Offaly Senior Hurling Championship 2013

[KillougheyGoBragh]

Echo those sentiments of fabulous previews...from all... a real credit to all who contributed!
Biased viewpoint warning!
I thought KK improved 10 points throughout the All-Ireland series from last year's County final.
Sadly I didn't see their semifinal game against Birr last year, listened to it, and, read reports on here saying how KK beat Birr that storm swept day was a "mystery"!
Couple of injuries alright but KK need to be hungry for success again this year and the amount they have improved will be easily measured tomorrow evening.
Nobody around the club is saying anything or making any predictions.
Winning by 1 point against Birr would be a small step on a long journey.

[Toxicity234]

results from tonight.
KK 0-19 to Birr 0-12
Wasn't at the match. anyone with a match report that would be great. thanks.

[Lone Shark]

Don't have time for a lengthy report, but K-K were very impressive here, they didn't look to have lost a step from last year's All Ireland. Ciarán Slevin was outstanding, scoring 0-11 (five from play) and Conor Mahon was far better than his tally of 0-1 suggested - he dominated the game at centre forward. Kilmartin, Ger Healion, Brian Leonard and Tomás Geraghty were the other eye catchers for me. Kilmartin is definitely playing at a county standard, the best midfielder on display in a game where Rory Hanniffy and Dylan Hayden played opposite him.

K-K led by 0-9 to 0-7 at half time having scored 0-4 without reply and then conceded 0-5 on the bounce to start, but they really opened up in the third quarter and this was a comprehensive win. Birr didn't get any luck in that Seán Ryan went off with a head injury at half time and he was a loss, but they didn't help themselves either, playing with just two inside forwards for most of the second half while chasing the game. Seán T O'Connor battled hard against the odds and Mick Verney was actually impressive at centre forward, but otherwise there weren't too many Birr players who stood out. Paul Cleary was excellent, after that they were very ordinary.

Worrying too to see Brian Watkins pull up with a hamstring injury midway through the second half, and still be left on for the next fifteen minutes. He was literally dragging his leg around after him and clearly was in a lot of pain - I hope he hasn't done long term damage but if he has, the Birr management really has to ask themselves what they were at. It's all very well minding lads for intermediate/junior, but the lad was in bits - if you've decided you're not going to try and save the game and you're going to save guys for intermediate - a logic I don't agree with in the first game of the year, but okay - then just take him off and play with 14. It was painful to watch him hobble around the field like that, I can't imagine it did his injury any good.

[puzzled]

results from tonight.
KK 0-19 to Birr 0-12
Wasn't at the match. anyone with a match report that would be great. thanks.

Not a bad game but it was far from top drawer either!
7 points probably doesnt do K/K justice,they were the best team on show end of story,the workrate shown by their forwards was exceptional,the blocking hooking and generally putting their bodies in the way was brilliant to watch!
Really hard to figure why Birr played Sean Ryan wing back and Micheal Verney centre forward also to leave Brian Watkins on the pitch when he was hardly able to walk was unbelievable,best player Birr had tonight was Micheal Dwawne,on tonights showing Birr are along way from making it to a county final!
For K/K Ciaran Slevin was outstanding taking great scores from play and from frees Brian Leonard also scored a couple of mighty long range points. K/K left Trevor Fletcher on the line until the last ten minutes when he replaced James Gorman. They had no Dan Currams and John Grogan and still won with plenty to spare!
But saying all of the above championships arent won in April and Birr will be working hard to improve before the next round.
Scorers from tonight
K/K Ciaran Slevin 11pts Thomas Geraghty 2pts Brian Leonard 2pts James Gorman 1pt Killian Leonard 1pt Con Mahon 1pt Conor Mahon 1pt!
Birr Micheal Dwane 5pts Micheal Verney 2pts Paul Cleary 1pt Dylan Hayden 1pt Brendan Murphy 1pt Sean T oconnor 1pt Micheal Cleere 1pt!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Birr were just awful. It gives me no pleasure to say that either, in case someone thinks I’m jumping up and down with glee here.

Tonight demonstrates how much K-K have moved on since last September. As Lone Shark correctly says, Conor Mahon was mighty. So too was Damien Kilmartin, who really should be on the Offaly panel – unless he doesn’t want to be.

Birr forwards never got moving at all. I think they might benefit from having Rory Hanniffy at centre half-forward. Of all the changes they made this evening, this was the one crying out to be made. Hanniffy would be the fulcrum of their attack at 11 and would likely bring out the best in those around him. Feckitt, Michael Dwane, Tomás Bolger, Seán T O’Connor and Brendan Murphy are all good hurlers, so the talent is there.

It’s not encouraging to hear their manager demand the ball be sent in long. As if any of the four named above could contest 50:50 balls, or badly directed, hopeful deliveries with the Healions, the Grogans and whoever else. Seán Ryan was mis-placed at wing back, Michael Verney (who picked off two good points) is hardly a centre half-forward. Then they played with a two-man full-forward line for the duration of the last quarter, and one of those was operating on one leg. And this from a manager who wants the ball sent in long. Madness.

[Plain of the Herbs]

One other thing. The Banagher pitch is generally quite short but yesterday evening there was almost 20 metres between the two 65m lines. And at one stage when Brian Gavin moved a free 13 metres for dissent he moved the ball from the 65m line to the 45m line. Is it possible the measuring tape had a kink in it?

[Toxicity234]

Thanks for the Report. Can't believe i'm going to miss all this weekend games.

Twitter has the score "SHC 48mins Seir K 0-15 Bronasa G 0-5"

SHC final score Seir Kieran : 1-18 Brosna G 0-7

I believe that Tullamore beat Drumcullen 0-13 to 1-8 or something like that. Haven't seen that confirmed.

[KillougheyGoBragh]

Glad for a win first time up as it's always tricky as to know how things are going to pan out.
Good reports generally.
Con Mahon drafted into centerfield played very well.
Connor Mahon, as stated on here, was in great form and if lady luck was on his side could have scored more but his work rate was of Trojan proportions.
Slevin well he just continues to amaze us all.
Must utter a big thanks to those who use twitter to message and post scores during the games and also those that retweet these messages a fantastic way for us abroad to follow.

[Toxicity234]

SHC final score Coolderry 1-21 Belmont 2-8

SHC final score st rynagh's 1-12 shinrone 1-8

SHC final score SHC result: Kinnitty 0-17 Lusmagh 0-11

[llkj]

No major shocks from the results over the weekend. You would have expected wins for Coolderry, Tullamore, Kinnitty and Clareen, while the 2 real 50/50ish games went the way that logic would suggest they would beforehand. Not sure if it is disappointing or a positive that Coolderry and Clareen were convincing enough winners. Both should be pushing for the title, while Belmont and BG would not be considered top 6 teams. So, it's probably a good thing for the championship that the teams considered stronger are able to push into an extra gear and show their intent. Having said that, both Belmont and BG will still very much fancy their chances of reaching the 1/4 finals.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Coolderry 1-21 Belmont 2-8

I wasn’t in for the start of this, but Coolderry led 0-6 to 0-2 when I arrived. With Leon Fox catching the eye at midfield and with Mark Egan in his usual good form with the frees, Belmont (in snazzy new black jerseys) got it back to 7-4 when David Cox got in for a tonic goal. Coolderry kept hurling and they went on to lead 0-9 to 1-5 at half time.

Belmont could make little headway with Joe (an ‘tanc’, mar a duirt Macdara MacDonncha at TG4 uair amháin)[\i] and Kevin Brady in charge. Brendan O’Meara was back in what I think is his best position at full-back. Newcomer Declan Parlon did well in the forwards, Belmont couldn’t manage Martin Corcoran, as Barry Teehan and Cathal Parlon gained alot of possession. Kevin Connolly will cause alot of defences some bother before the year is out too.

Belmont regained the lead when Stephen Corcoran let a speculative ball from David Cox slip through his fingers, but Coolderry took off after that and drove a steady srteam of points over the town goals. Martin Corcoran got the goal, pouncing after Kevin Brady’s long, raking shot hit the post up high.

Colin Egan wasn’t on the pitch for Belmont. I don’t know if he started or not. Really only David Kenny and Leon Fox stood out for them. A highlight was when Martin ‘Dinger’ Walsh showed David Kenny a yellow card, then patted Kenny on the back.


St Rynagh’s 1-12 Shinrone 1-8

Hard to know what Shinrone were doing here. The U21 title win may have led to la lack of focus, particularly given that they lined out with eight U21s. That’s alot. It also meant that Denis Coonan, Michael Cordial and Eddie Bevans didn’t start, all three being regular starters last year, although Cordial was introduced before half-time.

The good news for Shinrone, and for Offaly, was that Derek Morkan started, first at corner-forward from where he opened Shinrone’s account with a 15th minute goal, before moving further outfield as the match progressed, and indeed as it slipped away from Shinrone. Shinrone lined Mark Morkan at midfield when he might have been better utilised at centre half-back where he would have offered more direction.

It took Rynagh’s some time to get going too and Ger Rafferty made little headway on Michael Cleary. Cleary might well be the answer to Shinrone’s full-back issues. Colin O’Meara generally gives nothing away and yesterday was no exception. Rynagh’s then moved Rafferty to half-forward, James Sullivan went to full-forward. Almost immediately the balls going in were of better quality and Ethan Mannion pounced for a goal. The Cloghan trio of Rafferty, Pat Camon and Seán Dolan all impressed and St Rynagh’s went on to lead 1-7 to 1-3 at half-time.

Shinrone had oodles of possession after the break and proceeded to puck it all wide. I didn’t count the wides but there must have been about a dozen and the longer the second half went on, the greater the distances Shinrone started to shoot from and in the stiff crosswinds the wider they got. The situation was crying out for leadership but there was none to be got.

St Rynagh’s never looked like being overtaken. Their entire defence was in control, they had enough strength throughout the field and in Ethan Mannion and Ger Scales, pace isn’t an issue in the forwards. Stephen Quirke should be back by the autumn too, I’d expect. They look likely to finish second in that group now, behind Coolderry.


Kinnitty 0-17 Lusmagh 0-11

Lusmagh had the wind in the first half but their halftime lead of 0-9 to 0-7 was never going to be enough. Still it took Kinnitty 16 second-half minutes to draw level, 18 minutes to take the lead. Both goalkeepers continued to puck the ball as far as they could with the wind which led to congestion in the Ds at the far end.

Both defences were on top. Alan Glynn and Rory Quinlan were Lusmagh’s best while Shane Kinsella and Christopher Leonard controlled midfield for Kinnitty. James Rigney lined out at full-back for Kinnitty with Aodán Kealey at centre-back. While Rigney did make the odd burst upfield, and gained alot of possession in front of goals, Kinnitty really need Rigney at centre-back. Not just that, they need him hurling up around the ’65 and not back deep in the D as he has tended to do before.

Belmont will the key match for Kinnitty. With Coolderry, Rynagh’s and Shinrone yet to come it looks like it’s going to be a long year for a very young Lusmagh team.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The Drumcullen notes claim they "played much of the game with 14 men". I wonder why. Surely they hadn't someone put off?

[puzzled]

Tullamore 0-14 Drumcullen 1-08
Without doubt the sending off after about 15 minutes cost Drumcullen this game,Declan Teehan got sent off for two yellow cards,the second yellow a shoulder into a tullamore players chest was just pure madness! Drumcullen dominated the last 15 minutes even down a man they had Tullamore under severe pressure but Shane Dooley popped up with vital points from play and frees to pull Tullamore through,on a side note Dooley looks woefully unfit,not a great sign for Offaly!

Seir Kieran 1-19 Brosna Gaels 0-07
Also a game that had red cards Brosna Gaels suffered a straight red before halftime for a bad stroke pulled on the Seir Kieran full back as he came out with the ball in his hand,late in the second half Seir Kierans James Mulrooney got sent off for striking as well,with the game well won it was a moment of madness from him! It seems more than one team in Offaly suffers from indisipline!
Joe Bergin was on fire from start to finish a total of 1-10 is a fair return from any game also Dermot Mooney and Sean Coughlan were very good for the winners,it could be a long hard year ahead for Brosna Gaels!

[Toxicity234]

Tullamore 0-14 Drumcullen 1-08
Without doubt the sending off after about 15 minutes cost Drumcullen this game,Declan Teehan got sent off for two yellow cards,the second yellow a shoulder into a tullamore players chest was just pure madness!

Can i ask what was the first yellow card for??

[beirut]

Wow Plain, someone from Drumcullen must have really screwed you over before? Was it on or off the field?