New Dublin Senior Hurling manager Pat Gilroy couldn’t have asked for a tougher opening game in the 2018 Leinster Hurling Championship than a meeting with Brian Cody’s Kilkenny side.
The 2018 Senior Hurling Championship will see big changes to both the Leinster and Munster Provincial competitions with the introduction of a new round-robin system.
The Provincial Championships will remain intact but with the new format. There will be five teams in both “tier one” provincial competitions with all teams having two home games and two away.
Although going toe to toe with Kilkenny in the opening game is a tough, Dublin will have home advantage.
That game will be followed with an away trip for the Dubs to take on Wexford, then it’s a home game against Offaly and Pat Gilroy’s team will finish off the round-robin section of the competition with an away trip to reigning Leinster and All Ireland Champions Galway.
The top two teams in both the Leinster and Munster championships after the round robin games are complete will contest their respective Provincial Final with the winners going straight into the All Ireland semi-finals and the runners-up heading to the quarter finals.
The third-place team in the provincial group shall play a preliminary quarter-final against one of the Tier 2 Championship finalists with Tier 2 teams having home advantage. (The Tier 2 winner and runner-up fixtures versus the third placed teams in Leinster and Munster will alternate on an annual basis.)
Dublin’s 2018 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round-Robin Games:
Dublin v Kilkenny on the 12th/13th Of May (TBC)
Wexford v Dublin on the 19th/20th Of May (TBC)
Dublin v Offaly on the 4th/5th Of June (TBC)
Galway v Dublin on the 11th/12th Of June (TBC)
The exact dates and venues will be announced shortly and The Leinster Final has been pencilled in for Sunday the 1st Of July.