frankthetank wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 8:37 am
Hurling supporters royally screwed over this year as usual when it comes to latter stage of championship.
Quarter finals on separate days
Semi Finals on seperate days (this really pisses me off. Of course the football semis are a double header)
No game on before final.
If a supporter wants to attend all games he has to pay out €74. €30 to see the senior semi finals alone which is absolutely ridiculous.
Agree on the double headers.
The junior A final was to be before the senior final but with the TG4 coverage being at 1pm I guess that ruled out the junior.
frankthetank wrote: ↑Wed Oct 01, 2025 8:37 am
Hurling supporters royally screwed over this year as usual when it comes to latter stage of championship.
Quarter finals on separate days
Semi Finals on seperate days (this really pisses me off. Of course the football semis are a double header)
No game on before final.
If a supporter wants to attend all games he has to pay out €74. €30 to see the senior semi finals alone which is absolutely ridiculous.
Agree on the double headers.
The junior A final was to be before the senior final but with the TG4 coverage being at 1pm I guess that ruled out the junior.
All valid points. Are the ordinary supporters not relevant to the Top table.?
Grand to help out with draws and fundraising, but ignored in fixture decisions like Semi finals and finals.
I was hoping to make the trip up from Borris in Carlow with a friend (and fellow contributor on here) for the semis, thinking it will be a double header. And of the two, the Saturday game in particular looks a bright prospect …. But a 3-and-a-half-hour round trip on a Saturday is not the easiest to manage!
Very disappointing.
Géill Slí wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 7:56 am
I was hoping to make the trip up from Borris in Carlow with a friend (and fellow contributor on here) for the semis, thinking it will be a double header. And of the two, the Saturday game in particular looks a bright prospect …. But a 3-and-a-half-hour round trip on a Saturday is not the easiest to manage!
Very disappointing.
Thank you for highlighting this. Hopefully some member of the county board fixtures committee sees this post and realises what a disservice not having the semi finals as a double header is.
This has happened multiple times over the last number of years and in my eyes is a totally unacceptable money grab.
I'll give you that. To be fair, a Sunday afternoon double header in Birr is a decent occasion and is something that should be maintained where possible. The Rynaghs v Kinnitty/ Shinrone v Killoughey one four weeks ago certainly was; I missed the one a fortnight ago, while this coming Sunday is promising.
greenairfield wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 2:13 pm
Great to have a semi final in birr all the same.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.
"Offaly's hurling is exact and abrasive: full of assurance on the ball, devoid of fumbling and slicing and sod-busting". Kevin Cashman RIP (September 1994).
greenairfield wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 2:13 pm
Great to have a semi final in birr all the same.
But why can't it be be a double header in Birr?
If the final is going to be fixed for Tullamore then I feel a semi final double header in Birr should be fixed. Now of course some may argue that gives an advantage to Birr should they reach that stage as is the case this year. However the county board has absolutely no qualms about giving Tullamore home advantage in the SFC semi finals (Literal home advantage as Tullamore nominated OCP rather that OBP as their home venue for this year's group stage.) In fact it makes one wonder does a bias exist against Birr in county board circles? There's clear hypocrisy at play here and it should be called out.
greenairfield wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 2:13 pm
Great to have a semi final in birr all the same.
But why can't it be be a double header in Birr?
If the final is going to be fixed for Tullamore then I feel a semi final double header in Birr should be fixed. Now of course some may argue that gives an advantage to Birr should they reach that stage as is the case this year. However the county board has absolutely no qualms about giving Tullamore home advantage in the SFC semi finals (Literal home advantage as Tullamore nominated OCP rather that OBP as their home venue for this year's group stage.) In fact it makes one wonder does a bias exist against Birr in county board circles? There's clear hypocrisy at play here and it should be called out.
Unlikely that bias against Birr exists considering Birr have played the minor A semi final in Birr and now the final featuring Birr is also fixed for Birr.
Heard this morning that SBP unlikely to be able host the 2 games on Sunday due to the rain that has fell and continues to fall. Hopefully the wind forecast will dry up some of the water and both games can go ahead as planned.
With the weather that likely to be coming from here on I'd say most matches will be in ocp and faithful fields. SBP won't be able to host, too much rain.
Latest odds from this weekend have KK 1/12 to beat Birr. I'd have Birr a lot closer than this, especially given the conditions and the experience on the Birr side. Still, even on a wet OCP, Kilcormac just seem to have too much fire power and looked excellent against Ballinamere, game was essentially over after 20 mins. I would go KK by 3-4 points, but they'll have to dig deep.
I can see Sunday being a grueling one, it will come down to who wants it more. Shinrone's quarter final dog fight might tip the scales in their favour, given the boost they will get overcoming their close rivals in such a big game. While I think Belmont did well to top the group, they were still in a relegation final last year and just about struggled over Kinnitty earlier in the summer. I think this one might go all the way, but I have Shinrone to just get over the line.
Senior B final is very interesting. If you're looking at who is most likely to retain status for next year, you'd have to go with Carrig & Riverstown. They just seem to have a better underage than Lusmagh at the moment, and better panel numbers. That doesn't win championships and only a fool would bet against Lusmagh in a one-off decider. I'll go C&R by 2 points but just looking forward to a good game and a new club promoted for the first time since Tullamore beat Clara in 2022.