Qualification, promotion and relegation will all be on the agenda in the Allianz Hurling League on Sunday 23rd March as the various Divisions head for their final round of games. Most of the important issues are still be decided so it promises to be a very exciting day all around the country. There's football action too as the Fermanagh v Limerick Division 3 game and the Dublin v Monaghan Division 2 game, both of which were called off in recent weeks, have been re-scheduled for Saturday and Sunday respectively. ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIV 1A: KILKENNY ALREADY THROUGH TO SEMI-FINALS Sunday: (2.30): Kilkenny v Antrim, Nowlan Park; Waterford v Dublin, Walsh Park; Cork v Wexford, Pairc Ui Chaoimh With three wins on the pitch and a walkover against Cork earning them eight points, Kilkenny are four clear of their closest challengers which means that irrespective of the result of their clash with Antrim on Sunday, they will top the group and qualify directly for the League semi-finals. The battle for the two quarter-finals places plus the even more desperate struggle to avoid relegation involves the five other counties. Antrim, who beat Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup in Freshford in January, need to repeat the victory to have any chance of survival. Even then, they would need both Dublin and Wexford to lose. Cork (who host Wexford) and Waterford (who host Dublin) are each on four points, one ahead of their visitors so a win or a draw would see them qualify for the quarter-finals. However, if Dublin and Wexford were to win, they would leapfrog the Munster pair into the quarter-finals, leaving Cork or Waterford with relegation problems. DIV 1A: THREE CHALLENGE FOR SEMI-FINAL SPOT Sunday (2.30): Limerick v Galway, Gaelic Grounds; Tipperary v Laois, Cashel; Offaly v Clare, Tullamore. Galway, Limerick and Tipperary have taken the three qualification berths, leaving Sunday's games to decide who tops the group and heads directly for the semi-finals and which pair play in the quarter-finals. Galway top the trio on scoring difference (+40) while Limerick are on +28 with Tipperary on +27. However, Tipperary will fancy their chances of increasing their scoring difference at home to Laois, who are on -60pts and who were beaten by 36 points by Galway last Sunday. Clare (3pts), Laois (2pts) and Offaly (1pt) are in the relegation zone. DIV 2A: FOUR CHALLENGING FOR TOP THREE POSITIONS Sunday (2.30): Westmeath v Kildare, Mullingar; Wicklow v Roscommon, Aughrim; Kerry v Mayo, Tralee. Westmeath (+33pts), Kerry (+24pts) and Kildare (1pt) are all on six points with Mayo on four points (+11) so they're all in with a chance of finishing in the top three, with Westmeath and Kerry especially well placed because of their high scoring difference. DIV 2B: FOUR STILL IN RACE FOR TOP THREE FINISH Saturday: Down v London, Newry, 2.0 Sunday (2.30): Armagh v Meath, Keady; Carlow v Derry, Dr.Cullen Park. Carlow, who are on seven points (+22pts) will definitely finish in the top three with the other two slots between Derry on six points (-7), Down on five points (+16) and Meath on four points (+26). DIV 3: DONEGAL SET FOR FINAL SPOT Sunday (2.30): Sligo v Donegal, Markievicz Park; Longford v Louth, Pearse Park. Donegal have full points from three games so a draw against bottom-of-the-table Sligo would earn them a place in the final. They will be joined by Louth or Longford. DIV 4: THREE IN LINE FOR FINAL BERTH Sunday (2.30): Cavan v Monaghan, Kingspan Breffni Park; Leitrim v South Down, Ballinamore. Fermanagh have finished their programme with six points to top the group, two points clear of South Down and Monaghan, both of whom will fancy their chances of moving on to six points on Sunday, in which case the final pairing would be decided on scoring difference. DEFERRED FOOTBALL TIES TAKE PLACE NEXT WEEKEND There was widespread disappointment last Saturday when the Dublin v Monaghan Division 2 football game had to be postponed due to the bad weather but it's now turning into an Easter treat as it has been re-fixed for next Sunday in Parnell Park at 2.30. Monaghan and Dublin are joint leaders of the group on six points with Meath a point back so Sunday's winners will give themselves breathing space in what is a very competitive group. The re-fixed Fermanagh v Limerick Div 3 game will go ahead in Lisnaskea on Saturday (2.30). Fermanagh have made a great start, winning their three games and another win would see them leapfrog Wexford at the top of the table. Limerick have won one, lost one and drawn one so far but will be very encouraged after taking a point off leaders, Wexford last Sunday. 2008 ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE RESULTS DIVISION 1A Round 1 Dublin 0-22 Antrim 0-15; Wexford 2-12 Waterford 3-8; Cork v Kilkenny - not played. *** Round 2 Antrim 3-11 Wexford 1-10; Kilkenny 1-21 Dublin 2-10; Kilkenny v Waterford - not played. *** Round 3 Cork 3-18 Dublin 2-16; Kilkenny 0-23 Wexford 1-5; Waterford 3-29 Antrim 3-10. Round 4 Cork 1-24 Antrim 1-7; Kilkenny 0-25 Waterford 0-14; Wexford 2-9 Dublin 0-15. DIVISION 1B Round 1 Galway 2-24 Clare 3-17; Limerick 3-23 Laois 2-11; Tipperary 2-25 Offaly 2-8. **** Round 2 Offaly 3-9 Galway 0-18; Clare 1-25 Laois 1-15; Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 2-9. **** Round 3 Laois 1-17 Offaly 2-13; Limerick 2-15 Clare 0-12; Galway 0-16 Tipperary 0-16. *** Round 4 Clare 0-17 Tipperary 1-14; Limerick 5-19 Offaly 1-17; Galway 6-26 Laois 0-8. DIVISION 2A Round 1 Kildare 2-12 Roscommon 0-11; Westmeath 0-17 Kerry 1-11; Wicklow 1-16 Mayo 0-17. **** Round 2 Kildare 1-15 Mayo 1-14; Westmeath 3-19 Roscommon 1-13; Kerry 4-7 Wicklow 1-11. *** Round 3 Mayo 2-14 Westmeath 2-13; Kerry 2-11 Roscommon 0-9; Kildare 1-16 Wicklow 1-14. *** Round 4 Westmeath 3-19 Wicklow 0-9; Kerry 4-13 Kildare 0-11; Mayo 2-17 Roscommon 0-9. DIVISION 2B Round 1 Meath 1-25 Derry 0-8; Armagh 1-14 London 0-8; Down 1-11 Carlow 0-14. *** Round 2 Down 2-22 Armagh 0-13; Derry 3-11 London 0-9; Carlow 2-15 Meath 1-13. *** Round 3 Derry 3-11 Armagh 2-13; Down 2-17 Meath 0-21; Carlow 2-15 London 1-10. *** Round 4 Meath 1-20 London 1-7; Carlow 3-13 Armagh 1-10; Derry 2-19 Down 3-14. DIVISION 3 Round 1 Donegal 1-17 Tyrone 1-10; Longford 4-19 Sligo 2-3. *** Round 2 Tyrone 1-20 Sligo 3-10; Donegal 1-20 Louth 3-8. *** Round 3 Louth 6-12 Leitrim 2-11; Tyrone v Longford - postponed - pitch unplayable. *** Round 4 Louth 3-11 Tyrone 3-9; Donegal 0-16 Longford 0-13. DIVISION 4 Round 1 Cavan 2-8 Leitrim 0-8; Fermanagh 2-10 Monaghan 2-5. *** Round 2 Fermanagh 1-14 Cavan 1-9; Monaghan 2-10 South Down 3-3. *** Round 3 Fermanagh 2-12 Leitrim 1-8; South Down 4-15 Cavan 1-9. *** Round 4 South Down 4-15 Cavan 1-9; Fermanagh 2-12 Leitrim 1-8. 2008 ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS DIVISION ONE Round 1 Feb 2: Donegal 1-8 Kerry 1-7; Derry 2-9 Mayo 1-9; Tyrone 0-7 Kildare 1-4 Feb 3: Galway 0-15 Laois 1-9. ******* Round 2 Feb 16: Kerry 0-12 Tyrone 0-9; Derry 2-12 Laois 1-9 Feb 17: Galway 1-12 Kildare 2-8; Donegal 2-11 Mayo 0-16 **** Round 3 Mar 1: Laois 1-13 Mayo 1-13 Mar 2: Galway 1-14 Tyrone 2-9; Kerry 0-10 Derry 0-9; Kildare 0-12 Donegal 0-11. **** Round 4 Mar15/16: Donegal 1-12 Galway 1-11; Derry 1-16 Kildare 0-8; Tyrone 0-16 Laois 0-14; Mayo 0-16 Kerry 1-12 DIVISION TWO Round 1 Dublin 1-7 Westmeath 1-5; Meath v Cork - not played (points awarded to Meath); Feb 3: Monaghan 1-18 Roscommon 1-8; Armagh 0-14 Cavan 1-10. ***** Round 2 Monaghan 2-12 Cavan 0-10; Cork v Dublin - not played (points awarded to Dublin) Roscommon 1-12 Meath 0-15; Westmeath 1-11 Armagh 1-6 *** Round 3 Mar 1: Dublin 1-9 Cavan 0-7 Mar 2: Cork 1-14 Roscommon 0-15; Monaghan 1-11 Armagh 1-10; Westmeath 1-10 Meath 0-8. **** Round 4 Mar 15/16: Dublin v Cavan - postponed due to ground conditions; Armagh 4-20 Roscommon 0-8; Cork 0-11 Westmeath 0-9; Meath 0-15 Cavan 0-13. DIVISION THREE Round 1 Feb 2: Down 1-12 Sligo 2-5; Feb 3: Limerick 1-10 Louth 0-9; Wexford 3-8 Longford 1-9; Mar 9 (Postponed on Feb 3 due to pitch conditions): Fermanagh 3-10 Leitrim 2-9. *** Round 2 Feb 16: Longford 2-10 Leitrim 0-6; Down 1-14 Louth 2-10; Wexford 0-14 Sligo 0-13; Fermanagh v Limerick - postponed. **** Round 3 Mar 2: Sligo 0-14 Limerick 1-10; Louth 2-17 Leitrim 2-8; Wexford 2-8 Down 0-9; Fermanagh 2-10 Longford 1-10. *** Round 4 Mar 15/16: Fermanagh 0-11 Louth 0-10; Leitrim 1-12 Sligo 0-6; Limerick 1-12 Wexford 1-12; Down 0-19 Longford 0-16. DIVISION FOUR Round 1 Feb 3: Carlow 1-12 Clare 0-10; Offaly 5-16 London 1-6; Antrim 1-13 Wicklow 1-8; Tipperary 4-20 Kilkenny 1-5. Round 2 Feb 9: Antrim 2-25 Kilkenny 0-6; Offaly 3-19 Carlow 0-8; Wicklow 1-15 Waterford 0-12; Tipperary 0-13 Clare 1-7. Round 3 Feb 16: Antrim 1-13 Clare 0-3; Waterford 2-9 Kilkenny 0-8; Carlow 3-10 London 1-9; Offaly 1-11 Tipperary 1-7. *** Round 4 Mar 1: Antrim 0-13 Offaly 1-10 Mar 2: Wicklow 2-34 Kilkenny 0-5; Waterford 1-13 Clare 0-10; Tipperary 1-23 London 0-4. *** Round 5: Mar 15/16: Offaly 3-15 Wicklow 1-6; Clare 4-19 Kilkenny 1-4; Waterford 1-12 London 0-3; An trim 0-13 Carlow 0-7. Tweet

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