It hasn't been a great weekend for hurling. Firstly, a team of officials failed to keep the correct score in the Christy Ring Cup final in Croke Park. Whereas that game exhibited the fallibilities of the individuals involved, today's results in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship accentuated the ludicrous structure of the competition.
Galway and Laois entered the fray this afternoon, following the end of the preliminary round-robin stage. Westmeath finished top of that round-robin stage with a 100% record, followed by Offaly in second place,who recovered to win their final couple of games having lost to Westmeath in their opening game.
Bizarrely, Westmeath's 'reward' for finishing top of the group was a game against Galway, while Offaly - despite having lost to Westmeath - were given a comparatively soft tie against Laois.
Here are how the games panned out:
Westmeath 0-19 Galway 3-27; Offaly 3-22 Laois 2-14 - Offaly and Galway to meet in Leinster SHC Semis on June 19th
— Midlands 103 Sport (@MidlandsSport) June 5, 2016
Losing to westmeath and finishing 2nd in round Robin seems to have actually benefited Offaly
— Ailbe O Raghallaigh (@ailbeoreilly) June 5, 2016
Very odd. Offaly are into the Leinster semi-finals for the first time in four years. Westmeath, despite their fine form in the round-robin, are out. They'll have to console themselves with the remarkable exploits of their under-21 side.
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