Offaly Senior A Hurling Championship 2024

[Superhans75]

Was at the shinrone game today

[BiffoInThurso]

Fair play considering it didn’t look like Shinrones hurlers were at the shinrone game today

[frankthetank]

Birr win very ugly v Belmont..Does this mean Belmont or Shinrone are the only ones who can face relegation ?

Correct.

A Shirone win vs Birr in the next round puts Belmont into the relegation final.

However a Shinrone loss vs Birr makes the Belmont vs Shinrone game in the last round a de facto relegation semi-final.

[Anonymous1]

I made a post almost exactly one year ago with roughly the same sentiment.

Belmont are a team on the way out and with next to nothing coming through at underage look more likely to be scrapping for relegation over the coming years than battling for titles.

Ballinamere on the other hand look to be the only side other than KK to be on an upward trajectory and with some hope of challenging KK.

Looking like a KK vs Ballinamere/Rynaghs final with Shinrone/Belmont vs Tullamore/Seir Kieran in the relegation playoff.

[jimbob17]

Shinrone should be better than that. Something amiss there and they've slipped a lot from where they were under Fletcher.

KK are the team to beat no doubt but no team is infallible, even if they seem very well drilled at the moment. Shinrone turned them over 2 years ago against the odds when nobody expected it. The weather can be a leveller and in 6 or 8 weeks time the gap won't be as big for KK I think or else championship is waste of time.

Belmont are most definitely out now and will likely put focus into football now - but should still be good enough to stay up if it comes to it. Clareen or Tullamore will likely drop down.

Ballinamere is an interesting one. Most of those are also dual players but they will be held back in the hurling by the football and vice versa, even if teams elsewhere have managed it well. They have Mark Troy, Ciaran Burke Sam Bourke and Ross Ravenhill on the county panel in their defensive unit. Fogarty is also good enough to be a county senior and plays at 6 for them. Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill and Brian Duignan are Co senior starters in their forwards while John Murphy (was recently and) probably could be also and are in their front 8. Kevin McDermot was Co footballer in 24 too and is a strong hurler and they have strong players on bench too. With 7 current co seniors and their other talent, They should have the tools to get close to KK if they play to their potential, and should really be aiming to be winning senior championship this year. The talk of them being future contenders should be over. They are old enough and experienced enough now not to be having any excuses. Their time has come to step up to the mark, but it won't be easy with the KK wave in motion.

[Anonymous1]

Shinrone should be better than that. Something amiss there and they've slipped a lot from where they were under Fletcher.

A couple out injured and travelling but yeah they should be better. 2022 was a one hit wonder.

KK are the team to beat no doubt but no team is infallible, even if they seem very well drilled at the moment. Shinrone turned them over 2 years ago against the odds when nobody expected it. The weather can be a leveller and in 6 or 8 weeks time the gap won't be as big for KK I think or else championship is waste of time.

The championship is a waste of time I think, nobody will touch KK, maybe not even within 10 points.

Belmont are most definitely out now and will likely put focus into football now - but should still be good enough to stay up if it comes to it. Clareen or Tullamore will likely drop down.

Ballinamere is an interesting one. Most of those are also dual players but they will be held back in the hurling by the football and vice versa, even if teams elsewhere have managed it well. They have Mark Troy, Ciaran Burke Sam Bourke and Ross Ravenhill on the county panel in their defensive unit. Fogarty is also good enough to be a county senior and plays at 6 for them. Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill and Brian Duignan are Co senior starters in their forwards while John Murphy (was recently and) probably could be also and are in their front 8. Kevin McDermot was Co footballer in 24 too and is a strong hurler and they have strong players on bench too. With 7 current co seniors and their other talent, They should have the tools to get close to KK if they play to their potential, and should really be aiming to be winning senior championship this year. The talk of them being future contenders should be over. They are old enough and experienced enough now not to be having any excuses. Their time has come to step up to the mark, but it won't be easy with the KK wave in motion.

I don't think the football will hold them back. Their last group game is a dead rubber and they have to face the winners of Rhode or Tullamore in the QF so their year is as good as over. In the same way Ferbane will now be all in on football, Ballinamere will be all in on hurling.

[faithfulfanatic]

Shinrone should be better than that. Something amiss there and they've slipped a lot from where they were under Fletcher.

KK are the team to beat no doubt but no team is infallible, even if they seem very well drilled at the moment. Shinrone turned them over 2 years ago against the odds when nobody expected it. The weather can be a leveller and in 6 or 8 weeks time the gap won't be as big for KK I think or else championship is waste of time.

Belmont are most definitely out now and will likely put focus into football now - but should still be good enough to stay up if it comes to it. Clareen or Tullamore will likely drop down.

Ballinamere is an interesting one. Most of those are also dual players but they will be held back in the hurling by the football and vice versa, even if teams elsewhere have managed it well. They have Mark Troy, Ciaran Burke Sam Bourke and Ross Ravenhill on the county panel in their defensive unit. Fogarty is also good enough to be a county senior and plays at 6 for them. Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill and Brian Duignan are Co senior starters in their forwards while John Murphy (was recently and) probably could be also and are in their front 8. Kevin McDermot was Co footballer in 24 too and is a strong hurler and they have strong players on bench too. With 7 current co seniors and their other talent, They should have the tools to get close to KK if they play to their potential, and should really be aiming to be winning senior championship this year. The talk of them being future contenders should be over. They are old enough and experienced enough now not to be having any excuses. Their time has come to step up to the mark, but it won't be easy with the KK wave in motion.

Jack Fogarty is good enough to be an inter county hurler?
Seems an honest chap and a good club hurler but you’re doing a disservice to our inter county players there.

[G91]

What I seen with belmont v kinnitty was enough to tell a tale of what was to unfold for the rest of championship

Any team who have county players under 20 or senoir have them on the starting 15 belmont had 3 from under 20 ,2 of that were on the extended panel but were confined to the subs for belmont

Surely if taffe was good enough to start so was ronan flynn and connor dunican

There was also players who stood up against birr in the league final but some those also confined to subs

Some of them maybe been reserved for junior A

Looking at that sub bench there's youth there but don't get the opportunity

Connor grennan for example big strong physical player surley after kinnitty there was more than one change needed, definitely after ballinamere you'd shake things up

Kk will run away with it weather will have no play in stopping that ballinamere next best team but can't see them having enough to get past kk

[Anonymous1]

What I seen with belmont v kinnitty was enough to tell a tale of what was to unfold for the rest of championship

Any team who have county players under 20 or senoir have them on the starting 15 belmont had 3 from under 20 ,2 of that were on the extended panel but were confined to the subs for belmont

Surely if taffe was good enough to start so was ronan flynn and connor dunican

There was also players who stood up against birr in the league final but some those also confined to subs

Some of them maybe been reserved for junior A

Looking at that sub bench there's youth there but don't get the opportunity

Connor grennan for example big strong physical player surley after kinnitty there was more than one change needed, definitely after ballinamere you'd shake things up

Kk will run away with it weather will have no play in stopping that ballinamere next best team but can't see them having enough to get past kk

In fairness none of the players mentioned are any great shakes either.

The reality is Belmont blew their chance against Shinrone in the 2022 county semi final and will never get another one.

A lot of their stalwarts are over the hill at this stage and the underage has been desperately poor for years.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The Ballinamere / Birr group taking shape now. It looks like Ballinamere and Birr will both reach seven points, with scoring difference to decide the semi-final spot. Ballinamere currently the most likely to finish top.

Kinnitty currently on three points, but have Ballinamere and Birr to come, so will likely end on the same three points. Shinrone will join them if they beat Belmont (which is by no means certain, not with Killian Sampson out). Should Shinrone beat Belmont, score difference would be used to separate they and Kinnitty, with no clear favourites on that front yet.

That scenario would see quarter final pairings of Birr v Coolderry and St Rynagh's v Kinnitty or Shinrone.

Prize for topping the Ballinamere / Birr group is avoiding Killoughey in the semi-final. Difficulty for Ballinamere is that they have their bye in round five, so would face a six week gap between facing Kinnitty in round four and a semi-final. And they won't be guaranteed the automatic semi-final place until they see the result of Birr v Kinnitty.

[Anonymous1]

The Ballinamere / Birr group taking shape now. It looks like Ballinamere and Birr will both reach seven points, with scoring difference to decide the semi-final spot. Ballinamere currently the most likely to finish top.

Kinnitty currently on three points, but have Ballinamere and Birr to come, so will likely end on the same three points. Shinrone will join them if they beat Belmont (which is by no means certain, not with Killian Sampson out). Should Shinrone beat Belmont, score difference would be used to separate they and Kinnitty, with no clear favourites on that front yet.

That scenario would see quarter final pairings of Birr v Coolderry and St Rynagh's v Kinnitty or Shinrone.

Prize for topping the Ballinamere / Birr group is avoiding Killoughey in the semi-final. Difficulty for Ballinamere is that they have their bye in round five, so would face a six week gap between facing Kinnitty in round four and a semi-final. And they won't be guaranteed the automatic semi-final place until they see the result of Birr v Kinnitty.

I wouldn't be so sure Birr will beat Kinnitty, close to a 50-50.

[frankthetank]

The Ballinamere / Birr group taking shape now. It looks like Ballinamere and Birr will both reach seven points, with scoring difference to decide the semi-final spot. Ballinamere currently the most likely to finish top.

Kinnitty currently on three points, but have Ballinamere and Birr to come, so will likely end on the same three points. Shinrone will join them if they beat Belmont (which is by no means certain, not with Killian Sampson out). Should Shinrone beat Belmont, score difference would be used to separate they and Kinnitty, with no clear favourites on that front yet.

That scenario would see quarter final pairings of Birr v Coolderry and St Rynagh's v Kinnitty or Shinrone.

Prize for topping the Ballinamere / Birr group is avoiding Killoughey in the semi-final. Difficulty for Ballinamere is that they have their bye in round five, so would face a six week gap between facing Kinnitty in round four and a semi-final. And they won't be guaranteed the automatic semi-final place until they see the result of Birr v Kinnitty.

I wouldn't be so sure Birr will beat Kinnitty, close to a 50-50.

Ya, I’d have that close to 50/50 too.

Also a key point in this is, if Shinrone lose to Birr they are going into the Belmont game on a seriously bad run of form and Belmont know a win keeps them out of the relegation final. I’d make Belmont favourites to beat Shinrone if Shinrone lose to Birr.

[FaithfulFuture]

Made it to Rynaghs v Tullamore this evening.

Poor enough fare, Rynaghs kept tullamore at arms length for most of the game. Conneely and Rigney stood out for me but they were never really troubled.

You would have to wonder with Tullamore. They are very dependent on Dooley who is in the twilight of his career and don't seem to producing too many of note where hurling is their priority. Offaly needs 'The Blues' to be churning out players each year for underage teams and it doesn't seem to be the case at all.

It wouldn't surprise me if we see a KK winning both Senior A and B this year (not too familiar with the junior scene), but the likes of Tullamore and Seir Kierans preservation in Senior A is only papering over the cracks.

[frankthetank]

It might not stop at back to back Senior A and B titles for K/K.

As I have posted earlier their U20’s are unbackable favourites to win a 5th title in a row.

And their Junior A’s look very strong this year. And no doubt they’ll be in the knockouts of Junior B and Junior C.

So far their championship teams have performed as follows:

Senior A - P3 W3. Average winning margin: 22.3 points

Senior B - P3 W3. Average winning margin: 10.3 points

Junor A - P3 W3. Average winning margin: 15.6 points

Junior B - P3 W2 L1. Score difference of +7. 1 walkover given

Junior C - P1 W1 Winning margin of 11 points.

If we count U20 as an adult competition it’s quite possible that K/K will 5 of the 7 available. For me that would classify as utter domination of the club hurling scene in Offaly. Particularly if it’s looked at as a follow on to winning last year’s Senior A, Senior B and U20.

[Doon Exile]

Made it to Rynaghs v Tullamore this evening.

Poor enough fare, Rynaghs kept tullamore at arms length for most of the game. Conneely and Rigney stood out for me but they were never really troubled.

You would have to wonder with Tullamore. They are very dependent on Dooley who is in the twilight of his career and don't seem to producing too many of note where hurling is their priority. Offaly needs 'The Blues' to be churning out players each year for underage teams and it doesn't seem to be the case at all.

It wouldn't surprise me if we see a KK winning both Senior A and B this year (not too familiar with the junior scene), but the likes of Tullamore and Seir Kierans preservation in Senior A is only papering over the cracks.

I was at it and wouldn’t disagree too much much. Tullamore though will be disappointed with their wides tally and the amount of shots dropped short - shot selection was very poor and their striking and first touch was not as sharp as Rynaghs. Their forwards were poor simple as. Over reliant on Dooley frees. Ger Crowe was probably their best player at centre back. Cormac egan tried hard and it just wasn’t happening for him albeit he was well shackled by Ben.

Rynaghs had definitely the more dangerous forwards. Shane Rigney got 4 really good points and set up many others. Luke O’Connor, quirke, Cahill and scaly were all very good. Aaron Cahill looks a real prospect. Ben was excellent at 6 and thought mathew Maloney did well as did Joey in centre field.

But for all their efforts they couldn’t put Tullamore away and score was back to 3 points with with 10 minutes left or so. Only in last couple of minutes that they pulled away. Had lots of wides too.