Clare 2-17 Kilkenny 2-11

Both Clare and Kilkenny have named unchanged line-ups for tomorrow’s Bord Gáis All-Ireland U-21 hurling championship final in Thurles (7pm) from the teams that defeated Antrim and Galway respectively in the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Tipperary 3-13 Kilkenny 1-17

Kilkenny 4-16 Galway 2-15

2012 has already been a marquee year for Kilkenny’s Cillian Buckley, the year he made the breakthrough to senior.

Paddy Kelly has earned a recall to the Cork starting line-up for next Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Donegal at Croke Park.

In the pursuit of excellence, sportspeople make extraordinary sacrifices.

The sun shone and the rain fell in intermittent waves but there was no sign of lightning striking twice in Portlaoise last night as Kilkenny made short work of an outclassed Laois side in this Bord Gáis Leinster U21 final.

Laois may have accounted for initial favourites Dublin in the first round, but very few outside their own camp are giving them any chance of overcoming Kilkenny.

Clare senior football manager Micheal McDermott has spoken out against proposals to resume seeding the Munster SFC.

Kilkenny slowly but surely ran through the gears, and when they did they simply motored to victory over Wexford on their way to a provincial final showdown against Laois.

A great opportunity beckons for Laois and Carlow as they clash in the Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U21 hurling semi-final at Dr Cullen Park tonight (7.30pm).

Tipperary’s Noel McGrath was the star of the show as UCD advanced to the quarter-finals of the Fitzgibbon Cup at the expense of WIT at Carriganore last night.

Star performer John Power produced four points during the closing five minutes, and boosted by another from Ger Aylward, 14-man Kilkenny cobbled together a battling victory over Westmeath yesterday.

They were a subdued force in the first-half and trailed by five at the interval yet Cork IT produced a dynamic second-half display to claim a critical victory over Waterford IT in Group A of the Fitzgibbon Cup at their grounds in Bishopstown last night.

It may have been a senior development squad team on duty, but the New Year began as the old one finished for Kilkenny — a victory, albeit a hard-earned one.

CLARE’S Tony Carmody scored a first-half goal, went off injured minutes later but raised the rafters at the end of this final when he lifted the All-Ireland IHC trophy.

HE may have an All-Ireland senior medal in his back pocket and more than a decade of representation at the elite level of the intercounty game behind him, yet Niall Gilligan remains on the hunt for glory.

KILKENNY senior panellists Richie Doyle and Kieran Joyce have both been named in the starting 15 for the county’s intermediate team that do battle with Wexford in the Leinster IHC final in Nowlan Park tonight at 7.30pm.

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.

Kilkenny 3-16 NUI Galway 2-12

“A GOOD ould workout,” was the verdict of new Tipperary manager Declan Ryan after yesterday’s one-point loss to WIT in this Waterford Crystal Tournament preliminary-round match, a game that doubled as the 2011 season opener for the All-Ireland champions.

Kilkenny 2-10 Clare 0-14

DUBLIN have the perfect opportunity for revenge presented to them when they face off against Kilkenny in tomorrow afternoon’s ESB Leinster MHC final in Croke Park at 2pm.

SLICK Kilkenny demolished Offaly by 12 points in yesterday’s ESB Leinster MHC semi-final at O’Connor Park, Tullamore. The ‘Cats’, managed by Richie Mulrooney, face Dublin in the final next Sunday at Croke Park.

Antrim 1-19 Kildare 2-07

Galway 2-15 Kilkenny 2-11

Kilkenny 1-21 Tipperary 2-16

TWELVE months ago Kilkenny ousted Tipperary by eight points in the All-Ireland MHC semi-final and all the signs point to a repeat when the sides convene for another minor hurling showdown in Croke Park tomorrow at noon.