Hurling League relevance in danger of relegation due to format

A moment after the final whistle in Nowlan Park on Sunday said a lot about the significance of this year's Allianz Hurling League.

Liam Cahill had just seen his Waterford side team finish a man down and two goals behind Kilkenny but he happily strolled over to share a laugh and a fist bump with counterpart Brian Cody.

And why wouldn’t he? Waterford knew coming in that there would have to be an improbable 54-point swing between that game and Dublin’s win over Laois to keep them out of the semi-finals. It was a chance to give a few lads a run.

"We have a group of players working extremely hard behind the scenes," Cahill said afterwards. "They put their hand up to be given an opportunity. That's what they train for, to play in big matches like this one today in Nowlan Park."

And that south-east derby - apart from Offaly's shot to nothing against Limerick - was the most significant game of the final round of Division1 Allianz Hurling League fixtures.

As we noted before the start of the competition, the round-robin provincial championship format means that there are now effectively two leagues in hurling and this one is not the priority.

The change in format to two weighted divisions of six teams that was introduced in 2020 means the threat of relegation that previously sharpened the appetite has all but disappeared for the more established counties.

Newcomers Offaly were always likely to be the whipping boys in 1A, which meant the other teams had to win just one game to avoid even the possibility of relegation as Limerick, with eyes and schedules on bigger prizes, duly did.

Laois and Antrim’s 1B meeting in round four was effectively a relegation semi-final. Fourth-placed Tipperary finished four points and +86 ahead of the O’Moore