Tipperary set to make first appearance of ’10

LAST year’s All-Ireland senior hurling finalists Tipperary will make their 2010 competitive debut next Tuesday night when they face Clare in the Waterford Crystal Cup quarter-final in Borrisoleigh (7.30pm).

Liam Sheedy’s side had been scheduled to face theBanner on Sunday but the match will now be staged Tuesday under floodlights in the North Tipperary venue. The other three quarter-finals in the competition will all take place next weekend, with Limerick taking on Fitzgibbon Cup champions UCC in Kilmallock, Davy Fitzgerald’s Waterford charges away to IT Tralee, while the all third-level clash of LIT and UL is in Limerick.

In the McGrath Cup, the semi-final between Cork colleges CIT and UCC has been switched to Friday in Cork IT’s grounds while the other last four clash between Kerry and Tipperary is in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday.

It will be a busy week of action in the provincial pre-season competitions with two rounds of games fixed in the Barrett Sports Lighting Dr McKenna Cup, over the course of Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon. The four quarter-finals in the O’Byrne Cup quarter-finals, including the glamour clash of Dublin and Meath in Parnell Park, and the four games in the first round of the O’Byrne Cup Shield will all take place Sunday, while the second round of games in the FBD Connacht League are also down for decision.