Offaly Senior Hurling Club Championship 2011

[Lone Shark]

I don't know which is more upsetting on this thread - POTH leaving Belmont out of the list of senior clubs, or people talking about OCP as if it's Tullamore's "home" ground.

The ground has been leased to the county board, and is a county board facility. I agree wholeheartedly that it's not exactly neutral for a lot of games, but it's not as if Tullamore play all their league games there or anything like that - that I'm aware of? So for games like Tullamore vs KK, or Shamrocks, or maybe Kinnitty vs Banagher/Belmont, that sort of thing, it's reasonably suitable.

I tend to agree with llkj in their last post - Banagher is grand for round robin games and the like, but a quarter final double header deserves a proper stage and Tullamore or Birr are much better in terms of playing surface and overall facilities.

[durra1]

POTH

You were born on the wrong side of the Atlantic with that sort of dedication to stats – fair play to you.

Townman

Spare us another round of this Birr / Tullamore / OCP / Brendan’s Park manure.

Really – I log onto this site to read updates on the SHC because I’m removed from the County living away from it.

I appreciate the efforts of some of the contributors to keep the likes of me informed , particularly POTH who year in year out enlightens us with his detailed analysis throughout the year.

Could I respectfully suggest that you start your own Birr / Tullamore / OCP / Brendan’s Park thread and thrash it out there with whoever else gives a f&*k. I think there’s one of these already.

The county board have decreed on this topic.

Its f-ing tiresome to be subjected to this drivel again and again.

Seriously – it’s over man.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I need a proof-reader.

Belmont's tour of the county took in Clareen, Kinnitty, Lusmagh, Banagher and Birr. Apologies to all Belmont folk.

I don't know which is more upsetting on this thread - POTH leaving Belmont out of the list of senior clubs, or people talking about OCP as if it's Tullamore's "home" ground.

[durra1]

Actually townman I went a bit hard on you there – I take it back.

I read the thread backwards, saw your post and jumped to a conclusion.

‘Give a dog a bad name’ and all the rest..

Must have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[townman]

Actually townman I went a bit hard on you there – I take it back.

I read the thread backwards, saw your post and jumped to a conclusion.

‘Give a dog a bad name’ and all the rest..

Must have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

its like the old saying Measure twice cut once , its not a OCP, st. Brendans thread just saying Birr don't fear playing in o'connor park
won county and lenister club titles in it.

as for the wrong side of the bed push it again a wall you can only get out the one side then bar you crawl out the end of it

[backofthenet]

Summary of this weekends games
Rynaghs not as good as I thought,Shinrone could very well beat them in the quarter final.
Belmont very unlucky not to get through to the quarters.
Tullamore in the quarters again despite not having Shane Dooley and if he's back the next day who's to say they wont beat Birr again.
K/K coming good at the right time perpaps?
Seir Kieran good enough to beat anyone on a good day but well beatable on a bad day.
Birr the team to beat they havnt been tested at all yet.
Coolderry not as good as last year struggled for long periods against Drumcullen and only scored five points in the second half Seir Kieran could end their reign as county champions.
Quarter Finals
Birr v Tullamore, Birr by 6
Coolderry v Seir Kieran,Seir Kieran by 7
K/K v Kinnitty,K/K by 10
St.Rynaghs v Shinrone,Shinrone by 2

In fairness Puzzled youre really kidding on the Drumcullen Coolderry match surely!! Coolderry built up a solid 10 point lead, You then had the Drumcullen management team roaring and balling at every single decision, swayed the referee and they got about 6 decisions in the final 20 simply for roaring about it. Coolderry never ever looked like losing this and played like a team that already knew they were in a quarter final and didnt want to get a belt off whats pretty much recognized on here as the dirtiest team in the championship, add to that you have Kevin Brady & Kevin Connolly to come back and the fact that Brian Carroll is only starting to get back right I think youre writing them off at your peril. Coolderry should have too much for Clareen and certainly cant see them losing by 7 points!!

Birr Vs Tullamore: Tullamore to win by 1 or 2 pts with Shane Dooley back
Coolderry Vs Sier Kieran: Coolderry to win by 4-5 points
K/K Vs Kinnitty: K/K to win by 6-7 with one or two sent off
St Rynaghs Vs Shinrone: Rynaghs to win by 4-5

[townman]

Summary of this weekends games
Rynaghs not as good as I thought,Shinrone could very well beat them in the quarter final.
Belmont very unlucky not to get through to the quarters.
Tullamore in the quarters again despite not having Shane Dooley and if he's back the next day who's to say they wont beat Birr again.
K/K coming good at the right time perpaps?
Seir Kieran good enough to beat anyone on a good day but well beatable on a bad day.
Birr the team to beat they havnt been tested at all yet.
Coolderry not as good as last year struggled for long periods against Drumcullen and only scored five points in the second half Seir Kieran could end their reign as county champions.
Quarter Finals
Birr v Tullamore, Birr by 6
Coolderry v Seir Kieran,Seir Kieran by 7
K/K v Kinnitty,K/K by 10
St.Rynaghs v Shinrone,Shinrone by 2

In fairness Puzzled youre really kidding on the Drumcullen Coolderry match surely!! Coolderry built up a solid 10 point lead, You then had the Drumcullen management team roaring and balling at every single decision, swayed the referee and they got about 6 decisions in the final 20 simply for roaring about it. Coolderry never ever looked like losing this and played like a team that already knew they were in a quarter final and didnt want to get a belt off whats pretty much recognized on here as the dirtiest team in the championship, add to that you have Kevin Brady & Kevin Connolly to come back and the fact that Brian Carroll is only starting to get back right I think youre writing them off at your peril. Coolderry should have too much for Clareen and certainly cant see them losing by 7 points!!

Birr Vs Tullamore: Tullamore to win by 1 or 2 pts with Shane Dooley back
Coolderry Vs Sier Kieran: Coolderry to win by 4-5 points
K/K Vs Kinnitty: K/K to win by 6-7 with one or two sent off
St Rynaghs Vs Shinrone: Rynaghs to win by 4-5

tell you Birr will get their pay back this year i know i said this last year but this year we will do it

[llkj]

I wouldn't have thought there would be any sense of 'payback' for Birr against Tullamore. All of the games over the recent years have been good spirited and very even contests (with the exception of the 1/4 final a few years ago in OCP when Birr won handy enough). I would imagine that, 'let's keep our winning run going and qualify for the 1/2 final' is Birr's motivation, rather than anything else.

On the other hand, the KK v Kinnitty and Clareen v Coolderry games could be a different story, as both sides would know the others very well.

Looking forward to 2 entertaining days next weekend it must be said.

On a related point - are KK or Kinnitty allowing their top dogs to play football this year does anyone know?

[townman]

I wouldn't have thought there would be any sense of 'payback' for Birr against Tullamore. All of the games over the recent years have been good spirited and very even contests (with the exception of the 1/4 final a few years ago in OCP when Birr won handy enough). I would imagine that, 'let's keep our winning run going and qualify for the 1/2 final' is Birr's motivation, rather than anything else.

On the other hand, the KK v Kinnitty and Clareen v Coolderry games could be a different story, as both sides would know the others very well.

Looking forward to 2 entertaining days next weekend it must be said.

On a related point - are KK or Kinnitty allowing their top dogs to play football this year does anyone know?

pay back for knocking us out the last two years i never said that Birr and Tullamore games were bad spirited lads are very touchy on this site lately

[kinnittyman]

I wouldn't have thought there would be any sense of 'payback' for Birr against Tullamore. All of the games over the recent years have been good spirited and very even contests (with the exception of the 1/4 final a few years ago in OCP when Birr won handy enough). I would imagine that, 'let's keep our winning run going and qualify for the 1/2 final' is Birr's motivation, rather than anything else.
perso
On the other hand, the KK v Kinnitty and Clareen v Coolderry games could be a different story, as both sides would know the others very well.

Looking forward to 2 entertaining days next weekend it must be said.

On a related point - are KK or Kinnitty allowing their top dogs to play football this year does anyone know?

All lads on the senior hurling panel are available to play in the Junior B final tomorrow. I don't think I've ever been to a match in Geashill - I'd say I won't be the only Kinnitty person making their first visit to that pitch tomorrow. Here's to Junior A football in 2012!!!

[Bazil Brush]

Well kinnittyman your gonna get some shock when you see the grounds and facilities and compare them to your own in kinnitty. Was in geashill a few weeks ago and couldnt believe how poor they were. Cant believe there getting a county final. Its like a place time forgot about.

[b+7]

birr 1/6 draw 11/1 tullamore 9/2

kk 8/15 draw 8/1 kinnitty 7/4

st rynaghs 8/11 draw 8/1 shinrone 5/4

coolderry 1/6 draw 12/1 clareen 4/1

0dds for Q/F's wat do ye tink??

[Plain of the Herbs]

And then there were eight. Quarter –final weekend this weekend and you could say that as many as six of the eight would hold reasonable expectations of winning the title. Here’s an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the eight quarter-finalists.

BIRR
I haven’t seen Birr at all this year, so the observations on Birr are general in nature.
Strengths
Will be feared by any club for whom Birr is ‘town’, includes Coolderry. They owe Tullamore a beating.

Weaknesses
Some doubts as to how the younger players will fare under Tullamore’s pressure. Can their leaders lead them in similar circumstances?

Tullamore have their number.


TULLAMORE
Strengths
Oodles of belief and won’t fear Birr. Will play their remaining matches in Tullamore.
They have probably the best defence in the county, with the exception of Coolderry’s. Kevin Waters has fitted in well at corner-back and Mark Conlon is hurling well at centre-back. Alan Martin and Nigel Mannion are in top form.
Shane Dooley’s return is a huge fillip and the attack should hit 15 or 16 scores. And they’ve still got Brendan Dagg to return – perhaps at midfield?

Weaknesses
Doubts about how they would fare if forced to come from behind. Can get over-physical in such situations.

Injuries to Stephen Egan (who is hurling away in attack despite being hampered by injury) will tell against them against a Birr, Coolderry or Kilcormac.


KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY
Strengths
They’ve got size and strength as well as plenty of hurling ability. Conor Mahon; Daniel Currams in the mood, Ciarán Slevin is in good form lately too. That should be enough to mount a serious title challenge.

Ger Healion and Brian Leonard form an imposing half-back line and Kevin Coyne has been impressive there too.

Weaknesses
The big-match temperament has let them down time and again, and may well do so again.

The full-back line, though big, was in trouble every time Colin Egan gained possession close to goal.

While the manager is cute out, he’s trying to impose a gameplan which doesn’t suit them and which they don’t get the hang of.


KINNITTY
Strengths
James Rigney.

Weaknesses
Where do you start? They’ve had a terrible year since being humiliated by Coolderry in the semi-final last year. Despite the return of a popular local manager they’ve been unable to turn their fortunes around. Stephen Molloy’s inability to find form due to persistent injury is a major handicap.


ST. RYNAGH’S
Strengths
The form team in the county this year who found their groove in the group stages. We don’t do unbeaten runs very well in this county and the recent defeat by Kilcormac will do more good than harm.

The forwards have a nice mix of scorers and workers. All are mobile. Plenty of talent in reserve with a sub for almost every eventuality. They wouldn’t fear Birr if they got them in a semi-final

While the best option to man the full-back berth is undecided, either Declan Tanner or Conor Hernon would still be fancied to outhurl Michael Cordial.

Weaknesses
Despite a decent unbeaten run they’ve still to find their best 15. Doubts about who’ll be full-back (Tanner or Hernon) with resultant doubts as to who’ll be centre-back (Hernon, Shortt or Camon).

They’ve an unforgiving and unrelenting support who demand success and as a consequence they are under pressure every time they go out to hurl.


SHINRONE
Strengths
Loads of talent and loads of hurling style.

They’re decent between 5 and 9, where Daniel Hoctor is hurling well at 6, Derek Morkan is as good as there is, Shane McKelvey is a fine talent and midfielder Mark Morkan may well be the man to outhurl St Rynagh’s in-form Gary Kelly.

Weaknesses
Big match temperament – they’re the crumbliest flakiest around. Don’t have a winning tradition and won’t have the belief to break new ground. Scoring nine goals in a match isn’t ideal preparation either – ask Cork; or Tipperary.

Would be vulnerable to an opponent's mobile full-forward, and St Rynagh's have just the job (see above).

Doubts about their forwards’ ability to win the dropping ball.


COOLDERRY
Strengths
Their defence. Gives nothing away. No-one here gets out alive, not with the twin Rottweilers in the shape of the Corcoran brothers. Their half-back line makes it very difficult for opponents to win their own puckout. A fully fit Joe Brady can be immense.

The forwards. Damien Murray still has an impressive strike rate from the frees. They’ve a system designed to make room for Brian Carroll which they all believe in. Probably the best goalscoring threat in the county.

Will carry plenty of belief as befits county champions and would be confident of beating almost every team they oppose.


Weaknesses
Will Brian Carroll’s injured ankle be strong enough to carry them through to the Final? Their hopes of retaining the title depend on that ankle.

Their half-forward line don’t win enough puckout ball and they could be vulnerable to a team who can score regularly forcing Coolderry to puck out. Item: Shinrone’s late scoring flurry, thought the match was long since won.

Neighbours Birr are a huge stumbling block to success.


CLAREEN
Strengths
Joseph Bergin.

The combination of Tom Carroll and James Mulrooney forms a useful midfield. Able to win their own ball, keep the shape well and able to get a decent supply to Bergin when the county’s best hurler is stationed at full-forward.

Weaknesses
Fresh doubts about the full-back berth were exposed by Belmont.

Not consistent enough. Rack up a big score once every year (Shamrocks in 2009, Tullamore last year, Belmont 2 weeks ago) but don’t follow through on the promise.

[puzzled]

Relegation play-off is on this sunday as well
Shamrocks v Lusmagh venue Kilcormac ref M Walsh 1.30
Derek Molloy is back for Shamrocks and while his return wont solve all of their problems it will be a major boost for them.
David Morans injury has been a huge blow for Lusmagh he has probably been their best hurler for a few years now and losing him when they are facing a match like this is very bad news for Lusmagh.
There wont be a lot in this game when the final whistle blows it could even go to extra time,I'm going for Lusmagh to win by two points after extra time!

[Long John]

Relegation play-off is on this sunday as well
Shamrocks v Lusmagh venue Kilcormac ref M Walsh 1.30
Derek Molloy is back for Shamrocks and while his return wont solve all of their problems it will be a major boost for them.
David Morans injury has been a huge blow for Lusmagh he has probably been their best hurler for a few years now and losing him when they are facing a match like this is very bad news for Lusmagh.
There wont be a lot in this game when the final whistle blows it could even go to extra time,I'm going for Lusmagh to win by two points after extra time!

Moran is a loss "if" not able to play. A very tidy hurler who should of made a bigger impact on county scene.

Shamrocks are missing far too many players. Its not possible for them or any team to compete with the amount of players they are missing. Remember we are not talking about 3 or 4. Theres 10 or so starters unavailable. Lusmagh have given every team they met this year a good battle and were probably unlucky to come up short in a few games. They would be hugely fancied to win this one at their ease. Hanrahan will know Shamrocks inside out after his two years as manager with them. Easy win for Lusmagh.