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Can definitely see upsets in Lusmagh on Sunday evening! Belmont might cause a shock for what is going to be a seriously depleted Birr side and with Kinnity performing so well in the League I fancy them to beat Clareen. They seem rejuvinated under their new management.
I cant see and other upsets happening and can see Shinrone hammering Drumcullen and Brosna Gaels to beat Shamrocks by 5 or 6 points!
Coolderry/KK will be tight but Coolderry should have too much for them.

Really looking forward to this weekends action. It's great to have the championship back and after the good crowd and atmosphere at last weeks u21 final, hopefully we'll see more of the same this weekend.

Coolderry v K/K as a stand alone fixture is a nice opener and should attract a crowd to Birr. Coolderry could be excused for being a little vulnerable after their Croke Park experience but they should still be able for the double Ks by 4 or 5, especially with talk of the Grogans being injured.

Brosna Gaels and Shamrocks is very tough to call but the Rahan/Mucklagh men might just have enough done to pull through by a couple of points now that hurling is the number 1 code in the parish. Rynaghs will be favourites to come home from Tullamore (who oh why do Tullamore have 'home' games in the group stages) with full points but they'll have to be at full throttle as the Blues will be quick to exploit any weaknesses. I'll plump for a speculative draw.

Shinrone progressed nicely last year and will expect to get off the mark with a bit to spare against Drumcullen but I'd say Carrig on Sunday won't be a place for the faint of heart, with Drumcullen likely to make it physical from the off. Shinrone by 6 plus for me.

Birr are rightly hot favourites to kick off the double header in Lusmagh with a win but Belmont, with a number of slighter players than alot of teams, will find it easier to express themselves than they will against bigger, more physical outfits and might just give Birr a scare, with the favs winning by 4 or 5 in the end. Clareen v Kinnitty could be the tightest of the weekends games, with 9/1 about a draw looking like a little bit of value. Forced to pick a winner, I'd say Clareen if Joe Bergin hurls up to form and Kinnitty if they can contain him. Extreme fence-sitting I know but it's a very tight game to call.

Couple of questions:
Who's training Kinnitty, Drumcullen and Shamrocks this year?
Given the weather, will OCP and Lusmagh be able for double headers? (the two OCP games will now be played Sunday afaik)

SHC Round 1 Coolderry 1-17 Kilcormac/Killoughey 2-14 FT

HT - Brosna Gaels 2-9 Shamrocks 1-0. Molloy goal from a free to start, McDonald free and Richie Fox with the Gaels goals. Savage wind - it's very retrievable, though a lot of Shamrocks players are very poor.

Full time, Shamrocks 1-9 Brosna Gaels 2-13. Deserved win, much better use of the ball. Shamrocks weren't able to take scores from out the field nearly as well, and Molloy was well marshalled by Danny Kelliher. Shamrocks may as well train for a relegation match now, BG will test Clareen and Kinnitty.

Yes the shark summed up the general feeling in the stand. Terrible hurling. Two poor teams. Shamrocks have lost too many players and working with the bare bones and it was expected that Brosna would want it a bit more. Two poor teams though for senior hurling.

As for the other game. Tullamore were a let down. Rynaghs did enough but will have to improve. Conditions were bad but in general the hurling was pretty poor.

Yeh rynaghs did enough to win early days for peakin, coolderry aand birr falling well in with the pack now, rynaghs have serious panel best in county.

Aidan Bracken Building Design Senior Hurling Championship 1st Round

Coolderry 1-17 Kilcormac/Killoughey 2-14.
I believe the game of the weekend was Coolderry vs KK. With only Shinrone scoring more than 20 points 1-17 and 2-14 are good score lines.

Birr 1-17 Belmont 1-8
It was a good start for Birr, i though Belmont might have given them a scare.

St Rynaghs 0-12 Tullamore 0-7
St Rynagh's defence again as they were last year for most of the year is excellent. Holding Tullamore to 0-7 is outstanding. The funny thing is that Tullamore would be happy to hold any team to 0-12 point as well.

Shinrone 4-14 Drumcullen 1-13
I'm a disappointed Drumcullen man, score 0-3 in the first half and it’s was always going to be very hard.
But Shinrone have nice Hurlers and are a good bit ahead of us. We need to look at the likes of Shinrone and how they develop there young players and if we could find out how Rynagh set up there defence.
Sorry I'll Stop now.

Brosna Gaels 2-13 Shamrocks 1-9
This is a great results for Gaels, step up a level its very important that you get a good start.

Seir Kieran 1-11 Kinnitty 1-11
I have to say was the Kinnitty Kieran result surprise me.
But someone told me that Kinnitty were good stuff this year in the league. i don't know how true that is.
But with around 6 on the senior panel to play Wexford in a few weeks i though kieran's would have won this.

The wind real did influence all the games.

shannonbanks14 wrote:Yeh rynaghs did enough to win early days for peakin, coolderry aand birr falling well in with the pack now, rynaghs have serious panel best in county.

serious panel alright

Bit sarky eh, coolderry had no subs to bring on in the all ireland they nearly finished have no full back line, birr great team of the 90-00s nearly all gone, kk never win anythin, clareen all about joe bergin,we have had good minors and now good u21's, and so have a strong panel and good trainer our time is due to come

Would like to see you proved right but have my doubts!

Hello all. Long time reader first time poster. In my opinion the chances of Rynaghs landing Sean Robbins this year are very slim. When the hurling stepped up a notch last year they faded away poorly. In there final group game against K/K there were outclassed and beating by eight points. In the quarter final they stumbled over a very young Shinrone side and Birr disposed of them in the semi without any great difficulty.

Coolderry are very much the team to beat in this years championship they have the most settled and seasoned team in the county along with the best manager. After that Birr are best equipped to challenge them. After that theres very little to seperate K/K, Rynaghs and Seir Kieran.

Winning the U21 this year and a few minors in the past three years is all well and good but it does not guarentee senior success. I dont mean to come across as Rynaghs bashing im just giving my opinion. If they manage to make the semi finals that will be the height of it.

Welcome aboard King Kev!!!!

King Kev wrote:Hello all. Long time reader first time poster. In my opinion the chances of Rynaghs landing Sean Robbins this year are very slim. When the hurling stepped up a notch last year they faded away poorly. In there final group game against K/K there were outclassed and beating by eight points. In the quarter final they stumbled over a very young Shinrone side and Birr disposed of them in the semi without any great difficulty.

Coolderry are very much the team to beat in this years championship they have the most settled and seasoned team in the county along with the best manager. After that Birr are best equipped to challenge them. After that theres very little to seperate K/K, Rynaghs and Seir Kieran.

Winning the U21 this year and a few minors in the past three years is all well and good but it does not guarentee senior success. I dont mean to come across as Rynaghs bashing im just giving my opinion. If they manage to make the semi finals that will be the height of it.

well they got to the semil last year and floped so they be looking at the county final anyway, thats if they don't play Birr before hand

St Rynaghs must have a great chance this year. I cannot see Coolderry or Birr being able to compete with their midfield sector. They also have 3 defenders on the county senior panel.