Decisive Games For Four Counties In Leinster SHC This Sunday
The quarter-final draw in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship will be finalised this Sunday following the final series of round-robin games in Mullingar and Tralee.
With Wexford and Offaly waiting in the wings, all four counties involved in the qualifiers still have a chance to progress.
Laois are, by far, in the best position with two wins from two outings. And their healthy score difference almost guarantees Eamonn Kelly’s side a place in the knock-out stages.
There are a couple of scenarios were score difference could yet come into play. The first would be if Kerry defeat Laois and Meath beat Westmeath, as there would be three teams on four points each.
Also, should Laois beat Kerry and Westmeath get off the mark with a victory over Meath, three teams would be tied on two points each and the second quarter-final slot would then go to the Lake County, as they would have a better score difference than either Kerry or Meath.
Taking it a step further, if both games on Sunday end level, Kerry and Meath would be joint-second on three points each. In that instance, the head-t0-head result rather than score difference would be used to determine which county goes into the hat for the quarter-finals, so the Royal County would advance.
| P | W | D | L | For | Against | + – | Pts | |
| LAOIS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4-48 (60) | 4-30 (42) | +18 | 4 |
| KERRY | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2-37 (43) | 5-32 (47) | – 4 | 2 |
| MEATH | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5-33 (48) | 5-42 (57) | – 9 | 2 |
| WESTMEATH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4-29 (41) | 1-43 (46) | – 5 | 0 |
Round 1: Meath 3-20, Kerry 2-17; Laois 1-23, Westmeath 2-17.
Round 2: Laois 3-25, Meath 2-13; Kerry 0-20, Westmeath 2-12
It’s poised to be an exciting afternoon’s action and with the admittance fee only €10 for adults, €5 for students and OAPs and free entry for U-16s, there’s no reason why the hurlers shouldn’t have big support to cheer them on.
The Draw for the Leinster SHC Quarter Final games involving Wexford, Offaly and the two counties from the qualifiers will take place on Sunday evening, 14th May and will be on the RTE Radio 1 Sunday Sports programme from Mullingar that day. (Offaly and Wexford cannot be drawn against each other).
The Quarter Final involving Offaly is scheduled for Saturday 27th May 2017.
If both Kerry and Laois are the qualifying teams, both quarter-finals will be played at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Saturday 27th May. Otherwise, the quarter-final involving Wexford will be played on Sunday 28th May, at 2pm, with Wexford away.
