PREVIEWS: So much at stake this weekend in the Premier Intermediate and Intermediate grades

FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Relegation Final

Portroe V Newport

In a position that few would have envisaged at the start of the year, these two north rivals will be desperate to avoid the drop in what should be a nail-biting and tense encounter.

Portroe have been game all year but are just lacking the score punch required and are heavily reliant on veteran forward John Sheedy for their scores in the absence of AJ Willis and Ruadhan Mulrooney.

They were in a tough group but they were soundly beaten by Sean Treacys in the semi-final two weekends ago and that has set the alarm bell ringing massively.

Newport on the other hand have been very poor all year and are unlikely to have former Clare hurler Oisin O'Brien available after he picked up an injury in the loss to Moyne Templetuohy in their semi-final defeat in Holycross recently.

As is the case with relegation finals, form can count for very little when it gets down to business and both sides will be hoping they can find some semblance of their best.

Portroe have been slightly the more productive and battling team in their games this year though, and might just have enough to edge to safety here.

FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Relegation Final

Kiladangan V Upperchurch Drombane

Two seconds teams with vastly contrasting levels of experience in the past few years will face off to maintain their Intermediate Hurling status for 2024.

Kiladangan's second team have been playing at a high level over the past 3 or 4 years between Intermediate and Premier Intermediate, but are now on the verge of back-to-back relegations.

There's no doubt that the player pool has become shallower in Puckane over the last year or so and it has led them into this situation, but they still have plenty of experience in Ruairi Gleeson, Martin Minehan, and Darragh Egan but they are mostly made up of young players these days and have been gutted by the senior team this year.

Upperchurch Drombane have struggled massively since the year began in their first year at Intermediate and they have been similarly shorn of players which helped them to Junior A county success last year and haven't replaced their quality.

A bad day might turn this into a real battle but you would imagine that Kiladangan will find their way to victory here with some of the quality they have at their disposal.

Verdict: Kiladangan