Attractive match-ups open county championship

THE RACE to dislodge Ballygunner as Waterford senior hurling champions begins this weekend with four very attractive first round games.

There’s a new format for this year’s championship involving four groups, with the winners of each advancing to the knockout quarter-final stage. They will be joined by four more teams following a series of play-offs involving the second- and third-placed teams in each group.

Ballygunner start tonight at Kill (7.15 pm) against Stradbally, and they are boosted with the news that Paul Flynn will be eligible to play. Flynn is serving a four week suspension for his sending-off in Waterford’s National League quarter-final against Limerick but the ban relates to inter-county action only.