Back on the the 30th of May, 12 counties set out in pursuit of All Ireland glory…..7 weeks later and we are down to the final 8.

Those 8 are:

Provincial champions:

• Kilkenny
• Tipperary

Provincial runners up:

• Dublin
• Waterford

Phase II winners:

• Galway
• Limerick

Phase I winners:

• Cork
• Laois

The 4 teams which have been eliminated are Offaly, Wexford, Clare and Antrim.  What happens to those counties remains unclear.  They have been drawn against each other in relegation semi-finals (Wexford v Clare, Antrim v Offaly) but with Antrim claiming a right to 3 years competing in Leinster, the relegation play-offs have been postponed.  Sean Moran writing in the Irish Times has a good explanation of how we ended up in this mess.

The only thing that is sure (I think) is that Carlow will compete for the Liam McCarthy Cup next year having defeated Down in the Christy Ring Cup final.  In the Nicky Rackard Cup, Meath defeated London and in the Lory Meagher, Tyrone defeated Donegal.  Meath and Tyrone also move up a tier in 2010.

6 players were blooded in the championship last weekend:

Limerick (2)

• Gavin O’Mahony
• Paudie McNamara

Wexford (1)

• Jim Berry

Galway (1)

• Eoin Forde

Clare (1)

• Caimin Morey

Waterford (1)

• Maurice Shanahan

This brings to 50 the number of newcomers to championship hurling in 2009.