SATURDAY 13 MAY
Munster SHC round 3
Waterford v Clare, FBD Semple Stadium, 6pm
Joe McDonagh Cup round 5
Kildare v Down, Hawkfield, 5.30pm
Carlow v Offaly, Netwatch Cullen Park, 5.30pm
Kerry v Laois, Austin Stack Park, 5.30pm
Christy Ring Cup round 4
Meath v Tyrone, Pairc Tailteann, 4.30pm
Sligo v Mayo, Markievicz Park, 6pm
Nickey Rackard Cup round 4
Fermanagh v Armagh, Brewster Park, 3pm
Donegal v Louth, Letterkenny, 3pm
Wicklow v Roscommon, Aughrim, 3pm
Lory Meagher Cup round 4
Longford v Cavan, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 12pm
SUNDAY
Christy Ring Cup round 4
London v Derry, Ruislip, 12pm
Lory Meagher Cup round 4
Warwickshire v Leitrim, Pairc na hEireann, 12pm
Lancashire v Monaghan, Pairc na hEireann, 2pm
ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app for Waterford v Clare. Video highlights on the site/app.
RADIO
Live commentary and scores on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport. Also live updates on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae.
TV
Waterford v Clare live on GAAGO.
Highlights of all the weekend's action on The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game, both RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, from 9.30pm.
WEATHER
Saturday: A mostly dry day with spells of hazy sunshine. Isolated showers are possible in the afternoon and cloud will thicken from the west during the evening. Highest temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees in light, variable breezes.
Sunday: Outbreaks of rain and drizzle giving way to sunshine and a few showers extending from the northwest. The last of the rain and drizzle will likely clear the east coast by evening. Much cooler than the preceding days with maximum temperatures of 12 to 14 degrees. Light to moderate southerly winds will turn northwesterly and increase moderate to fresh as the rain clears.
For more go to met.ie.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
All-Ireland finalists in 2020, semi-finalists in 2021 and league champions in 2022, things unravelled for Waterford in Munster last year as their round-robin curse (1 win in 12 games) reasserted itself.
Liam Cahill's departure for his native Tipp and the arrival of Davy Fitzgerald raised hopes that the Déise would be challenging again but instead they find themselves on the brink of elimination after successive defeats to Limerick and Cork.
They gave Limerick more of a test than many expected, and could have won but for some poor shooting when they had an extra man.
But the second day out against Cork was hugely disappointing and they were somewhat fortunate that the Rebels and Tipperary drew as a -11 score difference was already looking terminal to their prospects of progressing with four points.
Beat Clare on Saturday night and Tipp on the last day however and they would likely pip either the Banner or Cork.
Easier said than done.
Three of the five goals Tipperary scored against Clare in round one were gift-wrapped but Brian Lohan's men still pushed them until the closing stages.
Then, a fortnight ago, what many had forgotten could happen did - the All-Ireland champions were finally beaten, on their own turf no less.
Inflicting Limerick's first defeat in almost four years will have given huge confidence to Clare that they can go one better than last year's credible but ultimately trophyless campaign.
The match is technically a Waterford home game but is at Semple Stadium while Walsh Park is being redeveloped.
Fitzgerald has made three changes to the team that lost by nine to Cork. 2016 Hurler of the Year Austin Gleeson makes his first start after shaking off the hamstring injury that restricted him to sub appearances against Limerick and Cork, replacing the injured Mikey Kiely (hand).
Iarlaith Daly also comes in at wing-back for Tom Barron and Peter Hogan lines out at wing-forward in place of Colin Dunford.
Will they try to man-mark Clare talisman Tony Kelly? Tipperary did and held him to one point but he had more space against Limerick and managed four.
Either way, a forward line that has relied far too much on Stephen Bennett and Dessie Hutchinson needs to contribute more.
Brendan Cummins thinks the Déise need a big crowd behind them to have any chance.
"If Waterford are to win and Davy's right, there has to be 15,000 Waterford supporters in Thurles on Saturday evening," he told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"When the Waterford players come out onto the pitch, the hair should be standing up on the back of your neck. 'We are here for a row and we're not going out' and every man, woman and child in Waterford who cares will be at the match.
"If Waterford bring a crowd, and they must bring a crowd now, then they have a bigger chance. But if they don't, I think they're going to really struggle. They need that energy from the stands and at the moment they don't have it."
Waterford must secure a first championship win against Clare in seven years and will surely come out swinging. It could be Saturday night fever once again.
Waterford: B. Nolan; C. Gleeson, C. Prunty, I. Daly; M. Fitzgerald, C. Lyons, J. Fagan; D. Lyons, J. Barron; P. Hogan, J. Prendergast, N. Montgomery; S. Bennett (c), A. Gleeson, D. Hutchinson.
Clare: E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Cleary, R Hayes; D Ryan, J Conlon, D McInerney; D Fitzgerald, C Malone; P Duggan, T Kelly, A McCarthy; R Taylor, S O'Donnell, M Rodgers.
It's the final round of fixtures in the Joe McDonagh Cup this weekend.
Leaders Offaly are guaranteed a place in the final, and an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final, even if they lose to Carlow as they are three points ahead of both Laois and Kerry, who also face each other today.
If the Faithful make it five wins from five then either of those two could take second with victory. A Carlow defeat and Laois-Kerry draw would make it a three-way tie and scoring difference could come into play.
Carlow already drew with both Laois and Kerry so if they were to draw with Offaly then it would go to scoring difference against the winner - Laois would pip them in that case but Kerry wouldn't.
The meeting of Kildare and Down is effectively a relegation play-off though a draw would also be enough for Kildare, who have a better (-48) scoring difference.
The Christy Ring Cup is still wide open as we enter the penultimate round of fixtures. London, Meath and Sligo all on four points.
The Royals host last year's Nickey Rackard champions Tyrone (3pts) in Navan on Saturday before Sligo welcome pointless Mayo to Markievicz Park. Another defeat and last year's runners-up will be relegated.
London, who head the table on scoring difference, host Derry (3pts) on Sunday.
The Nickey Rackard Cup, on the other hand, has been very much a two-horse race to date. Wicklow and Donegal have both won three from three and will guarantee their places in the final if they avoid defeat against Roscommon (2pts) and bottom-placed Louth (1) respectively.
Fermanagh (1) also host Armagh (2) hoping to ease their relegation fears.
Only a point scored separates Cavan and Longford at the top of the Lory Meagher Cup table and they meet at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Saturday.
There's a double-header in Birmingham in Sunday. Lancashire can keep up their push for a place in the final by beating Monaghan while Leitrim will be relegated if they lose to Warwickshire.
