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OCP grand and handy for me, not much traffic heading my way after a hurling match lol

Fairplayalways wrote:Belmont would probably draw more support from the general Banagher/Lusmagh area if played in Birr, barring a fanatical Gael, if Rynaghs play Shinrone in Birr on Sat evening, they are not going to hop into their cars on the Sunday and go through the misery that is getting in and out of O'Connor Park. I would give Belmont a greater chance if played in Birr believe it or not.

I'll ignore the "misery" comment here, and just to be clear - you're saying that Belmont would have a better chance of beating Birr in Birr, because of the neutral support you believe they would get from Rynaghs and Lusmagh people, than they would in a neutral venue?

I'll have to disagree on that. As, I'd wager, would at least 98% of others.

Preview for the weekend....
St.Rynaghs v Shinrone
We start the weekend off in SBP with the first Quarter Final I think this will be a very tight game...and I am gonna go with a St.Rynaghs win...Shinrone have always struggled against Rynaghs and with probably Ben Connelly following Sean Cleary it's hard to see where Shinrone will win the game.
Rynaghs have been struggling to get scores a part from Treacy so the form of Quirke and Wynne at this stage of the championship will have to improve if they want to be serious contenders..I will go with St.Rynaghs by 3 pt win.

Birr v Belmont
So the second game of the weekend...I think this will be an interesting game with not much in it during the group stages.
The talk is Birr have improved this year and are playing a lovely brand of hurling, they were shocking versus Coolderry but then excellent v St.Rynaghs, They have found a few younger players who have really stepped up to the plate and I think if they keep Oisin Kelly some way quite they will get the win.
Birr win by 6+ pts

just being practical..we all don't have all day to get to, attend, and travel back from matches..add the cost as well..poor GAA fan...not a common sight now adays

My predictions:

St.Rynaghs v Shinrone
Doesn't be much between these sides when they play. Draw match when they met earlier in the year and could be a good chance of this again for me.(wonder what odds would be like with PaddyPower). Will be a lot of key battles all over the field but for me midfield is key. Shinrone will need Morkan and Doughan on song and if Rynagh's can keep them quite they have quality forwards to punish them.. Going for a draw.. if it's extra time i think Rynaghs will get over the line with the quality subs they have..

Birr v Belmont
This for me also has a draw on the cards. Birr will be confident of beating Clareen and Rynaghs in their last two games but knock out hurling brings a different game. Belmont will be hungry for a win and with the footballers through to the semi final in 3 weeks they can now focus on the hurling. Again I'm gonna go for the draw and Belmont to progress if it goes to extra time.

My Predictions:

St Rynaghs v Shinrone
This will be game of the weekend - rarely much between these teams when they meet. A draw in the group stage and Shinrone winning when they met in the Leinster League Final earlier in the summer.
Expecting a tough physical encounter with little to separate them in the end. Shinrones failure to progress beyond a quarter final in recent years may have doubts in there minds but I have a feeling that the win in the leinster league final will give them extra confidence and I am going to predict a shock win for Shinrone by 1-2 points with St Rynaghs failure to score goals ultimately costing them. Shinrone 3-15 St Rynaghs 0-22

Birr v Belmont
I don't see this been as close as others predict. Whilst I don't see the winner of this progressing beyond a semi final, I think Birr are a much solider unit and I expect them to have 5-6 points to spare in the end - something like Birr 2-20 Belmont 2-14

Birr.
St Rynagh’s.

Belmont by 2. Rynaghs by 7.

Birr
St. Rynagh's

Shannonbanks still believing the hype I see. Banagher by 7?

Must be their 43% win rate in the group stage that has him so confident.

Or is it their 0.43 goal per game ratio?

His last 3 Banagher predictions were wins of 7, 8 and 10!!

Thinking with the heart and not the head

A few things to consider before the weekend.

I think St Rynagh’s were careless when not defending their lead against Coolderry. Second half, breeze behind them, restricted the opposition to ‘nul points’ from play in that second half. They didn’t make their control count, however, and while they should beat Shinrone tomorrow, that is not guaranteed.

Much to like about Shinrone’s half-back line and their midfield. Their forwards lack consistency though and they will look to that half-back line and midfield for long range scores. And Shinrone have issues with knockout games. This is their 11th successive quarter-final and they’ve progressed to the semi-final just once.

St Rynagh’s full-forward line looks to have a considerable edge on Shinrone’s full-back line. No matter what trio the Shinners have lined out with here this summer, at least tw look to be out of position. That’s quite a bit given they are facing Aidan Treacy and Stephen Quirke.

The key area will be around the middle. Gary Kelly, Joey O’Connor, Seán Dolan and Stephen Wynne need to keep the Doughans and the Morkans on the back foot, and keep the supply going to Treacy and the younger Quirke.


More than anything, Belmont face a psychological test on Sunday. Never having beaten Birr in a Senior championship hurling, though they are getting closer, and were close enough to throw one away eight weeks ago.

But, Oisín Kelly is back to fitness, Belmont poses a goal threat and may well need to score three goals to win here. He could do with a hand though, and they probably need a bit Colin Egan and David Cox to step up a bit. I see Belmont now have David Nally taking frees, though Leon Fox seemed to have a good strike rate earlier in the championship.

Hard to know about Birr. They were poor when I saw them against Coolderry. Yet they turned that around quickly when beating St Rynagh’s on the opposition’s favourite pitch. And beating Clareen by a point mighn’t be the best line of form although Birr were safely through to the quarter-finals by then. They could do with a forward (other than Eoghan Cahill, whose strike rate is impressive) scoring three times, and a couple more scoring at least twice, something that hasn’t happened even when getting results.

Shinrone seem unable to put teams away, in knockout games, when they have opponents on the ropes, to use a boxing term. In games v Birr and St. Rynagh's over the years they were ahead going into the closing stages, but just couldn't put those teams away. I hope they have improved that aspect of their game, but I give the vote to the Banagher side.

Birr v Belmont in July was decided by Birr's greater ability to take scores, Belmont were close that night, but a bit more accuracy would have landed the points. Oisin Kelly came on as a sub, but withdrew with an injury. Good to see him back, he played well for Ferbane last week in defeating Edenderry in the SFC.

Being cautious, I think Birr will take this game.

frankthetank wrote:Shannonbanks still believing the hype I see. Banagher by 7?

Must be their 43% win rate in the group stage that has him so confident.

Or is it their 0.43 goal per game ratio?



His last 3 Banagher predictions were wins of 7, 8 and 10!!

Nope its the fact they havent hurled to their potential yet and Shinrone are always gud to blow a game. Knockout time; different ball game now.

frankthetank wrote:Shannonbanks still believing the hype I see. Banagher by 7?

Must be their 43% win rate in the group stage that has him so confident.

Or is it their 0.43 goal per game ratio?

His last 3 Banagher predictions were wins of 7, 8 and 10!!

To be fair, Rynagh’s had the penalty to go seven up, but wisely opted for the point.