics and game plans, for those of you who long for the time when you got real value for money at the turnstile, the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick is the place to be this evening, as Limerick face Tipperary in the first semi-final of the Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21 hurling championship.

Holders Limerick have named a powerful side for tomorrow’s Munster U21 semi-final clash with Tipperary at the (Gaelic Grounds 7.30pm).

Senior stars Conor Lehane and Jamie Coughlan will be key figures in the Cork attack for tomorrow night’s Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21HC quarter-final clash with Tipperary at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

A winning debut for Davy Fitzgerald in his first competitive game at the helm of his native county as a far fitter, faster and fired-up Clare destroyed WIT in Sixmilebridge yesterday in this Waterford Crystal SH Tournament preliminary game.

A HAT-TRICK of goals in the first half by corner-forward Conor Keane proved instrumental in propelling St Brendan’s to victory over Cork opponents St Fachtna’s in their opening Corn Uí Mhuirí Group B encounter in Cloughduv yesterday afternoon.

THE tail-end of Hurricane Katia has made the practice rounds for the Chartis Irish Cups and Shields finals at Castlerock, Co Derry over the past few days more a test of stamina than skill, although it is confidently expected calm will have been restored when the festival gets under way today with the semi-finals of both the Barton Shield and Irish Junior Cup.

DESPITE playing his third big game in seven days, Aidan Walsh inspired Kanturk to a quarter-final slot in the IHC at Milford on Saturday.