WITH the leagues over and out for another year in Antrim, it's now championship time with the opening games in Intermediate and Junior hurling getting underway over the weekend.
The action begins on Friday evening in the Junior Hurling Championship with games in both groups, all starting at 7.30pm.
As for the format, there are seven teams across two groups, with the winner of each moving to the semi-final, while second plays third from the corresponding group in the quarter-finals.
That all means that in the three-team Group One, there will be no team eliminated at the group stage, but there is still a bit to play for in terms of where they will find themselves sin the knockout phase.
Rasharkin have the bye this week, so Ardoyne and Davitt's will open proceedings at The Cricky with the North Belfast side up as Junior B winners from last year.
These sides met twice in Division Four this year with Davitt's coming out on top on both occasions, but by just two points in their most recent meeting.
Group Two will see a team eliminated, so the pressure is on from the off and it is a group that contains three teams that operated in Division Three this year. The exception is Gort na Móna who won Division Four and they open with a trip to Armoy on Friday.
The other game takes place in Hannahstown where Lámh Dhearg host All Saints, Ballymena. The teams met just once in the league as they found themselves in different post-split sections as the Red Hands squeezed into the top bracket and that will have been aided by a good win over this week's opposition along the way.
Ballymena found themselves bottom of the pile and will drop down next year, so have a task to turn things around this week.
The Intermediate Championship throws-in on Saturday with games in Group One taking place on Saturday (5pm).
Like Junior, there is also an odd number with 11 in the competition, but with just the top two of each group advancing to the semi-finals, there is no safety net in the five-team Group One.
Division Two winners, Carey have the bye this week with second-place Glenarm - who lost out in promotion/relegation playoff against Ballycran - hosting a Cloughmills side that finished second in Division Three and lost out on promotion to the second tier following defeat in a promotion/relegation playoff against Carryduff on Monday.
The other game takes place at De La Salle Park where St Gall's have home advantage against Glenariffe. The teams met just once in Division Two as Oisin's failed to force their way into the top half of the second division post-split, but they did enjoy a good win over the city side earlier in the season.
Group Two games are set for Sunday afternoon at 2pm with six teams involved over three fixtures.
Sarsfield's endured a difficult league campaign with a late push for Division Two survival falling short, but with their county players back, have certainly a different look about them from earlier in the year. They host a Cushendun side that had a middling campaign, but one that did enjoy a three-point victory at the Bear Pit in June.
St Paul's may have missed out on promotion in the league, but they will have been very happy with the strides made this year and they are on the road to Clooney Gaels on Sunday.
Despite being in the top half in the league, they met just once with the Ahoghill side running out 4-17 to 2-14 winners in the city, but the reverse game was not played, so it will be a good indicator for where both are really at come this weekend.
The other game takes place in Randalstown with Tír na nÓg hosting Glenravel. The hosts finished in the both half of the second division this year, but Con Magee's found themselves in the bottom half of the third and will have a big challenge ahead in their opener.
Antrim Junior Hurling Championship
Group One: Ardoyne v Davitt's (Friday 7.15pm)
Group Two: Lámh Dhearg v Ballymena; Armoy v Gort na Móna (both Friday 7.30pm)
Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship
Group One: Glenarm v Cloughmills; St Gall's v Glenariffe (both Saturday, 5pm)
Group Two: Clooney Gaels v St Paul's; Sarsfield's v Cushendun; Tír na nÓg v Glenravel (all Sunday, 1pm)
