Back-to-back All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling champions Clare lead the way with 14 nominations for the inaugural Bord Gáis Energy Team of the Year Award ceremony which will be televised live on TG4 on Saturday week (October 12) at 8.30pm.

Limerick manager John Allen has selected an unchanged team for Sunday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final showdown with Clare at Croke Park (throw-in 3.30pm).

Coming in cold, that’s Limerick this Sunday against Tipperary in the semi-final of the Munster SHC at the Gaelic Grounds (4pm).

Limerick 1-25 Kilkenny 1-20

ALLIANZ HL DIVISION 1B FINAL

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).

After Kilkenny’s weekend demolition job on highly-rated Dublin in the Leinster SHC semi-final many hurling pundits wondered if that was it, if everyone else is now just playing for second place.

THE collared dove, now firmly established as a native bird, bred for the first time in Ireland in 1959.

For hurling followers everywhere, one of the most iconic moments in the history of the modern game was the winning point scored by Limerick’s Ciarán Carey against champions Clare in their 1996 Munster championship clash.

LIMERICK boss John Allen has several attacking injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s trip to O’Moore Park to face Laois in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League, which he has branded a ‘must win’ encounter after the 14-point beating they suffered against Clare in the opening round last month.

A virtuoso display from teenage star Declan Hannon denied Clare a merited home win in Sixmilebridge in a marathon Waterford Crystal quarter-final on Saturday evening.

WE’RE getting to the time of year when book tokens are in circulation, so I’m going to mention a few recently published books with an outdoors theme that I have enjoyed.

AS I look out my workroom window the sun comes and goes in the yard.

BOOKS make excellent Christmas gifts and last Monday’s Examiner carried recommendations from the crime-thriller, vampire and general fiction genres.

JOY for Na Piarsaigh yesterday as they booked their place in the Limerick SHC final with a rousing win over Patrickswell at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday, shrugging off the loss of David Breen to a red card and ending the game five points ahead.

KILMALLOCK were sensationally dethroned as Limerick senior hurling champions last evening by former kingpins, Patrickswell.

Galway 0-22 Limerick 2-14

Galway 0-22 Limerick 2-14

THE Cork County Board executive motion to appoint three executive members and three club delegates to select the county’s next senior hurling manager was last night rubber-stamped by the delegates at a board meeting. The motion received 70 votes and defeated five other motions that were proposed on the night by various clubs.

DESERVING winners though Waterford were, it bordered on travesty that there had to be a loser in this pulsating Munster minor hurling championship semi-final that enthralled 3,208 fans at Walsh Park on Saturday.

LIMERICK bid to reach their first Munster MHC final since 2005 when they take on Waterford at Walsh Park this evening (7.30pm).

JOE McMAHON will make his first appearance for the Tyrone senior footballers since suffering a broken jaw in a club game two months ago in Sunday’s Ulster SFC semi-final against Donegal at Clones.

CHAMPIONS Kilmallock have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Limerick senior hurling championship after defeating Garryspillane in a repeat of the 2005 final.

EVER since they lost last year’s All-Ireland Colleges SAHC final, Árd Scoil Rís have been fuelled by a desire to rectify their mistakes.

DEFENDING champions Árd Scoil Rís get a stab at retaining their Dr Harty Cup title after prevailing against St Flannan’s in a thrilling semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday.

A BAD-tempered start to this Harty Cup quarter-final in Tipperary Town yesterday, two players – John Fitzgibbon (Árd Scoil) and Seamus Kennedy (Thurles) — booked before even before throw-in.

CHAMPIONS Ardscoil Rís opened the defence of their Dr Harty Cup title in fine style with a comfortable 3-22 to 0-8 win over Waterford Colleges in Tipperary Town.

CAVAN attacker Seanie Johnston has emerged a major doubt for their All-Ireland SFC round 1 qualifier against Wicklow on Saturday evening in Kingspan Breffni Park after suffering a recurrence of an elbow injury.

I WAS impressed with The Shorebirds of Ireland, recently published by The Collins Press, a beautifully-produced treasury of well-written, informative text by Jim Wilson, with a gallery of wonderful bird photographs by Mark Carmody.

AT a time when Limerick hurling is in turmoil, the young hurlers of Ardscoil Rís wrote a glorious chapter in their school’s history yesterday by winning the Dr Harty Cup for the first time at the third attempt at McDonagh Park, Nenagh.

TOMORROW’S Harty Cup final is a welcome distraction for hurling fans in Limerick. Given the problems regarding their senior hurling team, it’s a boost for the county to see a school from Shannonside contesting the decider.

BOOKS make ideal Christmas gifts.

SOMETHING for both protagonists in yesterday’s Dr Harty Cup clash in Dromcollogher as Midleton CBS and Ard Scoil Rís refused to be separated at the final whistle.