Intermediate Hurling

[Long John]

How is the intermediate hurling championship shaping up?

Brosna Gaels, Ballinamere and Rynaghs appear to be the main contenders. Carrig having a decent year so far and building momentum. If Coolderry could get something from their last few games they would be a very serious threat in quarter finals. A few excellent juniors capable of strenghtening them up.

With it being Brosna Gaels and Ballinamere's first teams you would imagine its between them with Brosna having the edge. Having said that, Rynaghs and Coolderry are well capable of winning it if they got their act together.

[Greenwhiteandgold]

Coolderry beat crinkle well last nite, and are playing ballinamere and brosna gaels in therelast two matches. Hard to see them getting anything from them matches but they should qualify for the quarter finals. Rynaghs look to have a strong team, but it will all depend on if they can keep all there players for intermediate. I think brosna gaels have to be the favourits to win.

[puzzled]

Dont rule Birr out of this if they manage to get into a quarter final they will be a match for anyone.They have a couple of lads hurling junior that are well capable of hurling Intermediate and if they can get them to make the step up it would improve the team big time!
Carrig/Riverstown and Killurin are going along nicely so far but I doubt if either of them have enough to win come the business end of the championship!
Rynaghs having lost last years final should be there or therabouts but they have lost a few lads to the senior team since last year.
Brosna Gaels will be anxious to get straight back up depends on how the football goes with some of their players being caught playing the two codes it could make things hard on them.
Ballinamere have been knocking on the door for years it would be great for them and a massive boost with all the work they are doing at underage level if they managed to do it.
K/K have plenty of good hurlers and wernt far off the mark last year but some of their better hurlers are playing junior,if they can be persuaded to step up K/K would be as good as anyone.
For me its one of Brosna Gaels Rynaghs Birr or Ballinamere in that order!

[backofthenet]

Brosna Gaels and Ballinamere would fancy themselves after the first few rounds, I think Rynaghs, Birr & Killurin wont be a million miles away from a semi final but may be just a bit too far away. Coolderry could threaten if they get a good quarter final fixture they might up it for the semi final, played an awful lot better than they have all year but they will still struggle to pick up points against Brosna Gaels and Ballinamere on current form. Probably have enough points to get out of the group though at this stage and will be the right side of the draw

[OffalySorry]

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[Long John]

Yes Carrig are having a good year. Would be good to see them pushing for a championship. I would'nt write off Coolderry. They have a number of very good players playing junior that would make a huge difference to their intermediates. Whether they use them or not is another story and could make or break their chances of progressing in intermediate.

Brosna are probably the favourites but Ballinamere should be winning it at this stage. They have enough young players and plenty of good experience to call on.

Dont know much about Rynaghs. Have they got many lads that would have hurled senior in recent years?

[OffalySorry]

Coolderry players wont play intermediate because of the junior. They think they have a better chance of winning that.
Banagher are very strong but should lose some more players to senior.
Brosna Gaels should be the strongest team however especially with the emergence of Chris McDonald as an Offaly senior this year.

[Plain of the Herbs]

It's interesting that Carrig & Riverstown have been hurling with some spirit this year, at both Intermediate and Junior grades. Is there any particular reason for this renewed organisation? Ger Oakley, perhaps?

I also see that the Carrig & Riverstown club website has recently been updated. It now contains a comprehensive history section. Well worth a look, as it appears to have been compiled following painstaking trawling of 100 years on newspaper archives. Well done to those who carried that out. The results can be seen here:- http://carrigriverstown.offaly.gaa.ie/

[timber]

Coolderry players wont play intermediate because of the junior. They think they have a better chance of winning that.
Banagher are very strong but should lose some more players to senior.
Brosna Gaels should be the strongest team however especially with the emergence of Chris McDonald as an Offaly senior this year.

Coolderry are not exactly looking after developing their players if they hold back young hurlers to play Junior when they clearly should be hurling Intermediate. A few good experienced hurlers like Paul Ryan and David Dooley i thought should be hurling intermediate also.

I think Brosna and Ballinamere are there for the taking if St Rynaghs or Coolderry put in a genuine effort at this grade. It might be a step too far for Carrig Riverstown but they are motoring well.

[tacmot]

Timber , where are you getting your "coolderry not really intrested in developing young players " line from. Can you inform me with some evidence to back this up, or are you just spouting rubbish to get a jibe in at a certain club?

[Greenwhiteandgold]

Coolderry are not exactly looking after developing their players if they hold back young hurlers to play Junior when they clearly should be hurling Intermediate. A few good experienced hurlers like Paul Ryan and David Dooley i thought should be hurling intermediate also.

He said that if they are holding back there players for junior then there not looking to develop these hurlers. Id say its most likely the players that want to stay junior and not coolderry that is making them stay junior.

[Long John]

Coolderry players wont play intermediate because of the junior. They think they have a better chance of winning that.
Banagher are very strong but should lose some more players to senior.
Brosna Gaels should be the strongest team however especially with the emergence of Chris McDonald as an Offaly senior this year.

Coolderry are not exactly looking after developing their players if they hold back young hurlers to play Junior when they clearly should be hurling Intermediate. A few good experienced hurlers like Paul Ryan and David Dooley i thought should be hurling intermediate also.

I think Brosna and Ballinamere are there for the taking if St Rynaghs or Coolderry put in a genuine effort at this grade. It might be a step too far for Carrig Riverstown but they are motoring well.

Is that the same Paul Ryan that hurled in a couple of senior finals with Coolderry? Is he not on the senior panel still. He couldnt be more than 29 or 30.

[tacmot]

That is the same paul ryan that played in 1 of the co finals in the mid 2000s, tink it was the drawn and replayer finals v Birr. He hasnot played with coolderry for the past 3 years as he is away and living up near naas.
Coolderry dont have 'young players' on their junior team except 3 lads that were U16 last year

[puzzled]

This weeks fixtures
Group 1
Ballyskenagh v Clara,Clara by 5-7points
Crinkle v Ballinamere,Ballinamere by 10+
Brosna Gaels v Coolderry,Brosna Gaels by 6-8 points
Group 2
Carrig and Riverstown v Birr,Birr by 2-4 points
St.Rynaghs v Killurin,Rynaghs by 3-5 points
Killavilla v K/K,K/K by 5-8 points

[timber]

Timber , where are you getting your "coolderry not really intrested in developing young players " line from. Can you inform me with some evidence to back this up, or are you just spouting rubbish to get a jibe in at a certain club?

Tacmot will you relax. There was no jibe at your club. Offalysorry had made the following point which I was querying.

Coolderry players wont play intermediate because of the junior. They think they have a better chance of winning that.

To me anyway it would be ridiculous to keep back hurlers to play junior just because they have a better chance of winning it. Is it not better to bring on these lads and get them a years experience of intermediate hurling and hopefully prepare them for senior hurling. I work with a few Coolderry lads and they reckon that 4 of the u21 team are on the junior and they are better hurlers than a few on the intermediate. Young Connolly and O' Connor would be well capable of playing at a higher grade. Look at the Ballinamere gaels u21 team. The large majority of them are playing for their intermediate teams in Ballinamere, Brosna gaels, and Clara.

Its not a jibe, its just stating the obvious. These lads wont learn anything from walking a junior B.