The Kilkenny team to play Clare in the Allianz Hurling League semi-final at Semple Stadium, Thurles, tomorrow at 2pm shows a number of positional and personnel changes from the side that defeated Galway in their last League outing.

Anthony Cunningham was left feeling distinctly “black and amber” after a weekend to forget was completed by a trouncing in Nowlan Park yesterday.

Cork 1-17 Kilkenny 1-15

John Mullane returns to the Waterford side for tomorrow’s crucial Allianz League Division 1A clash with Galway at Pearse Stadium (2.30pm).

The last time a competition ended like this, it must have been the OK Corral in 1881.

Kilkenny continued their impressive early-season form with a nine-point win in sunny Walsh Park yesterday but not before getting a stern early examination from the injury-hit home side.

A youthful Galway were given a lesson yesterday as Kilkenny swept them aside to claim the Walsh Cup at Pearse Stadium.

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

A HURLING masterclass in Croke Park yesterday, mighty Kilkenny retaining their Leinster title (and setting a new record in the process, seven in a row) against a Dublin side whose challenge never even got to first base.

Kilkenny 4-17 Dublin 1-15

The Kilkenny team shows just one change from that which defeated Wexford in the semi-final to play Dublin in Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Leinster Hurling Final.

Wexford 1-15 Kilkenny 1-26

IT WASN’T pretty, it wasn’t very competitive — in fact, truth be told, this was an ugly beast of an Allianz Hurling League Division 1 final in Croke Park yesterday, a one-sided affair that never got off the ground.

Dublin 0-22 Kilkenny 1-7

NO winners here.

A FULL-BLOODED Allianz Hurling League encounter in Croke Park on Saturday evening, two honest and whole-hearted teams giving their all in conditions made treacherous by the ferocious hailstone showers that fell before the half time whistle.

THE chances of the Fermanagh footballers’ impasse being resolved quickly rests on the outcome of a meeting of the county board’s management committee on Monday.

EVEN the second-half introduction of some of the heavy artillery failed to help Kilkenny outgun Dublin in a cracking Walsh Cup final at Parnell Park yesterday.

Dublin 2-17 Kilkenny 2-13

AT half-time in this Allianz NHL round two game in Nowlan Park yesterday it looked like Cork were heading for another terrible beating.

IT would happen, wouldn’t it? This being the opening game of the 2011 Allianz Hurling League and thus the first official appearance of Tipperary since their All-Ireland triumph last September, the draw drum was kind enough to pair the Premier men with Kilkenny – their victims in that match.

LIMERICK IT nailed down a Fitzgibbon Cup quarter-final berth at Moylish yesterday and left this year’s hosts on the brink of missing the finals weekend.

Tipperary 4-17 Kilkenny 1-18

Kilkenny 1-19 Galway 1-10

Kilkenny 4-19 Dublin 0-12, Croke Park

HENRY SHEFFLIN is to make his first appearance for Kilkenny this year in a senior hurling challenge against Waterford tomorrow.

THEY travel to Parnell Park in two weeks still bearing thoughts of survival in NHL Division 1, but after another emphatic defeat in the Gaelic Grounds yesterday, Limerick remain on course to drop to second tier hurling next spring.

Noel Hickey is set to make his first competitive start for Kilkenny since the 2008 All-Ireland final, after Brian Cody named the defender in his side to face Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds tomorrow.

NOEL HICKEY makes his long-awaited comeback from injury for Kilkenny tomorrow afternoon after he was named at full-back for their NHL Division 1 clash against Limerick.

KILKENNY welcome back James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick and TJ Reid from the All-Ireland Club champions Ballyhale Shamrocks for the Allianz NHL Division One clash with Galway at Nowlan Park tomorrow.

THE KERRY management’s desire to employ Marc Ó Sé’s footballing talents in the half-back line gets another trial tomorrow in Tralee, with the youngest of the Gaeltacht brothers selected at right half-back for the clash with Mayo.

AS Kerry last night named their side for tomorrow’s vital Allianz NFL Division 1 clash with Derry at Fitzgerald Stadium (2.30pm), the Kerry County Board confirmed the news that former Kingdom great John Egan is being treated at Cork University Hospital following a recent accident at his home in Cork.

Kilkenny are without a number of first team regulars for tonight's Allianz NHL Division 1 opener against Tipperary at Semple Stadium (throw-in 7.30pm).

Clare 0-15 Kilkenny 0-14

Senior star Richie Hogan has been named to start for Kilkenny in tomorrow's Bord Gais Energy All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling final against Clare, despite concerns over an ankle injury earlier in the week.

Kilkenny 2-22 Antrim 2-7

Kilkenny will field an unchanged team for tomorrow's Bord Gais Energy All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship semi-final against Antrim at Pairc Tailteann (throw-in 4.30pm).

LAOIS duo Colm Parkinson and Darren Rooney played a telling role in Parnells 0-12 to 0-11 win over St Mark’s Tallaght in round three of the Dublin SFC in O’Toole Park last night.

FULL-FORWARD JJ Farrell netted in both halves at Parnell Park to secure Kilkenny’s 23rd Leinster U21 hurling title.

Kilkenny 2-20 Dublin 1-19, Parnell Park

KILKENNY have made two changes for tonight’s Leinster U21HC decider at Parnell Park.

LIMERICK footballer John Galvin has urged his hurling counterparts to make it a Shannonside double act in the Munster championship finals.

Kilkenny 1-21 Laois 1-10

KILKENNY will parade six of last year’s All-Ireland U21 hurling winning side when they face Laois in tonight’s Leinster championship opener in Nowlan Park at 7.30pm.