Junior A Hurling

[kingscounty]

the next round of games should determine what way most of the teams are going for this year.alot of teams have been hit with the loss of players to emigration,killeigh seem to be getting big numbers and good manager.

[puzzled]

Still have to fancy KK to win the A. Im hearing Shinrone have a fairly decent outfit aswell. Would they be in the running?

Coolderry breezing through the B. They could afford to lose a few of the better players and still win this championship easily. thirteen goals in two games.

Carrig and riverstown appear to be making a push for the C. They had a good win against Kinnitty. In general the club appears to be having a good season with the division 2 league final also.

How does the B and C championship knockout stages work as both have one big group?

Results from the junior B tonight Gracefield 2-9 Coolderry 2-9,Clara 1-7 Shamrocks 3-18! Great result for Gracefield perhaps its not a one horse race after all! Shamrocks should be fairly strong as well considering they were in the A last year!
Results from the junior C tonight Crinkle 1-6 Killurin 3-14,Killiegh 2-14 Kinnitty 1-8,Drumcullen 0-5 Carrig/Riverstown 1-11!Killiegh flying at the two junior grades,looks like Killurin or Carrig/Riverstown will be their main opposition in the junior C!

[puzzled]

Junior A results from yesterday group 1 Edenderry 1-7 Drumcullen 1-11,Raheen v K/K postponed!
group 2 Kinnitty 2-9 Birr 1-5,Belmont 0-9 St Rynaghs 1-16,Brosna Gaels 0-4 Tullamore 0-6!
Seir Kieran v Killiegh is being played this evening!
Edenderrys result yesterday means they are in serious trouble in this championship they may even struggle to field a team in the last few group games,great result for Drumcullen puts them right back into the mix!
Big win for Kinnitty,Birr were expecting to win this game! St Rynaghs with Offaly legend Damien Martin training them could be a big threat after their result yesterday it might get them motoring! The Tullamore Brosna Gaels game sounds like it was a drab affair but a win is a win and Tullamore look certainies for the quarter finals at this stage!
Seir Kieran v Killiegh was cancelled yesterday evening,2 games not played in this group this weekend they will probably be re-fixed for later in the week!

[Lone Shark]

Rynaghs were very solid against Belmont, no real weak links in the team which is a good way to be for a junior side. Ger Rafferty gives them a fair amount of physical presence at centre forward while a lad they were calling "Rusty" was very good with frees and from general play at midfield.

Belmont will live to regret a couple of missed goal chances in the first half when they had the help of the wind - they led 0-6 to 0-5 at half time.

[kingscounty]

was at edenderry game this game could have gone the other but for sending off of edenderry half back.edenderry had strong win in first half and didnt score enough with it and were unlucky in second half must have had 5 goal chances.hit the post twice and few great saves from drumcullen keeper.the reds were missing 6 regular players and that is hard for a team to replace these.drumcullen fully deserved the win and looks like they will fill the last quater final spot in this group.

[ryder no4]

Hi guys. long time reader, first time poster so go easy on me. Just on the Junior C'ship, I reckon its fairly hard to look past KK. Having said that, i fear they could be prone to losing some of their more prominent hurlers to senior and intermediate as the season progresses and we reach the business end of things. That could pave the way for the likes of Birr, a youthful Shinrone side and a fast improving Killeigh side under the stewardship of Damien "Gift" Fox. At the other end of the table, Raheen have shipped some heavy beatings and seem to be the whipping boys of Group 1 and you have to feel for them. All in all, seems to be a very open C'ship with some big games still to play and surely a shock or two along the way. Roll on October and the county finals back in Birr, where they belong.

[Long John]

I was chatting one of the Gracefield lads last night. He said they are flying it. There's a good manager over them apparently and they are putting in a big effort. Although he did say Coolderry were missing a few and maybe playing it cute with the prospect of it being a Coolderry Gracefield final.

Doubt Shamrocks will be in the running come knockout stages. Id say they will lose a few players considering they failed to field a team against Carrig and Riverstown in a Senior challenge at weekend and had to use the C & R subs. Numbers are very poor and interest very low and it will be a thrown together outfit on the day.

Killeigh are having a great season from what I am hearing. Both A and C teams are going well. I have not seen them. Would they be strong enough for KK or Shinrone.

[puzzled]

Killeigh are having a great season from what I am hearing. Both A and C teams are going well. I have not seen them. Would they be strong enough for KK or Shinrone.

Having watched Killieghs last game against Edenderry they will be a match for anyone at this level,chatting a few Killiegh guys at the game they were saying how good the training is under Damien Fox,Killieghs stiking and general all round play has improved so much while he has been in charge his coaching methods are really working at the moment!
Their fitness is not in question either in both their group games so far they have blown away the opposition in the second half,stiffer tests lie ahead in the coming months but so far they are looking good for a semi-final at the very least!

[alltheway]

Has anyone been to many of the matches or what strengths have various teams. Its documented here KK's strength with said players. It seems to make for a fairly interesting and exciting championship with many teams having designs on taking the James Cleary Cup back home. Who are the main players/ones to watch for each team at this level?

[puzzled]

Doubt Shamrocks will be in the running come knockout stages. Id say they will lose a few players considering they failed to field a team against Carrig and Riverstown in a Senior challenge at weekend and had to use the C & R subs. Numbers are very poor and interest very low and it will be a thrown together outfit on the day.

Are things really going that bad for Shamrocks at senior level? If they cant field a team,even for a practice game,two weeks before they play the next round of the championship it doesnt look good for them to keep their senior status!
Does anyone know if Derek Molloy intends coming home for their next game?
What about Shane Dooley and Shane Kelly and a couple of Kinnitty guys away as well does anyone know if they are staying stateside or coming back to play for their clubs? Who would blame any young lad that has a job for the summer if they stayed away!

[puzzled]

This weeks Junior A fixtures
Thursday 28th
K/K v Shinrone,two of the big guns playing here tough one to call home advantage may see K/K through but only just!
Birr v Ballinamere,Birr need to win this one after losing the last game but Ballinamere may have too much for them!
Friday 29th
Killiegh v Raheen,local derby but Killiegh will win this one with a few to spare!
Drumcullen v Seir Kieran,another local derby a lot tougher to call,the winner will be in a strong position to qualify for the quarters Drumcullen may just scrape it!
Sunday 31st
St.Rynaghs v Brosna Gaels,Rynaghs should win this one and put one foot in the quarter final!
Belmont and Edenderry have the byes for this round of games!

[middleman]

il go for these!
Thursday 28th
K/K v Shinrone, cant see a whole pile between these two so im going to side with the draw. should be a good game though as this should decide who tops the group.
Birr v Ballinamere, after birr losing to kinnity i cant see anything other than a ballinamere victory here.
Friday 29th
Killiegh v Raheen,Raheen dont seem to be going as well in this years championship compared to last years anyone know why?? anyway killeigh to win this one pulling up.
Drumcullen v Seir Kieran,as puzzled said this is a tough one but drumcullen have the momentum from their victory over edenderry so il side with them for a narrow win.
Sunday 31st
St.Rynaghs v Brosna Gaels, brosna gaels have no points but have only narrowly lost all 3 games and this is a must win game. i saw rynaghs the last day and they have a solid (but not spectacular) unit right from goalkeeper to corner forward so il side with them but only just!!
I think tullamore may also be playing kinnity this weekend but not 100% sure, id expect tullamore to win that one.
needless to say ive agreed with puzzled on 4 out of the 5 games but the great thing about the junior championship is that its very unpredictable

[puzzled]

Tullamore 3-7 Kinnitty 3-13 result from tonight! Great result for Kinnitty after losing their first game to Ballinamere they really have turned in two good performances! If Tullamore lose a couple of juniors to their senior team at the weekend it really would weaken them for the last group games!

[alltheway]

What kind of teams had they out, are kinnitty strong, many ex seniors or is it young team?

[puzzled]

Junior A results
Killiegh 1-12 Raheen 1-8
Drumcullen 1-12 Seir Kieran 3-11
K/K 2-15 Shinrone 5-12
Tighter game in Killiegh than was expected but a local derby is always hard to predict!
Great result for Seir Kieran it puts them in with a great chance of getting to a quarter final!
Big win for Shinrone considering the game was in Kilcormac,Shinrone have to be the favourites to top this group and it will take a good team to stop them winning the championship!