Hurling Championship

[jimbob17]

After copious amounts of underage finals between St.Rynagh's and Kilcormac/Killoughey over the last number of years we now get to see them battle it out for the Senior crown. With the underage dominance they have had it was close to an inevitability that this would eventually happen.

Hard to know what way the final will go but at this early juncture I'd give a hesitant vote to St Rynagh's on the basis that their full forward line is a more threatening unit than K/K's.

Was at both games today. Birr were probably unlucky and could have easily won. Sean Ryans disallowed goal which looked good for me and then it appeared the ref blew up early (30 seconds after it was announced there would be a minute left) with Birr putting pressure on close to the KK goal. In fact i thought he could have given a free for over carrying by KK as he blew the final whistle.

Rynaghs were good value for the win and were the better teams. Cordial caused problems for them at times but Wynne seemed to close him down a but when he went on him. Their inside lline looked very sharp and they linked up well together. Quirke was on fire today and looked very dangerous any time he got the ball, as did Horan and Scales in the second half.

Hard one to call for final. Interesting that one of these two will finally make breakthrough and reflects well on good underage work in the last ten years. KK for me can nick it with their experience of losing a final while Rynaghs are probably better hurlers and will not be afraid of anything. 50.50 really and has makings of a great final!!

[DAF]

After copious amounts of underage finals between St.Rynagh's and Kilcormac/Killoughey over the last number of years we now get to see them battle it out for the Senior crown. With the underage dominance they have had it was close to an inevitability that this would eventually happen.

Hard to know what way the final will go but at this early juncture I'd give a hesitant vote to St Rynagh's on the basis that their full forward line is a more threatening unit than K/K's.

Was at both games today. Birr were probably unlucky and could have easily won. Sean Ryans disallowed goal which looked good for me and then it appeared the ref blew up early (30 seconds after it was announced there would be a minute left) with Birr putting pressure on close to the KK goal. In fact i thought he could have given a free for over carrying by KK as he blew the final whistle.

Rynaghs were good value for the win and were the better teams. Cordial caused problems for them at times but Wynne seemed to close him down a but when he went on him. Their inside lline looked very sharp and they linked up well together. Quirke was on fire today and looked very dangerous any time he got the ball, as did Horan and Scales in the second half.

Hard one to call for final. Interesting that one of these two will finally make breakthrough and reflects well on good underage work in the last ten years. KK for me can nick it with their experience of losing a final while Rynaghs are probably better hurlers and will not be afraid of anything. 50.50 really and has makings of a great final!!

I thought they got the decision correct for the Sean Ryan Goal.If it was football it probably would have stood, but he was in the square before the ball in my opinion.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Personally, it's a pleasure to bring news of the matches to those who are abroad.

This is the great thing about the novel Final pairing - natives of Banagher, Kilcormac, Cloghan, Mountbolus and points inbetween will travel home for the Final, either from abroad or from around the country. Bon Voyage to all making the trip.

First post on here so take it easy lads!
I live in the UK but hail from... well ok... you have guessed that bit fro the username
Some terrific postings detailing vast knowledge of the hurling scene in the county being pencilled.
Many thanks to those that contribute it helps us that wish we could be there to watch.
Listened to Midlands Radio 3 on-line today for both semi-finals and heart-in-the-mouth for KK v's Birr match.
Booked flights for 7th October so will be there for the final.

[onthefence]

Two enjoyable matches in OCP yday even if the standard of hurling was average at best.
In the first match i think Birr thought KKs Ger Healion was there for the taken and hit everything into Sean Ryan but Healion cleaned him and it wasnt until Birr switched away for this tactic that they caused KK serious concern. KKs forward line was poor with the exception of Slevin and Peter Gerarty.
I was surprised to see Paul Cleary start at centre back but i thought he was the the best player on show from the 2 matches yday. It was a hugh win for KK 2 win with a last min point from Killian Leonard i dont know if they had every beaten Birr before yday. I thought Ryan was in the square for his disallowed goal but very little injury time if any played.
In the second match there were better scores got with Shinrone scoring some lovely points from play but St R phyical strength told through out the match. i thought St R would win handy with being 1 point up at half time playing against the wind but Shinrone battled bravely but never looked like winning.
St R full forward line looked dangerous through out the match and there midfield was completely on top.
It should make for an interesting final with very little between both teams.

[Plain of the Herbs]

My guess is there'll be a playoff between Edenderry and Killavilla to see who'll qualify for Leinster.

whats the story now POTH with the special junior championship is it edenderry or killavilla that will play in it?

[kingscounty]

My guess is there'll be a playoff between Edenderry and Killavilla to see who'll qualify for Leinster.

whats the story now POTH with the special junior championship is it edenderry or killavilla that will play in it?

yeah i was thinking something like that , thanks poth.

[KillougheyGoBragh]

Thanks POTH et al for your kind words concerning those of us abroad.
Yes you never know who is reading or from what distant part of our planet some one is looking to their roots and its contributors like yourselves that help keep our love for Gaelic games alive, especially hurling in my case.
Went back to the 2009 final to watch Tullamore tear us apart led by Kevin Martin.
Was also back for the 2002 final when we were devoured by Birr so in some ways this will be 3rd time lucky!
Yesterday was all about getting to the final and in that respect well done to St Rynaghs and their supporters.

[Plain of the Herbs]

How did Kilcormac win that? Waay too many passengers in attack. Birr looked certain to win all through the second half – looked nailed-on when they got back to within three points midway through the second half – certs when drawing level still with loads of time left.

The referee chose to add just a minute when the draw seemed likely. Second unwritten rule of refereeing (the first unwritten rule is to give a free to draw it to the trailing team). Then bang. A point from an unlikely source, and shell-shocked Birr had no time to recover.

Ger Healion had a mighty game when faced by Seán Ryan – which didn’t make sense and I didn’t expect. Healion struggled when Brendan Murphy went full-forward for the final quarter – which didn’t make sense either.

The move of Paul Cleary to centre half-back was always on the cards once Birr got someone to hurl at full-back. Ditto the onward move of Rory Hanniffy to the middle. His move to centre-forward late in the first half should have added impetus to the attack, but he strangely went out of it after that.

Had Kilcormac lost, Trevor Fletcher would have had nightmares about that missed free. For those who weren’t there, Fletcher had a 20m free in front of the goal. He tried to drive the ball out into O’Brien Park only to see the ball rebound off the goalpost! You couldn’t make it up. Overall I thought it was a poor game. That will actually aid kilcormac’s preparation and help keep expectations on the ground.


St Rynagh’s got some lovely forwards’ ball into Scales, Horan and Quirke, and all three had the beating of their men. Willie Comerford got roasted for pace by Diarmuid Horan. The full-back line got little protection from their half-back line who were caught too far upfield following their men.

A different Shinrone forward has led the attack in each match. It was Jason Sampson against Clareen, Dónal Morkan against Tullamore and yesterday it was Seán Cleary in the first half. Michael Cordial was in the mood in the first half but disappeared for the second.

Nigel White impressed for ’Rynagh’s in the midfield engine room, and he and Gary Conneely totally eclipsed Derek Morkan and Darren Crean.

’Rynagh’s went out of it during the third quarter and in a way I wasn’t surprised – that is one of their hallmarks, which is unfortunate for them. Their technique in the tackle left much to be desired –far too much plunging in, colliding with an opponent’s back and giving away the free. I counted Shinrone were awarded 10 frees in the second half and the vast majority of those were in the third quarter when Shinrone had a mini-run though they weren’t scoring.

On that point, in the era of ‘letting the game flow’ and blah-di-blah, St Rynagh’s conceded 18 frees, Shinrone conceded 11, Birr 14 and Kilcormac 12. I thought poor tackling technique was largely responsible for what were two poor quality games.

[townman]

well done to KK on there win maybe a draw might have been the fair result but thats the way it goes Birr have no forward line over
the last 4 years and you won't win county finals without them.

as for the Quality of hurling on show yesterday from both games was very poor, Ollie Baker was up in the press box in the stand
i don't think he learn anything he didn't already know about the players that are in offaly .

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

I agree with Townman and POTH, the quality was poor, although the wind will have played a part.
Cant see KK winning, they got nothing from the forwards in the second half, and will need a big improvement, plus they will be under savage pressure. However if Rynaghs can win , I can see them driving on from this and building on it over the coming years.
How Birr lost out was a wonder, thought Sean Ryan was in the square for the goal alright, plus he got a ball 30yds out in front of the goal and hit it straight into the ground.
Jayz, dont envy Ollie Baker at all!! The second game was played in near silence, no atmosphere at all.

[townman]

I agree with Townman and POTH, the quality was poor, although the wind will have played a part.
Cant see KK winning, they got nothing from the forwards in the second half, and will need a big improvement, plus they will be under savage pressure. However if Rynaghs can win , I can see them driving on from this and building on it over the coming years.
How Birr lost out was a wonder, thought Sean Ryan was in the square for the goal alright, plus he got a ball 30yds out in front of the goal and hit it straight into the ground.
Jayz, dont envy Ollie Baker at all!! The second game was played in near silence, no atmosphere at all.

why Birr lost is we were a one trick pony pucking balls into sean Ryan and hope for the best, plus Simon Whelehan is way off the pace
for senior club hurling and missed a few scores before he went off hurt his replacemeant De De Dwyane score 3 good points and should
have got the nod ahead of Simon to start.

as for the final its 50/50 with both sides have a great chance to win it, its hard to call as Rynaghs were poor enough for spells on sunday

[dozzie224]

Does anyone know when the junior A hurling final is on thanks

[shannonbanks14]

Well done our seniors on sunday, back in search of the holy grail at last.Semis all about the result, hopfully one more good hour can do the job.Unbelievable decision by the county board to fix intermediate final for next sun OCP at 1(All Ireand Football Sunday). Only a week turnaround from semi for a competiton that is in no rush to be played.Some of the rynaghs players had planned to go to the football match.Also surely playing the game in birr the following weekend would have created a decent atmosphere and a few quid for the county board, something very fishy about the whole thing!!!

[kingscounty]

Does anyone know when the junior A hurling final is on thanks

i think its on 7th of october dozzie, before the senior final, POTH would be the man to tell you on here because im not 100% sure.

[Plain of the Herbs]

It's scheduled for Saturday 6th October. BUT. The Minor Final seems to be the preferred option for a curtain-raiser to the Senior Final, but Ferbane-Belmont and Clareen drew in a quarter-final last weekend and with F-B also involved in Minor football, it's quite possible that the minor Final pairings will not be known in time. In that case, my guess is that the Junior Final would be on the same bill as the Senior Final. But that's only a guess, mind.

Does anyone know when the junior A hurling final is on thanks