Senior A hurling 2018

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.

Sean Robbins winners 2018

Kilcormac Killoughey
9
27%
St.Rynaghs
12
36%
Ferbane
4
12%
Clareen
2
6%
Birr
1
3%
Shinrone
3
9%
Kinnitty
1
3%
Coolderry
1
3%
 
Total votes: 33

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Shinrone did what Shinrone do in Saturday's quarter-final. This time they were aided and abetted by their management. Playing with a strong wind at their backs and they play with one, sometimes two, forwards beyond the attacking 45m line. Crazy on so many fronts - first the obvious, that the ball was going to be going in long, but also because St Rynagh's kept a covering defender in front of their full-back, who gathered several loose balls. (Did the Shinrone planner not think that would happen?) And because St Rynagh's are more than capable of passing their way line by line out of defence, something that is easier to do with a spare defender. Of all teams in the county, St Rynagh's Seniors are the best at picking short and medium range passes to loose men, which makes them more than capable of hurling into the wind.

Fine if Adrian Cleary was to be mobile and free and loose, but at least place him in midfield of on the half-forward line, which would force the Shannonsiders to think about it. By the time Cleary was restored to top of the left, St Rynagh's had their marker laid down and held something like a 0-4 to 0-2 lead, or perhaps a 0-5 to 0-3 lead into the wind.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

private joker
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by private joker »

Seir Kieran lost in senior relegation play-off.

greenairfield
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by greenairfield »

Well Dylan hayden is hurling intermediate he would probably be still good enough to hurl for the seniors he's only 33..

Morgan Watkins also he will be senior next year I haven't seen much of him but by all accounts he is very talented.

allstar2010
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by allstar2010 »

greenairfield wrote:Well Dylan hayden is hurling intermediate he would probably be still good enough to hurl for the seniors he's only 33..

Morgan Watkins also he will be senior next year I haven't seen much of him but by all accounts he is very talented.
Jesus that’s some intermed player to have!! Does Rory H play any grade now?

chimbonda
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by chimbonda »

St Rynaghs v KK
KK by 2 points - something like KK 1-14 St Rynaghs 0-15

Coolderry v Belmont
Coolderry by 4 points - something like Coolderry 2-18 Belmont 1-17

LooseCannon
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by LooseCannon »

Coolderry.
St Rynagh’s.
Good Luck

private joker
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by private joker »

Coolderry and KK for me.
Coolderry to win final.

shannonbanks14
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by shannonbanks14 »

Coolderry by skin of their teeth. Rynaghs will bt kk n win co final.

kaiserchief
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by kaiserchief »

shannonbanks14 wrote:Coolderry by skin of their teeth. Rynaghs will bt kk n win co final.
wouldn't be any bias in that prediction.. is that a hope or faith prediction!!

Draw in Rynaghs n KK and KK in extra time

Belmont by 3 for me. Fitness will be the difference..

SearingDrive
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by SearingDrive »

As a North Offaly man, I pick Coolderry and St. Rynagh's to advance at the weekend.

I

shannonbanks14
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by shannonbanks14 »

kaiserchief wrote:
shannonbanks14 wrote:Coolderry by skin of their teeth. Rynaghs will bt kk n win co final.
wouldn't be any bias in that prediction.. is that a hope or faith prediction!!

Draw in Rynaghs n KK and KK in extra time

Belmont by 3 for me. Fitness will be the difference..
I'll go with faith.

Fairplayalways
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by Fairplayalways »

I think Rynaghs might just get over KK..Coolderry will beat Belmont and win final also..I think!

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Just on this, there will be replays in the event of semi-finals ending level after 60 minutes. No extra time.
kaiserchief wrote:wouldn't be any bias in that prediction.. is that a hope or faith prediction!!

Draw in Rynaghs n KK and KK in extra time

Belmont by 3 for me. Fitness will be the difference..
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

Plain of the Herbs
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The semi-final weekend of the big winds

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Kilcormac-Killoughey and St Rynagh’s meet in the first semi-final to be played on a Saturday since 2009, when Tullamore shocked Birr the time. The ultimate 50:50 call. They met in five knockout games this decade, K-K winning the three final meetings, St Rynagh’s winning both semi-finals.

The wind will be a factor here. St Rynagh’s appear to do well hurling into the wind, but aren’t running up winning margins when backed by the breeze. The former situation makes sense, they are the best in the county, and the most comfortable, with ball in hand and making ground by playing mid-range stick passes. They led Shinrone by three at half-time having hurled into the wind, eventually winning by the same margin. And they looked set for a big win over Coolderry when trailing by a single point at half-time with wind aid to come, but their strategy of pucking out as long and as far as they could in the second half didn’t create scores.

Still, not beating Coolderry wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to them, and having a quarter-final against Shinrone served to focus them a bit. Hard to know where their scores will come from though, unless Aidan Treacy can be fed a supply and afforded room. Leaving off Stephen Quirke only adds to the scoring quandary. Unless Dermot Shortt can score 0-3 from wing-forward. Ciarán Flannery will hardly bully Enda Grogan at square’s edge either.

No such mystery surrounds K-K’s likely scorers. They did what they had to, and no more, in the group stages. Thomas Geraghty has scored 0-3 in each of four of their group matches, though he has spend a lot of time at midfield this year. While Ger Healion will depend on the quality and frequency of the ball coming in, he will test Ben Conneely’s credentials as a top class full-back. James Gorman is due a day when he scores 0-3. Ciarán Slevin, Cillain Kiely and Ger Healion are all likely goalscorers. Damien Kilmartin has established himself at centre half-back, kevin Grogan as hardy as even on the right flank of the defence. Whatever happens, the championship, simmering along, should catch fire on Saturday evening.



Belmont v Coolderry, as everyone knows by now, is the first semi-final to be played at Birr since 2006. Coolderry won that one, by the way.

Coolderry were the form team earlier in the year, and while they topped the group, that was with four wins and three draws. Their last convincing performance was against Birr however, and that was eight weeks ago now. Since then, you couldn’t say they hurled well against Kinnitty, when it took a late run to get over the line first, and while they drew with St Rynagh’s, 14 scores to 20 was a fairer reflection of the balance of play than the actual 3-11 to 0-20 final scoreline. Brian Carroll and Kevin Connolly are in good scoring form, but they could do with one of their half-forwards pitching in with 0-3 to help compile a winning total.

Belmont themselves hurled like a team without ambition against Birr. As the clock ticked into stoppage time and they were two points behind, you couldn’t say the goal chance was coming. But it did, and Belmont celebrated. Always hard to get a first ever win over a traditional opponent, and maybe now the Birr monkey is off their backs they can perform better. Other hand, they don’t have a good record in Birr, and Coolderry remain a team they have never beaten in Senior championship hurling. Having moved around their forwards to a fair degree between the Shinrone and Seir Kieran games, they will probably start the same as they did against Birr, which will bring stability. David Cox could cause Kevin Brady some bother if he can run at him. And Oisín Kelly might score a goal or two, which Belmont will need as they are unlikely to score more that 14 or 15 points. Belmont’s half-back line of Damien Egan, Mark Egan and James Nally might be the source of those goals, though Trevor Corcoran and Stephen Burke have defended exceptionally well this year. Joe Maher is a decent ball winner and while not a fluent striker of the ball, is picking off a steady line of scores. Colin Egan hasn’t been scoring, and if he could score a goal and / or 2 or 3 points, the Brosna siders might be putting the flags up in anticipation of a bigger day in October.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: Senior A hurling 2018

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

That's probably not a bad plan, though obviously it is too late to change any fixtures now (Friday evening). Have any other counties shown this foresight, do you know?

And whatever about bad weather forcing cancellations, draws and replays (particularly involving Ferbane, Belmont, Tullamore or Clara) will cause fixture chaos. If Belmont win on Sunday, you couldn't say for certain the hurling final will be on Sunday the 7th until the result of Ferbane's football semi-final on Sunday 30th is known.

Clara hurlers are in Leinster action on 20th October. The Senior A, Senior B and Intermediate football winners are all in Leinster on the weekend of 27th-28th October, with the Senior A and Senior B hurling winners in provincial action a weekend later.
chimbonda wrote:With the forecast for stormy conditions with large amounts of rain on Saturday night / Sunday, should the county board look to move some of Sundays games back to Saturday as any postponements will result in significant delays due to the number of dual clubs still involved (Tullamore / Shamrocks / Clara)?
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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