U-21s begin title defence in Waterford

All-Ireland U-21 hurling champions Clare will begin the defence of their provincial crown with a semi-final tie away to Waterford on July 18 next year.

The draws for the U-21 and minor provincial championships, together with the McGrath Cup (senior football) and Waterford Crystal (senior hurling) tournaments were made at a Munster council meeting last Thursday.

On the same evening, dates and venues for the Munster senior championships in 2013 were finalised.
The Munster Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final tie between Clare and Waterford will be on June 2 at 4pm in Thurles with the winners going on to play Cork on June 23 at either Thurles or Limerick.

This will again have a 4pm start. The semi-final meeting of Limerick and Tipperary will take place in Limerick on June 9 at 4pm.

In each case, the intermediate championship will be the curtain raiser at 1.45pm with extra time to be played in the event of a draw.

In the Munster Senior Football Championship, Clare will play either Limerick or Cork in the semi-final on June 16 at Cusack Park, Ennis at 3.30pm with the Junior Championship acting as the curtain raiser and this game is timed for 1.30pm.

In the U-21 Football Championship, Clare have received a bye into the semi-final, where they will play either Tipperary or Waterford on March 27. The final is set for April 10. Extra time will apply in all games in the U-21 championship, including finals, if required.

Cork will play Kerry in a quarter-final tie on March 13 at 7.30pm at a Cork venue with the winners going on to play Limerick on March 27.

Tipperary play Limerick in a quarter-final game in the U-21 Hurling Championship at Thurles on June 6 with Cork awaiting the winners on July 17.

As mentioned at the outset, Clare open the defence of their title with an away semi-final against Waterford on July 18. The final is set for August 7.

In the Munster minor hurling championship, Clare will travel to play Cork in a quarter-final tie on April 10 at 7pm. On the same evening, Waterford will play Tipperary. The losers of both games will meet in a play-off on April 17 and the winners of that game will go on to play the winners of the Cork/Clare first-round tie on June 26 in the semi-final. The final is set for July 14 at 1.45pm and will be played as a curtain raiser to the senior final.

The Munster Minor Football Championship will have a similar format to last year. In their first round game Clare will have home advantage against Tipperary on April 20 at 7pm.

The winners will go through to the semi-final, while the losers will play the losers of the Limerick v Waterford first-round game on April 27. The winners here will then play the losers of the Cork v Kerry first-round game on May 4 for a place in the semi-finals that are set for May 15. The final is set for 12 noon on July 7 as a curtain raiser to the senior final.

The race for the Waterford Crystal senior hurling tournament will commence on January 20, when there will be four preliminary round games.

Clare, beaten finalists last year, will enter the race a week later on January 27 at the quarter-final stage, where they will play either Waterford or the University of Limerick at 2pm. The competition will continue on successive Sundays to its conclusion on February 10.

Mick O’Dwyer’s first competitive game in charge of the Clare footballers will be on January 6 at 2pm when Clare will have home advantage against Limerick IT in a preliminary round game in the McGrath cup.

A quarter-final date against Limerick awaits the winners a week later. This competition will continue on successive weekends to the final on January 27, which is a week before the commencement of the 2013 Allianz National League.