Club hurling
The final round of matches in the Stone Crushing and Recycling Ltd senior hurling championship take place this weekend with a series of mouth watering clashes up for decision.

In Group A Gort and St Thomas clash to decide who will top the group and secure a place in the quarter-final. Group B sees Athenry face Tommie Larkins, in a game that could condemn the losing side into the relegation playoff – depending on how Turloughmore cope with the challenge of Portumna in the other tie.

In Group C, new boys Cappataggle face the high-flying Clarinbridge in a bid to rescue their senior status, while Kiltormer will also be sweating over results as they face Liam Mellows. Group D is all about the battle for top spot, as Castlegar will test Loughrea as both team are in with a real chance of a quarter-final berth.

However, with all the club action going on, the question must be asked whether or not the county contingent should be excused from action for the two weeks before the Clare match?

The elite 30 players have been in training since the new year and after a physically draining encounter like the Kilkenny match, surely the common sense approach would see the players recover in the 13 days between the approaching Clare match.

With an already injury-struck squad at his disposal, John McIntyre would be castigated should his team fall in Ennis. Why not give him and the squad the best chance at progression possible and support the county side in every way possible?

It is true to say that the club is where these players learned their trade, so why should they be forced to miss out on crucial championship action? Perhaps a reduction in the number of championship matches would result in a more competitive battle-hardening club championship while giving the county team ample preparation time for big matches.

By this weekend 40 matches will have been played in the championship resulting in only four teams being excluded.

Kennedy Cup
Congratulations to the Galway and District league Under-13 team that took part in the Kennedy Cup in the University of Limerick last week. The Galway side lost out on penalties at the semi-final stage, but a goal from Joe Vaughan early on pushed the Galway side ahead. After holding a 100 per cent record throughout the competition Galway were unfortunate to concede a second-half goal, which forced penalties.

Unfortunately Galway lost out 7-6 on spot-kicks and eventually lost the third-place play-off to Dundalk by three goals to one.

Trivia
The answer to last week's question is: Four Irish players have won Premiership medals. They are Manchester United's Roy Keane, John O’Shea and Denis Irwin and former Galway United manager Jeff Kenna who played for Blackburn Rovers.

This week can you name the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup final?

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