HURLING | Wee County’s U17 hurlers gearing up for Celtic Challenge

Reds open with trip to Monaghan on May 3rd

Louth’s U17 hurlers got their preparations for 2017 Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge tournament underway with a 4–14 to 1–3 win over Tyrone in a challenge match on Sunday.

The Wee County are placed in the Group F of the tournament alongside Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Monaghan and Meath Kings.

Louth begin their campaign with an away game against Monaghan on Wednesday, May 3rd before hosting Meath Kings in Darver a week later.

Home games against Cavan and Longford follow before the Reds round off their group games with a trip to Leitrim.

After the group stages, teams will be graded on foot of their performance and will be assigned to one of six divisions prior to participating in the quarter-finals and semi-finals where they will play against opposition of a comparative developmental level. Six finals will be played on Saturday June 24th, 2017.

The Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge is the only competition in hurling that has teams from all 32 counties participating.

In 2016, a total of 38 teams with over 1,000 players played in the competition. During a seven-week period an incredible 118 games were played including five divisional finals.