Offaly Senior Hurling Championship 2013

[Plain of the Herbs]

With head-to-heads counting in the event of ties, there is no real scope for opportunities to leapfrog the opposition in the tables.

There is one exception, where Shinrone and Belmont fight it out for third and fourth place in their group. Or, loser plays Kilcormac-Killoughey, winner plays Birr. And it’s not so long ago that quarter-finals against Birr were best avoided.

Both have blown hot and cold this year. And both have mixed the rough with the smooth within the same match. Shinrone have been creating more chances in matches but very often the wides tally well into double figures. Belmont don’t miss much, creating relatively few chances but their conversion rate is much higher.

Belmont score goals, with David Cox and Colin Egan the main threats, one a runner, the other can fetch in the edge of the square. Shinrone don’t generally hit goals (prior to hitting 5 past Lusmagh they had scored 4 goals in their last 8 championship matches). Shinrone should be capable of scoring at least 15 points, Belmont don’t score more than around a dozen (hiting 20 against Rynagh’s certainly was uncharacteristic). Two goals for Shinrone will surely see them home; Belmont will need to hit at least 3 goals to win.

Oh, and Belmont have never won a match in Birr. Shinrone to win then, something like 1-18 to 2-12.

Nothing else really matters. Coolderry, ’Rynagh’s, Birr, Clareen and Kilcormac will all win, and the quarter-final lineup will be Kilcormac v Belmont, Birr v Shinrone, Clareen v Coolderry and ’Rynagh’s v Tullamore.


Finally, for the stattos among you, the championship’s top scorers so far are –
43 – Brian Carroll (1-40)
42 – Joseph Bergin (2-36)
37 - Ciarán Slevin (1-34)
27 – Colm Coughlan (0-27)
26 – Conor Gath (1-23)

And the top goalscorers –
4 – David Cox
3 – Conor Mahon, James Gorman, Adrian Hynes

[kinnittyman]

I know Kinnitty have nothing to play for but it wouldn't surprise me if they went out and beat 'Rynaghs. With the pressure off it's like the match that Kinnitty could hurl well in and 'Rynghs in my estimation are not County Final winner material.

That would leave Coolderry into first and Belmont into second if they overcome Shinrone which I think they will. That would really change the Quarter Final scenario.

So for what it's worth (and just to be different) I'll predict the Quarter Finals to be:

Kilcormac / Killoughey vs Shinrone

Birr vs St. Rynagh's

Seir Kieran vs Belmont

Tullamore vs Coolderry

Coolderry and K/K would be bankers for the Semi-Finals then if I get my predictions right.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I really wonder which (and how many) of Coolderry's currently injured regulars will be back for the quarter-final. And even if Joe Brady is back, it will have been quite some time since he last played a match. And whatever about Cathal Parlon, they'd be in trouble with Joe carrying rust. Clareen were well in with a shout in the quarter-final two years ago when an assault on Bergin was missed by the referee and Coolderry went from there to close the game out with three late scores. Clareen won't win it out, but they could well be the team to knock a depleted Coolderry out if they did meet in the near future. Coolderry are not hurling well.

Kinnitty have a god record against 'Rynagh's too. Stephen Quirke's US sanction was effective 16th July so he'll not be eligible for the quarter-final.

Clareen's Seán Coughlan's sanction has expired and he currently eligible to line out with his home clubs. Barry Harding will be eligible by next week.

Two quarter-finals in Tullamore on the Saturday with two in Birr on the Sunday has been the trend in recent years. And Tullamore always get to play theirs in Tullamore,

[Plain of the Herbs]

Quarter-final fixtures confirmed.

Double header at Birr on Saturday evening. Coolderry v Clareen at 5pm, followed by Birr v Shinrone at 6.30pm.
Double header at Tullamore on Sunday evening. 'Rynagh's v Tullamore at 5pm followed by Kilcormac v Belmont at 6.30pm.

The remaining IHC quarter-final is on Sunday where Shamrocks play Carrig & Riverstown in Kilcormac at 12 noon.

The Junior quarter-finals are also on this weekend -
Kilcormac v Shamrocks at 4pm on Saturday in Killurin
Killeigh v Crinkill at 6.30pm on Saturday in Rath
Edenderry v Ballinamere at 12 noon on Sunday in Killeigh
Kinnitty v Clareen at 12 noon on Sunday in Crinkill.

I don't see any fixtures for the relegation series in any grade.

The Minor A and B quarter-final fixtures are also now up. These all take place on Wednesday 4th September at 6.30pm with the first named at home. -

Minor A
Clareen v Coolderry
Kilcormac v Birr
Shinrone v Ballinamere-Durrow
'Rynagh's v Shamrocks

Minor B
Kinnitty v Tullamore
Clara v Lusmagh
Na Fíanna v Ferbane-Belmont
and it looks like CRC Gaels have a bye.

[Killeighman]

The underdogs that are killeigh are rearing to go!

[alltheway]

Quarter-final fixtures confirmed.


Minor A
Clareen v Coolderry

Clareen Og? Considering 9 Drumcullen lads start on that team.
Also, any idea when the relegation games are being considered for?

[Lone Shark]

Coolderry vs Lusmagh was the only game I got to take in at the weekend but it was worth watching if only because it marked a real return to form from Coolderry - they simply hadn't hurled to that level at all so far this year.

It would be easy to say that the opposition wasn't great or that the standard of hurling was poor, but Coolderry came out of the blocks flying and they killed the game as a contest in the first ten minutes. 2-8 in ten minutes is excellent scoring against any opponent and they made sure not to make the mistake of leaving an underdog team in the game and running the risk of a tight finish.

Joe Brady made his first appearance since injury for twenty minutes, though he didn't really have a lot to do so he'll need a lot more hurling to get up to speed. I don't think he'll be starting centre back against Joe Bergin in the quarter finals anyway, that's for sure. Cathal Parlon still out, but Eoin Ryan hurled well in the corner. Kevin Connolly was hugely impressive also. He hurled up a storm at full forward, digging in for dirty ball and hitting 0-7, six from play.

It all depends on the draw and if there can be any upsets, but right now a KK vs Cúl final would be a great occasion and one that we could all look forward to - and I'd be surprised if anyone else was good enough to beat either of them.


As for Lusmagh, I'd be worried for them. They put out an awful lot of young lads who were minor and when one of them got a dunt early in the second half, there were screams from the dugout about how Coolderry shouldn't be hitting young lads. That kind of misses the point - when they were picked to play senior hurling, that was the sign that they were to be treated like men - the responsibility was on those that picked them.

There are some fine hurlers in that Lusmagh group but too many of them are too young, or too old. Brosna Gaels appear to have found a bit of form and they'll go in as favourites for the relegation semi, while I'd be stunned if Kinnitty didn't beat Drumcullen. Genuinely don't know who I'd fancy in a Lusmagh vs Drumcullen relegation final.

[ShinroneMan]

Ye people haven't a clue thinking Belmont will beat Shinrone and placing them third in the rankings. They went out against Kinnitty and barely beat them by two late goals and beating a very poor Banagher team. They only have 2 players and that is Colin Egan and David Kenny the rest of the team is very poor so that shows how much ye people really know on this.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Yea, like the men of Shinrone have a great record for winning stuff.

Remind us how ye fared against Belmont last year.

And while you're at it, remind us how ye got on against 'Banagher' (as you labelled them) in Round 1.

[puzzled]

Quarter-final fixtures confirmed.

Double header at Birr on Saturday evening. Coolderry v Clareen at 5pm, followed by Birr v Shinrone at 6.30pm.
Double header at Tullamore on Sunday evening. 'Rynagh's v Tullamore at 5pm followed by Kilcormac v Belmont at 6.30pm.

The remaining IHC quarter-final is on Sunday where Shamrocks play Carrig & Riverstown in Kilcormac at 12 noon.

The Junior quarter-finals are also on this weekend -
Kilcormac v Shamrocks at 4pm on Saturday in Killurin
Killeigh v Crinkill at 6.30pm on Saturday in Rath
Edenderry v Ballinamere at 12 noon on Sunday in Killeigh
Kinnitty v Clareen at 12 noon on Sunday in Crinkill.

I don't see any fixtures for the relegation series in any grade
.

The remaining IHC quarter final is on the Offaly fixtures website for Saturday at 5.30 in Rath also the JHC quarter final is on that website for Rath at 4pm also on Saturday with Killiegh V Crinkill on in Killurin Saturday evening at 6.30!
Have these matches been changed since the fixtures went out?

News with the relegation games is that they will not be played until after KK have won or been knocked out of the intermediate championship because if KK were to win the intermediate then no team would be relegated!

[Lone Shark]

News with the relegation games is that they will not be played until after KK have won or been knocked out of the intermediate championship because if KK were to win the intermediate then no team would be relegated!

I wouldn't like to speak for any of the players involved in the four senior teams here, but that seems a bit odd to me. I know it's a horrible game to have to play, but you are putting these clubs in a situation where if KK win their semi-final and lose their final (which is quite likely if they avoid BSK-Kill in the semi) then we'll be going back to Lusmagh, Drumcullen, Kinnitty and Brosna Gaels in a month's time with fixtures. So are these lads supposed to train on now, or not? It'll make it very hard to do.

It'll certainly make life tough for the Gaels, as lads will want to give their time to Ballycumber, Doon, Tubber and Erin Rovers, all of whom have big games of their own coming up.

Again I'm not involved with any, but you'd imagine the fairest way would be to play these relegation games on county hurling semi-final weekend, and if it turns out that KK give the losers a reprieve, so be it.

On a more general level, why are we finding ways to try and avoid playing matches - I thought that was kind of what the GAA was about, no? If you were going to call off games, you could have called off five of the six senior ones last week that were a whole lot less worthwhile.

[Toxicity234]

Quarter-final fixtures confirmed.
Double header at Birr on Saturday evening. Coolderry v Clareen at 5pm, followed by Birr v Shinrone at 6.30pm.
Double header at Tullamore on Sunday evening. 'Rynagh's v Tullamore at 5pm followed by Kilcormac v Belmont at 6.30pm.

I have missed the last few round of the championship so really looking forward to see the games this weekend.

Coolderry, Birr, Rynagh and Kilcormac have to favourites to make the Semi- Finals but past history tell us that they could well be at least one shock in store for us this weekend.
Last year it was Rynagh beating Coolderry, This year i see all 4 underdog pushing the favourites all the way.

Clareen for a team with 9 players on the county panel over the last 2 years shouldn’t be taking 19 point beating from anyone and their over reliance on Joe Bergin for everything has being a massive problem from them. If they want to push Coolderry it’s up to their Midfield and 5 other Forwards to step up and chip in. Coolderry to win by 5-8 points.

Birr are motoring away nicely. Winning game and building well. Shinrone have a great spread of very good hurlers, the only problem Shinrone have is that were players are very light and the team is a little young. The good thing for Shinrone is that they are playing Birr, Birr won't impose themsleves physically on the game. Birr like to play hurling, this is Birr biggest asset but also the biggest weakness. Home advantage should give birr a few extra points. Birr by 2.

Rynagh's vs Tullamore. Home advantage for Tullamore is always worth a few points. Rynagh's without Quirke, this is a hard one to call. Tullamore like a dogfight at this time of the year. i haven't seen these teams this years. So i go for a draw in this game.

Kilcormac vs Belmont. i think everyone in the world knows the tactics Kilcormac are going to play (that doesn't make it any easier to beat it) and if Belmont are to have a chance of beating Kilcormac they will need a smart tactics to bring their best player into the game. If i was the Belmont manager. i would make sure David Kenny was nowhere near Connor Mahon. Mahon stops the centre back from bossing the game and Belmont need Kenny to boss the game. Kenny is a great reader of the game and a good passer. i drop him into midfield and have him drop back into the half back line for puck out and try to win the break balls mahon will cause. if the belmont half back's can win that battle they be in the game. the other problem for Belmont is to break Kilcormac half back line. Again i think they is no point in putting Colin Egan on Peter or Ger Healion.
So you have to put him wing forward or corner forward and for what I have seen Damien Egan is a good half forward. Belmont won't have a chance if they go down the middle but they could give Kilcormac a right good game if the target the wing and conner. For Belmont to win this would want to be a low scoring game.
I hope this is a good game. i would like to see Belmont step up and push Kilcormac all the way. But the Kilcormac Killoughey bench is too much for Belmont. Kilcormac Killoughey by 5+.

[ShinroneMan]

Yea, like the men of Shinrone have a great record for winning stuff.

Remind us how ye fared against Belmont last year.

And while you're at it, remind us how ye got on against 'Banagher' (as you labelled them) in Round 1.

Yea thats last year this is this year.

yea i like to think we have improved since that game but i feel banagher have gone back a long way.

just lets see how we get on in the quarter finals.

[Tipp Man]

Was just speaking to an offaly man in the bookies and he gave this tip for the knock out stages of the championship. I wont be giving his name because i dont want to get him in trouble

Kilcormac Kiloughey to beat Belmount by 8+ points
Clareen to beat Coolderry by 2-3points
Birr to beat shinrone by 1-2 points
Banagher to beat Tullamore 3-4 points

Anyone think this is a good bet? His notes on the above games were that Kilcormac are flying and will go all the way. Clareen struggled in the group but they hate Coolderry and Coolderry are like a three legged dog one more push and they will fall over. He explained in normal language that Coolderry are finished (he seemed to be quite pleased about that one ) . Birr to beat Shinrone with a struggle ( Shinrone are young and coming but Birr know how to win tight games). Banagher and Tullamore he said is one that anything could happen as Banagher bet a bad coolderry team and everyone thought they were the business but went on to lose to a poor Belmount team. Tullamore crawled into the quater finals again with an over weight shane dooley and a pensioner in the goals but on their day they are a handfull.

What do we make of this lads is it worth €10.00 on the above accumulator????
Id like to get a second opinion before i waste more of my dole money as the horses are killing me lately

[jimbob17]

Yea, they would be the likely outcomes to be fair..... maybe just cover it with Coolderry to beat Clareen.... the rest will most definitely come through bar a major shock.... Banagher will beat Tullamore handy enough id say!!!! you are quids in with that accum...