Allianz Hurling League: Saffrons face All-Ireland Limerick champions in opener

Darren Gleeson's Antrim side will be without a number of Dunloy players for this year's League

Antrim and All-Ireland champions Limerick will both be without a host of regulars in Sunday's Allianz Hurling League opener in Thurles.

Limerick excused the majority of their All-Ireland heroes for their pre-season games in January and are to expected to adopt a similar approach this weekend.

Saffrons boss Darren Gleeson is minus several Dunloy players.

These include Nigel Elliott, Ryan Elliott, Seaan Elliott, Keelan Molloy and Eoin O'Neill.

In addition, Joe Maskey and Domhnall Nugent have already declared themselves unavailable for this season.

Of course, the most high-profile absentee for the Saffrons this year is the now-retired Neil McManus although the squad does welcome the arrivals of his talented Cushendall club-mate Joseph McLaughlin and Fred McCurry, another man who had an outstanding club campaign for the Ruairi Ogs as they clinched the county and provincial titles.

In addition, Paddy Burke, so harshly overlooked for an All-Star nomination after a splendid 2023 for club and county, is among a Cushendall contingent that also includes centre half-back Eoghan Campbell.

It's by no means a case of a total Dunloy exodus from Darren Gleeson's squad with Conal Cunning, Ryan McGarry, Phelim Duffy and Eoin McFerran all part of the panel.

League revamp for 2025

Dan Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty and David Reidy were the only members of last summer's All-Ireland four-in-a-row winning side that got game time in the recent matches Clare and Tipperary.

However, John Kiely has a host of talented youngsters in his squad including the likes of Donnacha O'Dalaigh, Adam English, Cathal O'Neill and Patrick O'Donovan so Antrim will still face a huge task in the contest which has been moved to Semple Stadium because of ongoing work at the Gaelic Grounds.

While the Divisions 1A and B format is unchanged for this year, a revamp will take effect in 2025 with placings decided by this season's closing positions.

The top three finishers in Divisions 1A and 1B this season and the better of the two fourth-placed teams will compete in a new Division 1A next year.

The other five Division 1 teams will drop down to a new Division 1B alongside two promoted teams from this season's Division 2A.

On the face of it, the new Division 1B is likely to be Antrim's destination next year but manager Gleeson will doubtless be telling his players that a top-three finish is achievable over the coming weeks.

However, there's no getting away from it that it will be a tall order for the Saffrons to clinch a spot in next season's Division 1A.

Antrim's home clash with Dublin on Sunday week is likely to prove crucial to their campaign

Following Sunday's opener, they will host Dublin at Corrigan Park on Sunday week in what is likely to be a key contest in their campaign.

The Saffrons fought two two titanic struggles with Dublin last year as Micheál Donoghue's almost lost a huge lead before clinching a 0-28 to 2-19 win in round two of the league at Parnell Park before snatching a 1-19 to 1-19 Leinster Championship draw at Corrigan Park a couple of months later in a game which Antrim should have won.

Next up for the Saffrons will be a home contest with Galway on 25 February followed by a trip to Mullingar to face Westmeath on 9 March before their league campaign concludes with a 16 March home game against Tipperary which will be live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

The League revamp for 2025 should make Division 2A more competitive than ever in the coming weeks and Down will hope to challenge for one of the two promotion spots to the new Division 1B.

Ronan Sheehan's side face Laois in their opener on Sunday before they play in front of BBC cameras against Kerry in Ballycran on 10 February.

The Mourne County's chances of getting into the promotion mix should be abundantly clear following round two.

As is the case in the Football League, Derry will meet Tyrone at Celtic Park on Sunday in a Division 2B clash with Donegal opening their campaign in the same division against Wicklow in Aughrim.