Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Semi Final

Tipperary v Antrim
Tullamore, 4pm

Tipperary and Antrim face off in the first of this year's Bord Gais Energy GAA Hurling All-Ireland semi finals in Tullamore.

Tipperary overcame title holders Clare in front of an 11,500-strong crowd at Semple stadium to become Munster champions for the fifth time in a decade. Fine performances from Paddy Murphy and Michael Heffernan proved too much for the Banner County's defence.

In Ulster, Antrim beat off a resilient Armagh team in Casement Park. Impressive performances from Cormac Donnelly, Darren Hamill and PJ O'Connell saw the Saffrons retain the Ulster trophy and book their place in the All-Ireland series.

The momentum will be with Tipperary for this clash as confidence will be high after that impressive win against Claire in the Munster final and of course progression to the senior All-Ireland Final too. Five of the senior team who defeated Waterford on Sunday last have been named in the U-21 team for Saturday including Bord Gáis Energy Ambassadors Noel McGrath and Padraic Maher, Brendan Maher, Patrick Maher and corner-back Michael Cahill.

Tipperary: J Logue; K O'Gorman, J Coghlan, M Cahill; J Barry, Padraic Maher, B Maher; S Hennessy, N McGrath, S Carey, Patrick Maher, B O'Meara; M Heffernan, P Murphy, J O'Dwyer


Antrim (squad v Tipperary): Eoin Gillan, Martin Graham, Cormac Donnelly, Darren Hamill, James Campbell, Christopher Kearns, Christopher Brogan, Kevin Molloy, Neil Cunningham, Michael Devlin, Conor Rocks, Mark Lynch, Terry McAllister, Stephen Shannon, Liam McAuley, Matthew Donnelly, PJ O'Connell, Eamon Laverty, Thomas McCann, Michael Armstrong, Conor Carson, Adrian Downey, Martin Burke, Gerard Laverty



Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Semi Final
Dublin v Galway
Tullamore, 6pm

Dublin face Galway on Saturday in the second clash of the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Semi Final double header at Tullamore.

Dublin come into this semi final after a battling win in the Leinster final. Two second half goals were enough to see Dublin beat a talented Wexford team to book their place in this year's All-Ireland semi final.

With David Treacy and free taker Shane Stapleton sustaining long term injuries, Dublin's Manager Richie Stakelum will be hoping for strong performances from standouts Barry O'Rorke and Bord Gais Energy Ambassador Liam Rushe if they are to beat Galway.

Galway on the other hand enter the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Championship at semi final stage once again with fresh legs. Entering the Championship at All-Ireland semi final stage has not impeded Galway in the past and they have played in five All-Ireland finals since 2000, winning two of them. This year they enter the fray without Joe Canning, who has now progressed from this grade, but we have yet to see whether this will impact on the strength of the squad.

A very hard one to call without having Galway form to base a judgement on, but Dublin's injury losses together with Rory O'Carroll's absence may prove too great a weakness for them to overcome.

Dublin: F McGarry; R Walsh, D Kelly, O Gough; R O'Loughlin, M Quilty, P Kelly; C Clinton, P Buckeridge; D Quinn, D Plunkett, B O'Rorke; C Brennan, L Rushe, N McMorrow

Galway: C Finnegan; D Connolly, P Gordon, G O'Halloran; S Óg Linnane, D Burke, N Donoghue; J Coen, B Daly; J Regan, N Quinn, E Forde; R Cummins, G Burke, G Kelly Tweet

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