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.

Paul Foley will line up in attack for Stradbally after years of outstanding service with Ballygunner, with whom he won five county championships and a Munster title.

The Gunners will be favourites, but if Michael Walsh, Ger Power, Stephen Cunningham and Foley are at the top of their form it could be very close.

Mount Sion, sensationally stripped of their title at the semi-final stage last year by De La Salle, take on Ballyduff Lower at Walsh Park this evening (7.15 pm) and despite the absence of the suspended Eoin Kelly should be strong enough to take the spoils.

Ballyduff will miss defender Colin Kenny, who is out of the country, and will look to Jack Kennedy to lead their charge. While it could be tight enough, anything other than a Mount Sion win would be a major surprise.

Tomorrow at 5pm, the Cappoquin venue hosts what could be the game of the weekend when a resurgent Abbeyside take on a Lismore outfit that will be powered by Dan Shanahan and Dave Bennett.

Lismore will also include former county star Sean Daly who played with Erins Own in the Cork championship in recent years. Daly is now back with his home club and his presence, most likely at full forward, will be a huge plus for a side that narrowly lost out at the semi-final stage last year.

Abbeyside have dominated at minor and U21 in recent years and their current senior side is backboned by many of those underage medal winners. They recently defeated Ballygunner in a thrilling league semi-final and will quietly fancy their chances.

It should be a cracker whatever the outcome, and while Lismore are marginal favourites, they will have to pull out all the stops to surmount this testing hurdle.

The final game tomorrow evening brings De La Salle and Fourmilewater together at Dungarvan (7.15pm), with De La Salle hoping this year to go one better than last when they lost agonisingly by a point to Ballygunner in the final.

The absence of their injured All-Star John Mullane is a huge blow to Del La Salle and they will look to Brian Phelan, Kevin Moran, Derek McGrath, and Stephen Brenner if a very determined Fourmilewater are to be beaten.