Amidst plenty of national football league action this weekend, hurling purists will find sanctuary on Tom Semple’s field in Thurles, where the All Ireland club hurling semi final between Ballyhale Shamrocks and Newtownshandrum is down for decision this Sunday. Earlier this year, most analysts felt that this year’s club championship was simply a procession towards the inevitable final clash between Portumna and Ballyhale, but the extremely good form of Newtownshandrum in the Munster hurling championship has thrown something of a spanner into the works.

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Barring any draws this weekend, the last hurling action of 2009 will take place on Sunday afternoon, with the Leinster and Munster club finals both down for decision. The Munster decider takes place in the familiar surroundings of Semple Stadium, with Newtownshandrum having had the better form so far and also the experience of playing in Tom Semple’s field against Thurles Sarsfields already in this campaign. Right now, they probably represent very fair 2/7 shots.

Ballygunner are a very solid all round club and this writer certainly can’t remember the last time that the Gunners would have been 11/4 to win a championship hurling match, however that is the case with the odds makers this week, and despite the Waterford men having unearthed several good young players this year, the bookies’ assessment of this decider seems spot on.

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