Who will join Galway and Tipperary in the All Ireland hurling semi finals?
With Galway and Tipperary through to the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals as Leinster and Munster champions respectively, the focus switches to the search for the other two semi-finalists which will be decided in Semple Stadium, Thurles next Sunday.
Cork played Waterford at 2pm, followed at 4pm by Limerick v Kilkenny. Both games will be shown ‘live’ on RTE.
Kilkenny are back in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2007 (provincial champions played quarter-finals back then). Their last appearance in the quarter-finals, having been beaten in Leinster, was in 2004 when they beat Clare in a replay. Limerick are appearing in the quarter-finals for the seventh time, having won two of their six outings. Limerick have scored the remarkable total of 18-84 in their four championship games to date.
They played Kilkenny in the 2005 quarter-final, losing by five points. Their last championship clash with Kilkenny was in the 2007 All-Ireland final when they lost by seven points. Kilkenny have never lost in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
The stats for the head to head clashes and paths to the quarter final are below.
How they got here: Kilkenny
Kilkenny 2-21 Dublin 0-9 (Leinster semi-final)
Galway 2-21 Kilkenny 2-11 (Leinster final)
Average For: 2-16 Average Against 1-15
Top Scorers
Henry Shefflin ….1-18 (0-16 frees, 0-1 ‘65’)
Richie Power…….1-5
TJ Reid…………….1-2
R Hogan…………..1-2
How they got here: Limerick
Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 1-19 (Munster quarter-final)
Limerick 6-21 Laois 1-11 (Qualifier)
Limerick 8-26 Antrim 1-15 (Qualifier)
Limerick 3-18 Clare 1-20 (Qualifier)
Average For: 4-23 Average Against: 1-17
Top Scorers
Shane Dowling……4-33 (0-23 frees, 0-2 ‘65’s)
Niall Moran………..5-6
Graeme Mulcahy…3-12
Last Five Championship Clashes
2005: Kilkenny 0-18 Limerick 0-13 (All-Ireland quarter-final)
1974: Kilkenny 3-19 Limerick 1-13 (All-Ireland final)
1973: Limerick 1-21 Kilkenny 1-14 (All-Ireland final)
1940: Limerick 3-7 Kilkenny 1-7 (All-Ireland final)
How they fared in quarter-finals: Kilkenny
2007: Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-18
2006: Kilkenny 2-22 Galway 3-14
2005: Kilkenny 0-18 Limerick 0-13
2004: Kilkenny 1-11 Clare 0-9 (replay)
2004: Kilkenny 1-13 Clare 1-13 (draw)
1997: Kilkenny 4-15 Galway 3-16
Played 5, Won 5, Drew 1.
How they fared in quarter-finals: Limerick
2011: Dublin 3-13 Limerick 0-18
2009: Limerick 2-18 Dublin 1-17
2007: Limerick 1-23 Clare 1-16
2006: Cork 0-19 Limerick 0-18
2005: Kilkenny 0-18 Limerick 0-13
2001: Wexford 4-10 Limerick 2-15
Played 6, Won 2, Lost 4
