The JJ Kavanagh & Sons Co. Senior hurling Championship is gathering pace and this weekend will see the final round of group games take centre stage before we enter the knockout-stages.
Following last weekend's second round, defending champions Ballygunner along with Roanmore and Mount Sion all sealed their Quarter-Final spots following comfortable wins over De La Salle, Dunhill and Tallow respectively.
Dessie Hutchinson put in a man of the match performance for the Gunners as he shot eight points from play. Ballygunner manager Darragh O' Sullivan told WLR Sport, he's just a joy to watch when in that kind of form; "Dessie is X-factor really in fairness you know and when he gets the type of ball he was getting today, no matter what corner back or full back would be on him, he's nearly unmarkable, that's the way he was at times but then again there's times he'll say he wasn't at his real top best but look he's a great lad and works really really hard".
Ballygunner, Roanmore, Mount Sion and Dungarvan all have byes this weekend. Dungarvan sit on three points in Group D following their 1-19 apiece draw with Clonea last weekend.
Clonea take on Fourmilewater this Saturday in Fraher Field (7pm throw-in) and know that victory by eight points or more would put them through to the last eight on scoring difference.
Speaking on Monday evening's "On The Ball" Tony Ryan (GAA writer with the Dungarvan Observer) says there's plenty on the line heading into the final round particularly in the clash of Clonea and Fourmile; "It's all to play for, it's great it's on every week and that but if you get an injury you know, Kieran (Power) got injured and Conor (Dalton) got injured so you've a week to get back, all depends on the extent of the injury. Conor looked to be hobbling, he's good like, he played two league games with Waterford this year and played very well, and then the lads that were in America, the game (against Dungarvan) would have done them the world of good and they're back so it's definitely a game worth a visit next weekend".
The other game on Saturday evening will see Walsh Park host the all-Eastern clash between De La Salle and Passage in Group A with both sides seeking their first points of the campaign.
Fraher Field stages a double bill on Sunday afternoon with the Group C clash of Dunhill and Lismore up first at 2pm. Both sides have suffered defeats at the hands of Roanmore so far.
That'll be followed at 3:30pm by the clash of Western rivals Abbeyside and Tallow in Group B. The draw for the play-off round will be made after the full-time whistle in this game.
Round 3 of the @JJKavanaghBuses SHC takes place this weekend!
Fixture details for the weekend ahead below⬇️
🎟️Tickets available on the link below 👇https://t.co/HffetSRsDu
📺Streaming details 👇https://t.co/TEGZGQpEIM pic.twitter.com/jk1ZFHs6cZ— Waterford GAA (@WaterfordGAA) August 9, 2022
You can listen back to our chat with Tony Ryan along with post-match Interviews from Ballygunner manager Darragh O' Sullivan and Clonea selector Gary Morahan by clicking on the following link; https://www.wlrfm.com/listenback?date=08-08-2022.
We'll have plenty more build up to the weekend's action on our "Lár Na Páirce" GAA show on Friday evening from 6:10pm, and on our Saturday Sports show "On The Ball" from 12noon. We'll also have live updates from the four games over the weekend in Fraher Field and Walsh Park.
