Settle down chaps, a good county final on Sunday might cheer ye up. As a Birr man who's watched zero championship action this year, I'm hoping it's going to be a top class game with some decent hurling. From reports earlier in the championship received and read, I'm not so sure. One of the real issues is the quality of hurling on display, last year's 2 games were both exciting but you couldn't call it quality hurling, apart from one or two individual displays. If KK are to kickstart a period where they become genuine contenders, they'll need to show it on Sunday.
It's easy for me to say because I live away from Birr but it's not difficult to see that Birr's dominance is not doing club hurling much good in the county so it will take more than KK and Coolderry to make their marks. And I won't be gutted if we lose to a good team on Sunday. However, a poxy goal in the last minute of 70 minutes of mullocking would be different. The weather should be ideal, I'm told the surface is very good so there's no excuses for either team to give it a right good rattle.
County Hurling Final 2007
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kinnittyman
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Anyways my tip is Birr by 5 or more and il put my score on that.kinnittyman wrote:Well lads all roads lead to Tullamore(!!!!!) for the county hurling final on sundat and i think there could be a huge crowd at it. And the reason is thats its a novel pairing and the underdogs are in with a genuine chance of taking the honours. Realistically if K/K play to their potential they have a chance of upsetting the form book but here within lies the crux. Will they play to their full potential on the day when it matters most. Birr have been here so many times its second nature to them and lets be honest here on their day their still the best team in the county. Conor Mahon and Eamon Lee can provide the platform for good ball and scoring opportunities but the birr midfield could just sit deep and put up a cul de sac around their half back line to couneract this. K/K also gave away so many goal chances in the two games against us it was unbelievable and no doubt Birr would punish this. The K/K forwards are well capable of getting scores and big performances are a necessity from Ciaran Slevin and Peter Healion as they seem to be the biggest threat. Daniel Currams should start but i cant see John Leahy dropping Martin Murray for this. Some experienced heads are required. Anyways my tip is Birr by 5 or more and il put my score on that.
P.S I have to completley disagree with Offalys Future on his comment that K/K are the future of Offaly club hurling. How can you possibly say that about a team that has never won a county final and unquestionably has had the underage success to form a solid foundation?? Baffling to say the least.
If only i had the balls to actually do it!!!!
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Lone Shark
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Overall I have to say I was very disappointed by yesterday's game. Kilcormac/Killoughey might go away thinking that Bir are very hard beaten, but the truth of it is that no matter who you were playing, you can't ask for county finalists to play any more moderately than Birr did yesterday. It was a golden opportunity for them, and one that certainly mightn't come aound as easily again. Certainly when you compare it with the fare that was on offer last year, 2007 is clearly a much less impressive vintage.
If that comes across as critical of Birr, well then I'm happy to stand by that. Nobody expects Birr to hurl at the standard they were at around 2001/2002 all the time, but they are a lot better than they showed out there yesterday. On paper I don't see why Niall Claffey at full back makes sense, but the lad hurled extremely well yesterday and along with Verney in the corner and Sid up front he was one of the three contenders for man of the match. The two Hanniffy's did what they had to do without really burning the place up, while O'Meara, Barry Whelahan, and Paul Cleary were all quite proficient and did what they had to do. After that the cupboard was fairly bare in terms of good displays from the starting fifteen.
That leaves at least six Birr starters that were either very quiet or downright poor in my book, and even still you never felt that Birr were under pressure. The comment about K/K's fitness above is maybe a bit harsh - if you pick a big team designed to dominate in the air and to over power, then it's hardly surprising that you might concede a bit of pace on the ground - but when that aerial threat was not working out it was criminal that the K/K gameplan was not changed. John Leahy might have his coaching qualifications, but he has a lot to learn yet based on yesterday.
Very impressed with the two K/K corner backs, while Kevin Grogan was very decent at centre back as well, despite all Sid's heroics. The midfield pairing also hurled effectively, and with a lot of guidance could possibly be county potential, but still have a long way to go.
As for the forwards, well the last thing Offaly needs is more forwards who can't fight for dirty ball, or at the very least make life difficult for backs trying to get their clearance away. K/K were shocking in this regard yesterday, and put way too much pressure on their backline by conceding the sliothar without any real semblence of a challenge all too often.
On a small point too, being tall is all very well, but it's no use when all you do with a high ball is swing with one hand only on the hurl. Several serial offenders in this regard yesterday.
From Birr's perspective, with a likely showdown with Ballyhale looming there needs to be serious surgery if they are to get within ten points of the Kilkenny champions-in-waiting. Seán Ryan will add some real impetus if he's fit (his introduction made a big difference yesterday in my book) but the lethargy of players like Stephen Brown and Simon Whelahan in particular couldn't be tolerated again. Those intermediates are all available again now and need to be used.
For K/K, I don't know what to suggest. Some good performances, but a lot of very poor stickwork and use of the ball as well. On the one hand you could say they were one game away from a county title, my gut feeling is that there's a lot more distance to travel yet.
If that comes across as critical of Birr, well then I'm happy to stand by that. Nobody expects Birr to hurl at the standard they were at around 2001/2002 all the time, but they are a lot better than they showed out there yesterday. On paper I don't see why Niall Claffey at full back makes sense, but the lad hurled extremely well yesterday and along with Verney in the corner and Sid up front he was one of the three contenders for man of the match. The two Hanniffy's did what they had to do without really burning the place up, while O'Meara, Barry Whelahan, and Paul Cleary were all quite proficient and did what they had to do. After that the cupboard was fairly bare in terms of good displays from the starting fifteen.
That leaves at least six Birr starters that were either very quiet or downright poor in my book, and even still you never felt that Birr were under pressure. The comment about K/K's fitness above is maybe a bit harsh - if you pick a big team designed to dominate in the air and to over power, then it's hardly surprising that you might concede a bit of pace on the ground - but when that aerial threat was not working out it was criminal that the K/K gameplan was not changed. John Leahy might have his coaching qualifications, but he has a lot to learn yet based on yesterday.
Very impressed with the two K/K corner backs, while Kevin Grogan was very decent at centre back as well, despite all Sid's heroics. The midfield pairing also hurled effectively, and with a lot of guidance could possibly be county potential, but still have a long way to go.
As for the forwards, well the last thing Offaly needs is more forwards who can't fight for dirty ball, or at the very least make life difficult for backs trying to get their clearance away. K/K were shocking in this regard yesterday, and put way too much pressure on their backline by conceding the sliothar without any real semblence of a challenge all too often.
On a small point too, being tall is all very well, but it's no use when all you do with a high ball is swing with one hand only on the hurl. Several serial offenders in this regard yesterday.
From Birr's perspective, with a likely showdown with Ballyhale looming there needs to be serious surgery if they are to get within ten points of the Kilkenny champions-in-waiting. Seán Ryan will add some real impetus if he's fit (his introduction made a big difference yesterday in my book) but the lethargy of players like Stephen Brown and Simon Whelahan in particular couldn't be tolerated again. Those intermediates are all available again now and need to be used.
For K/K, I don't know what to suggest. Some good performances, but a lot of very poor stickwork and use of the ball as well. On the one hand you could say they were one game away from a county title, my gut feeling is that there's a lot more distance to travel yet.