Division 1B preview: Dublin and Waterford favourites for promotion to top flight

A division where a majority of counties are under new management, Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League involves seven teams. But with two gaining promotion to 1A, and two dropping down to Division 2, it promises to be cutthroat.

On paper, Dublin and Waterford are the clear favourites to end up in the top two places, but with new managers taking over in Ireland's oldest cities, this competition might well prove to be a time for chopping and changing of players ahead of the beginning of the provincial championships for both counties in April.

The Dubs and the Déise aren't the only counties with a new figure in the dugout and Davy Fitzgerald's appointment in Antrim is sure to put the cat amongst the pigeons, both on and off the field.

Of the other four counties involved, which two are likely to face relegation at the end of March?

Carlow come into 2025 having spent spent last year amongst the big boys in Leinster, achieving an outstanding draw with Kilkenny at Netwatch Cullen Park.

Offaly, who'll replace them in the eastern province this year, are a county heading in the right direction with the crowd at last year's All-Ireland U20 triumph over Tipperary suggesting a tribe who are desperate to see a return to the glory days at senior level of the 1980s and 1990s.

Laois, under new manager Tommy Fitzgerald, were beaten by the Faithful in last year's McDonagh final, but they're capable of putting some wins together and they'll have to do so to avoid being sucked into a battle to avoid the drop.

Westmeath, who beat Wexford in the Leinster Championship in 2023, were out of contention for a place in the McDonagh final after game week two last summer. Can they find some of the form they showed earlier in the decade with the arrival