{"id":375306,"date":"2026-03-09T04:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T04:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/375306\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T04:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T04:24:12","slug":"suspense-builds-as-limerick-cork-and-galway-vie-for-top-two-finish-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/375306\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspense builds as Limerick, Cork and Galway vie for top-two finish \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Division 1A <\/p>\n

The postponement of Waterford<\/a>\u2019s final game in Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League against Tipperary<\/a> has left slightly more intrigue hanging in the air before the final round of fixtures.<\/p>\n

Limerick and Cork are tied on eight points at the top of the table after Limerick handed Cork their first defeat<\/a> of the campaign on Saturday night, 3-19 to 0-20. Limerick hold the superior points difference, and it\u2019s already looking likely the teams will meet again in the Division 1A final.<\/p>\n

Cork are at home to Offaly at SuperValu P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh in their last game on Saturday week, with all the remaining games in Division 1A throwing in at 7pm. A win there for Ben O\u2019Connor\u2019s team would put them into the final. Offaly have yet to record a victory.<\/p>\n

Limerick are at home to Galway (on six points) in their last game but could make the final even if they lose to the Tribesmen, although head-to-head record would come into play if they were the only two sides to finish on eight points. <\/p>\n

If Cork, Limerick and Galway were all to end up on eight points, scoring differences would be the metric used to separate the sides. <\/p>\n

Kilkenny dropped to sixth in the table after their heavy defeat to Galway at Pearse Stadium also on Saturday, 0-35 to 0-17. Offaly are already relegated back to Division 1B, a season after making the jump up, and it\u2019s possible Kilkenny will need to beat Tipperary in their last game to ensure they avoid the drop.<\/p>\n

The Waterford-Tipperary game was due to take place at Azzurri Walsh Park on Sunday, but agreement was reached to postpone the game after the death on Saturday evening of Benny Kiely, father of Waterford senior hurler Michael Kiely. The game will take place next weekend, either on Saturday or Sunday, with the GAA confirming the date on Monday.<\/p>\n

The teams are fourth and fifth, both on four points, along with Kilkenny, although Tipperary have the superior points difference.<\/p>\n

If Waterford win, they will finish on six points, meaning Tipperary and Kilkenny will battle it out to decide who finishes on that tally with them. If two teams in the same group finish equal on points, the head-to-head rule applies between those two teams, but if three or more teams finish on equal points (or two teams are tied and drew the match they played), then it\u2019s decided on scoring difference.<\/p>\n

Remaining Division 1A fixtures <\/b><\/p>\n

Waterford v Tipperary, Azzurri Walsh Park, March 14th\/15th TBC<\/p>\n

Saturday March 21st<\/b><\/p>\n

Cork v Offaly, SuperValu P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh, 7pm<\/p>\n

Limerick v Galway, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 7pm<\/p>\n

Tipperary v Kilkenny, FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles, 7pm<\/p>\n

Division 1B <\/b><\/p>\n

Clare<\/a> have guaranteed their place in the final of Division 1B, also ensuring promotion back to the top flight one season after being relegated, finishing their unbeaten campaign on 12 points with a home victory over Wexford on Sunday, 0-26 to 1-20.<\/p>\n

Dublin (seven points) will probably join them in the final and in promotion if they manage to beat Carlow in their last game. <\/p>\n

Wexford, also on seven, could technically still make the decider even with a Dublin win but the latter\u2019s vastly superior scoring difference should see them through if they finish level on points (the match between the sides finished in a draw).<\/p>\n

As with Division 1A, all remaining games will take place on Saturday week, with a 5pm start.<\/p>\n

Kildare\u2019s impressive win over Carlow on Sunday, 3-22 to 1-18, a third win, moves them clear of relegation on six points. Dublin\u2019s thrumming of Down on Saturday, 6-32 to 0-18, means Down will drop and are still waiting for their first win of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Down host Antrim in the final round, with Antrim possibly needing something to ensure they stay above Carlow, although they do boast the better points difference. <\/p>\n

Remaining Division 1B fixtures<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday March 21st<\/b><\/p>\n

Carlow v Dublin, Netwatch Cullen Park, 5pm<\/p>\n

Down v Antrim, P\u00e1irc Esler, Newry, 5pm<\/p>\n

Wexford v Kildare, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 5pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Division 1A The postponement of Waterford\u2019s final game in Division 1A of the Allianz Hurling League against Tipperary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[54829,55538,26611,72282,24,108677,18614,18,19,17,35463,885,13889,145985,37221,132,4935,42144],"class_list":["post-375306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-clare-gaa","tag-galway-gaa","tag-waterford-gaa","tag-antrim-gaa","tag-cork-gaa","tag-down-gaa","tag-dublin-gaa","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kildare-gaa","tag-kilkenny-gaa","tag-limerick-gaa","tag-national-hurling-league","tag-offaly-gaa","tag-sports","tag-tipperary-gaa","tag-wexford-gaa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116197317907266416","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}