Intermediate Hurling

[backofthenet]

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.

I cant think of one player that Coolderry are really holding back junior, at the last intermediate game i think there was 2 subs..and neither wanted to come on as they would lose out on playing for the rest of the year. Andy Connolly is a fairly good hurler, far too soon to say what difference he could make to the intermediates. There is a jump between junior b and intermediate especially at the earlier stages of the junior b when some of the players arent exactly fit, this gives a great advantage to younger players. Seamus OConnor again is a good young hurler but is unproven at intermediate and to be frank its hard to say whether either is strong enough physically to compete at this level against the likes of Brosna Gaels & Ballinamere. Seamus was a little bit young for under 21 level this year and i think another year or so at junior will shape him into a better hurler. I dont think they would make enough of an impact to warrant them coming up this year. Far better for them to get a full year at junior level to develop physically and challenge for the intermediate places next year.

I would argue that Coolderry have a proven track record of bringing through younger players, some of the current crop of senior players hurled senior at 16 & 17, Coolderry are lucky enough to have 22-23 at senior grade, 17-18 at intermediate and about 23-24 at junior so there is plenty of competition for places which has meant the younger guys have to work a little bit harder which will hopefully be a good thing in the long run.

[timber]

I take your point backofthenet but the fact only 17 togged out for the intermediate says something. Players are being held back. I had a Coolderry lad giving out stink about it in work the other day. 17 is a terrible number for an intermediate team that would have a good chance of playing for honours. It more or less says Coolderry are not taking the intermediate anyway serious and that must be very frustrating for lads on that team.

Ive seen both Connolly and O' Connor hurl. Both are good young lads and if they were at alot of other clubs they would be on the 1st team nevermind the 3rd. Thats just naming two. Parlon is another.

Coolderry are very fortunate to have this much young talent. I think it is a waste leaving them play in the junior instead of letting them develop at a higher grade.

[puzzled]

Two games played this evening
Killavilla 1-9 K/K 1-11
Ballyskenagh 3-15 Clara 1-7
Serious result for Skegnagh puts them in with a great shout of a quarter final spot and with Brendan Murphy back playing they could cause problems for whoever they play!
Looks like it will be Killavilla or Crinkle to see who goes down for me Crinkle are in serious danger of hurling Junior next year!

[backofthenet]

I take your point backofthenet but the fact only 17 togged out for the intermediate says something. Players are being held back. I had a Coolderry lad giving out stink about it in work the other day. 17 is a terrible number for an intermediate team that would have a good chance of playing for honours. It more or less says Coolderry are not taking the intermediate anyway serious and that must be very frustrating for lads on that team.

Ive seen both Connolly and O' Connor hurl. Both are good young lads and if they were at alot of other clubs they would be on the 1st team nevermind the 3rd. Thats just naming two. Parlon is another.

Coolderry are very fortunate to have this much young talent. I think it is a waste leaving them play in the junior instead of letting them develop at a higher grade.

Youre right it does say something, there were about 3-4 players that have played senior this year who probably would be better off playing intermediate but because of the injuries at senior level they have been taken when they normally probably wouldnt. Stephen Connolly, Barry Larkin, Michael Ryan are three that come to mind and they would have seriously strenghtened the intermediate team. There are a lot of hurlers at junior level who want to stay at that level. Paul Ryan wants to stay there for this year as he is working in Naas and cant commit, David Dooley is a fine hurler but at his age it wouldnt be fair to him to play intermediate and id say he also doesnt want to be involved at intermediate as he is also a senior selector. Connolly and O'Connor are good hurlers no doubt, but I think they are still a year too light to make the step, also another thing that needs to be considered is the numbers at junior level, i heard there was only two subs at the junior match last night so if those wo were taken that leaves the juniors short!

[Greenwhiteandgold]

group two is very tight coming into the last round of matches with 4 teams on 4 points. Does it come down to scoring difference or head to head to see who goes through because alot of the teams have beaten each other. e.g kk beat birr, birr beat c & r, and c & r beat kk..

[Long John]

Very tight in the groups alright. Its looking like Carrig might lose out after losing head to head with Birr.

Possible Quarter finals shaping up like;

Brosna v Killurin
Ballinamere/Durrow v Birr
Ballyskenach v KK
Coolderry v Rynaghs

Final games with KK/Killurin and Ballinamere/Coolderry could make a big difference in where teams finish and who they will meet in quarter finals.

Brosna would be happy to get Killurin. Ballinamere are one of the favourites. Dont think they will fancy meeting Birr all the same if they finish 2nd and Birr finish third. Birr who have not been motoring too well at this grade look to be sneaking in quietly and could be dangerous in knock out stages.

Could be very little between alot of the teams in it when it gets into knock games.

[puzzled]

Results from tonight
Ballinamere 0-13 Coolderry 2-14
Brosna Gaels 0-13 Ballyskenagh 1-12
Two good results for Coolderry and Ballyskenagh but it doesnt really change the final standings in the group
1 Brosna Gaels
2 Ballinamere
3 Ballyskenagh
4 Coolderry

John Troy seems to be doing a great job with skenagh and with Brendan Murphy back they could prove to be the dark horses this year!
Wonder if Coolderry used any of their juniors tonight?

[Plain of the Herbs]

Ballyskenagh 1-12 Brosna Gaels 0-13

I dropped into this in Kilcormac this evening. Ballyskenagh led 0-4 to 0-1 when I got in and they went on to lead 0-6 to 0-2 and still led 0-9 to 0-7 at half time. This despite Gaels seeming to get to the ball first and do most of the hurling. Three points in a two minute spell saw Ballyskenagh extend a 0-6 to 0-5 lead to 0-9 to 0-5 as Brendan Murphy was prominent is this spell.

Gaels were level at 0-10 each when Ballyskenagh got a goal after about 40 minutes, I think by Morgan Lalor? That goal was the difference throughout. It took Gaels about ten minutes to score again though Danny Kelleher, Lee?, Jeffrey Cuskelly cleared alot of ball and Des Egan hurled well at midfield. Ballyskenagh battled well in defence where Fearghus Hannon and Gavin (Hannon?) were the pick of them. Gaels couldn’t get level and though they had plenty of chances, and ’Skenagh closed it out with a pointed free.

Given that they were sharper and better under the dropping ball, Brosna Gaels should have won. Then again they didn’t have to win which might have been a factor. Of course Brendan Murphy was the most stylish hurler on the pitch but went long periods on the periphery. They need to get him into the game – perhaps a move to full-forward with everyone else staying out of the way might pay dividends.

[kinnittyman]

Ballyskenagh 1-12 Brosna Gaels 0-13

I dropped into this in Kilcormac this evening. Ballyskenagh led 0-4 to 0-1 when I got in and they went on to lead 0-6 to 0-2 and still led 0-9 to 0-7 at half time. This despite Gaels seeming to get to the ball first and do most of the hurling. Three points in a two minute spell saw Ballyskenagh extend a 0-6 to 0-5 lead to 0-9 to 0-5 as Brendan Murphy was prominent is this spell.

Gaels were level at 0-10 each when Ballyskenagh got a goal after about 40 minutes, I think by Morgan Lalor? That goal was the difference throughout. It took Gaels about ten minutes to score again though Danny Kelleher, Lee?, Jeffrey Cuskelly cleared alot of ball and Des Egan hurled well at midfield. Ballyskenagh battled well in defence where Fearghus Hannon and Gavin (Hannon?) were the pick of them. Gaels couldn’t get level and though they had plenty of chances, and ’Skenagh closed it out with a pointed free.

Given that they were sharper and better under the dropping ball, Brosna Gaels should have won. Then again they didn’t have to win which might have been a factor. Of course Brendan Murphy was the most stylish hurler on the pitch but went long periods on the periphery. They need to get him into the game – perhaps a move to full-forward with everyone else staying out of the way might pay dividends.

That's how they beat us in the County Senior Semi of 2003 - That seems like forever ago now!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

You're right. That's actually what I had in mind when I was thinking about that move. For some reason Brendan doesn't seem to 'read' a game and, even though hurling in a central position, can be 'out' of a game for long periods, as he was this evening.

That sunny evening against Kinnitty they gave the lad 30 yards of space, got some great ball into him and he finished some fine goals into the town end in Birr. Mind you, he was at his peak back then, Ballyskenagh carried real belief and they had David Franks hurling midfield sending the ball in. Murph scored a fine goal in the Final from a narrow angle too.

An Sac Mór peaked as a club manager that 2003 evening.

Who was full-back for ye that evening? Fearghal Kealey, was it? 'Ducky' Senior (for whom I had/have little sympathy) was in goals. Those match reports are in the archive section of the Ballyskenagh website which is another treasure trove.

That's how they beat us in the County Senior Semi of 2003 - That seems like forever ago now!!

[kinnittyman]

Ya Fearghal Kealey was full back but you couldn't blame him really. Added to the fact that Murphy was nearly unmarkable was that Paddy Whelan who was centre back hurled way too far up the field and left that space behind him. Wouldn't happen now the way James Rigney hurls the centre-back role. Ya Ducky Senior was in goals. A cult hero around these parts. Made some unreal saves down the years and made some unbelievable decisions to protect his square!!!!

[backofthenet]

Results from tonight
Ballinamere 0-13 Coolderry 2-14
Brosna Gaels 0-13 Ballyskenagh 1-12
Two good results for Coolderry and Ballyskenagh but it doesnt really change the final standings in the group
1 Brosna Gaels
2 Ballinamere
3 Ballyskenagh
4 Coolderry

John Troy seems to be doing a great job with skenagh and with Brendan Murphy back they could prove to be the dark horses this year!
Wonder if Coolderry used any of their juniors tonight?

Coolderry used one junior last night, seamus oconnor came on at half time to replace the injured john mcloughney. Didnt have a major impact on the game either way as coolderry were hurling well before and after. Played well defensively only giving up 13 points against ballinamere is good, it wont change the outcome of the group stages so it will by rynaghs and coolderry in 2 weeks time. There is a possibility that the juniors will be out at that stage with the semi final on before then so there may be some more juniors needed.

[timber]

BOTN, that was an impressive result for Coolderry last night. Surely if they give it a right go they would be well capable of beating a good Rynaghs team.

Would David Dooley not have been higher up the pecking order than Seamus O' Connor? O' Connor is a decent young hurler but Dooley is a right good hurler. Far too good to be wasted at junior level when he'd be a key man for ye in the intermediate. He'd be well able to man a central position and control the game.

[backofthenet]

BOTN, that was an impressive result for Coolderry last night. Surely if they give it a right go they would be well capable of beating a good Rynaghs team.

Would David Dooley not have been higher up the pecking order than Seamus O' Connor? O' Connor is a decent young hurler but Dooley is a right good hurler. Far too good to be wasted at junior level when he'd be a key man for ye in the intermediate. He'd be well able to man a central position and control the game.

It was a good result alright, wouldnt be getting carried away though its very hard to know what kind of form coolderry are in. Rynaghs seem to be going well but Coolderry drew with them last year at this level so may be able to put up a challenge in the qtr final.

To be honest I David hasnt togged out for any of the intermediate matches this year and its really difficult to say if his legs are up to the intermediate grade anymore, undoubtedly is a fine hurler and could probably do a job for 30 - 40 minutes but would probably struggle to stay going for the full 60. Seamus OConnor has been hurling well, Coolderry were missing Declan Parlon again ballinamere so he will come back into the reckoning for the qtr final. I think if Coolderry were to lose the junior semi final next weekend there would probably be a few juniors in the mix for the rynaghs game, if they win the chances are they will probably hold onto them for the final.

[Greenwhiteandgold]

Quarter final line ups:

St. rynaghs v Coolderry
Ballinamere v Killurin
Ballyskenagh v Birr
Brosna Gaels v Carrig and riverstown