U-20 hurlers hot favourites over Laois
BETTER late than never. That's certainly the view of the Galway U-20 hurlers in the wake of under-age inter-county competitions receiving the green light after the country's exit from the highest level of Covid-19 restrictions last week.
Provincial underage competitions were put on pause under Level 5 and outside of the U-20 football final, many thought they would have no future in this pandemic-impacted calendar. Thankfully, the Association thought better and with the Government giving the go-ahead for the All-Ireland U-20 Hurling Championship under their list of ‘approved inter-county Gaelic games’, it will, Covid-permitting of course, be run off by mid-late January.
It's the 57th staging of the competition, only the second year at the reduced U-20 age limit, and it's straight knockout all the way. Originally scheduled to throw-in last summer, it finally got underway in October with five of the championship's 15 matches played before a halt called to all inter-county GAA below senior level. This year, there are no All-Ireland semi-finals with the Munster and Leinster champions to meet each other in the All-Ireland final.
Provincial underage competitions were put on pause under Level 5 and outside of the U-20 football final, many thought they would have no future in this pandemic-impacted calendar. Thankfully, the Association thought better and with the Government giving the go-ahead for the All-Ireland U-20 Hurling Championship under their list of ‘approved inter-county Gaelic games’, it will, Covid-permitting of course, be run off by mid-late January.
It's the 57th staging of the competition, only the second year at the reduced U-20 age limit, and it's straight knockout all the way. Originally scheduled to throw-in last summer, it finally got underway in October with five of the championship's 15 matches played before a halt called to all inter-county GAA below senior level. This year, there are no All-Ireland semi-finals with the Munster and Leinster champions to meet each other in the All-Ireland final.