Munster U20HC: Top three decided but eight possible outcomes

While the three counties to the knockout stage of the Fulfil Munster U20 Hurling Championship have been decided, the order of progression is still very much in the air.

Cork, Clare and Tipperary have won all of their games against Limerick and Waterford, meaning that the latter two are eliminated. One of the top three will go straight to the provincial final with the other two playing in the semi-final – the runners-up have home advantage.

Without any restrictions, the three counties could be placed first, second and third in a total of nine different permutations and eight of those could still happen by full-time in tomorrow night’s matches, when Cork host Clare and Limerick take on Tipperary.

The state of play at the moment is that Clare top the table with six points after winning their three matches while Cork and Tipp are on four each after two wins and a defeat.

If two sides are level on points, the result of their game between them determines the placings while scoring-difference is used if three are level.

The easiest outcome to deal with is the least preferable from a Cork point of view – a Clare win in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh would send the Banner straight through to the decider and leave Cork in third as, even if Tipp were to lose to a Limerick side playing only for pride, they would have the head-to-head advantage on Cork.

A draw in the Páirc would put Cork second if Limerick were to win but otherwise it would mean third and a semi-final against Tipp in Thurles.

If Noel Furlong’s side win and Tipp fail to triumph at TUS Gaelic Grounds, then Cork would be top of the table and straight into the final by virtue of the head-to-head against Clare. However, a Cork win and a Tipp victory would leave the three counties on six points each and bring scoring difference into play, with a variety of possible denouements.

Currently, Cork have +10 with Tipp +2 and Clare +5 – if such a scenario were called into play, Cork would obviously have a better record than Clare, in which case the size of Tipp’s win would dictate how things would shape up.

If they were to beat Limerick by eight points more than Cork’s win over Clare, the Premier County would be top; otherwise Cork would finish first with the effect on Clare’s scoring difference then the key factor in deciding second and third.