Offaly Club Hurling Championship 2025

[greenairfield]

No doubt B/D are overhyped.

I think if you look at all their games so far Birr have been 6+ points better than each team.

While they didnt kill off tullamore but yesterday they just seemed that little bit stronger than ballinamere.
Second goal was free out which put them back in it they have improved alot and probably should have a great chance of reaching a county final.

[Buttons]

I think the long year with colleges/ Offaly are having an effect on Ballinamere. Being without these players meant a poor league and are probably short 2-3 players to win a championship. This along with the fact that most are duel players with durrow is having an effect, now Durrow play rhode next week in a nothing match, will be interesting if they make themselves available or not. They have 2 weeks now to probably prepare for Belmont so have to focus fully on this game.

One or two positional changes now Dan ravenhill and John Murphy are back might just change a season. A Duignan/ Ravenhill 2 man full forward line could do serious damage.

Take kk out and there is very little between the remaining 5 teams.

[Anonymous1]

Turn up for the books today in Birr.

KK were very disappointing, I’m not quite sure how Shinrone managed to throw that one away.

It all means Birr and Belmont are straight into the semis. You’d have got good odds on those being the two group winners at the start of the year.

We have a repeat of last year’s county final in the Quarters with Ballinamere vs KK plus a grudge match between Shinrone and Coolderry.

This championship feels more open than it ever has been.

[SearingDrive]

Turn up for the books today in Birr.

KK were very disappointing, I’m not quite sure how Shinrone managed to throw that one away.

It all means Birr and Belmont are straight into the semis. You’d have got good odds on those being the two group winners at the start of the year.

We have a repeat of last year’s county final in the Quarters with Ballinamere vs KK plus a grudge match between Shinrone and Coolderry.

This championship feels more open than it ever has been.

Shinrone should have won today. From the terrace, I saw two separate fouls by KK players, not dealt with by the referee. Red cards warranted.
Both incidents were in the second half. Players on both sides came to close quarters,. A KK player shoved an opponent in the chest.
The second incident saw Shinrone’s no 6 struck by an opponent,and knocked to the ground.. The ref threw in the ball.
How does the match official, on the pitch miss both fouls? kK are not guaranteed another championship title after today.
The

[SearingDrive]

Turn up for the books today in Birr.

KK were very disappointing, I’m not quite sure how Shinrone managed to throw that one away.

It all means Birr and Belmont are straight into the semis. You’d have got good odds on those being the two group winners at the start of the year.

We have a repeat of last year’s county final in the Quarters with Ballinamere vs KK plus a grudge match between Shinrone and Coolderry.

This championship feels more open than it ever has been.

Shinrone should have won today. From the terrace, I saw two separate fouls by KK players, not dealt with by the referee. Red cards warranted.
Both incidents were in the second half. Players on both sides came to close quarters,. A KK player shoved an opponent in the chest, I am using a euphemism.
The second incident saw Shinrone’s no 6 struck by an opponent,and knocked to the ground.. The ref threw in the ball.
How does the match official, on the pitch miss both fouls? kK are not guaranteed another championship title after today.

[Wingbackassassin]

Ballinamere can still have a say in this championship despite how poor they've been in the group stage. Knockout hurling is ultimately what matters and possibly they've kept their powder dry for this. They have too much talent not to cause any team they play problems. However without Kevin McDermott and with a few others only returning now it's very unlikely for them to win it. Shinrone also underrated. They did beat KK in a county final 3 years ago with much of the same team. Their age profile is better than KKs. KK still relying on 37 year olds such as Kilmartin and Conor Mahon. The rest of their team is mostly early 20s. As seen in last years county final they can be got at by the right opposition. I wouldn't rule out someone else winning the championship at all.
This is the closest fought championship there's been in a while. Birr, Coolderry, Tullamore, Belmont, B/D, Shinrone, KK have all played out some close and entertaining games.

[SearingDrive]

Ballinamere can still have a say in this championship despite how poor they've been in the group stage. Knockout hurling is ultimately what matters and possibly they've kept their powder dry for this. They have too much talent not to cause any team they play problems. However without Kevin McDermott and with a few others only returning now it's very unlikely for them to win it. Shinrone also underrated. They did beat KK in a county final 3 years ago with much of the same team. Their age profile is better than KKs. KK still relying on 37 year olds such as Kilmartin and Conor Mahon. The rest of their team is mostly early 20s. As seen in last years county final they can be got at by the right opposition. I wouldn't rule out someone else winning the championship at all.
This is the closest fought championship there's been in a while. Birr, Coolderry, Tullamore, Belmont, B/D, Shinrone, KK have all played out some close and entertaining games.

South Offaly clubs still in the knock out stages. Birr in semi final. Shinrone v Coolderry in Q/ Finals. Could it be ‘the year of the cat’ for Belmont?

[Superhans75]

Was in birr yesterday at the games
Kk looked very average again
Shinrone had more Chances to win but again failed to grasp victory
After seeing all the teams play this year
I'm can honestly say nothing really stands out ..
Is it good or bad I don't know
But I can't see any Offaly team challenge in Leinster bar someone pulls a rabbit out the hat .

[Superhans75]

One thing I forgot to mention
The fitness of the referee in the shinrone/,KK was poor
I'm not throwing stones but as my dad said after was he carrying two bags of turf

[Plain of the Herbs]

A strange one yesterday in Birr. I am astonished that Killoughey didn’t have it in them to pull away after they weathered the early storm and again after the goal. Now, perhaps they are in heavy training with October and November in mind. Or perhaps, as Buttons noted yesterday in relation to Ballinamere, that they are feeling the long year with Offaly. Who knows?

Killoughey haven’t really out a team to the sword since last year’s semi-final, the last time Ter Guinan lined out for them. Cillian Kiely has hardly hurled since either. Which is hardly a coincidence. And with Oisín Mahon not lining out, the spine of their defence has been ripped up. Conor Mahon is a vital player for them, and he was quiet yesterday and spent a considerable time at full-forward. There’s a big reliance on Damien Kilmartin too.

How did Shinrone not win? They showed a sublime range of skills, some of their medium range passing was wonderful and their control of the ball was outrageous. But like a soccer team, they did most of their playing in their own half of the field and I’d say they completed relatively few passes in the opposition’s half. Too many of their forwards had quiet games too. And Coolderry proving quarter-final opposition isn’t ideal for them. They’ll hardly allow Shinrone to play they ball around inside their own 45 unopposed either.

How did Killoughey not win? Well, Kieran Dooley opted to make a draw of it. There’s no way that free gets awarded against Conor Slevin five minutes earlier. Or at the other end. Or if the score was reversed. And while it’s going on probably since the GAA began, I’m a bit tired of referees believing it’s up to them to ensure parity at the final whistle in the name of it being a ‘fair result’. We desire consistency in refereeing but we can’t get consistency from one five minutes to the next.

So what now. I wonder if Killoughey have to rearrange plans now with an unscheduled quarter-final in a fortnight. There’s probably a huge kick in them. There’ll have to be.

[SearingDrive]

One thing I forgot to mention
The fitness of the referee in the shinrone/,KK was poor
I'm not throwing stones but as my dad said after was he carrying two bags of turf

Eamonn Ryan would love that. Maybe a song ‘ From a distance’ applies to the official

[faithfulfanatic]

I wonder will this change KK’s plan to keep Leigh Kavanagh and Ter Guinan for the Senior B.
You’d imagine it will, need to get their best team on the field

[chimbonda]

A strange one yesterday in Birr. I am astonished that Killoughey didn’t have it in them to pull away after they weathered the early storm and again after the goal. Now, perhaps they are in heavy training with October and November in mind. Or perhaps, as Buttons noted yesterday in relation to Ballinamere, that they are feeling the long year with Offaly. Who knows?

Killoughey haven’t really out a team to the sword since last year’s semi-final, the last time Ter Guinan lined out for them. Cillian Kiely has hardly hurled since either. Which is hardly a coincidence. And with Oisín Mahon not lining out, the spine of their defence has been ripped up. Conor Mahon is a vital player for them, and he was quiet yesterday and spent a considerable time at full-forward. There’s a big reliance on Damien Kilmartin too.

How did Shinrone not win? They showed a sublime range of skills, some of their medium range passing was wonderful and their control of the ball was outrageous. But like a soccer team, they did most of their playing in their own half of the field and I’d say they completed relatively few passes in the opposition’s half. Too many of their forwards had quiet games too. And Coolderry proving quarter-final opposition isn’t ideal for them. They’ll hardly allow Shinrone to play they ball around inside their own 45 unopposed either.

How did Killoughey not win? Well, Kieran Dooley opted to make a draw of it. There’s no way that free gets awarded against Conor Slevin five minutes earlier. Or at the other end. Or if the score was reversed. And while it’s going on probably since the GAA began, I’m a bit tired of referees believing it’s up to them to ensure parity at the final whistle in the name of it being a ‘fair result’. We desire consistency in refereeing but we can’t get consistency from one five minutes to the next.

So what now. I wonder if Killoughey have to rearrange plans now with an unscheduled quarter-final in a fortnight. There’s probably a huge kick in them. There’ll have to be.

Ter Guinan played the whole match in last year's county final

[Plain of the Herbs]

You're right. I had it in my mind that Ter's hamstring issues began in between the semi-final and the final. But it wasn't, that was between the County final and the Leinster championship.

Ter Guinan played the whole match in last year's county final

[Anon44]

I wonder will this change KK’s plan to keep Leigh Kavanagh and Ter Guinan for the Senior B.
You’d imagine it will, need to get their best team on the field

KK have managed both grades and squads exceptionally in the last couple of years, but I don’t think they can afford to leave a senior county panelist on their second team.