www.uibhfhaili.com

Good luck to Mullingar CBS, best team won, and all their players are playing football as well as hurling over the last few days as well, they are in Leinster A semi final, so they have plenty going on to. Hope they give Kilkenny CBS a right rattle.

On paper, a bad result. But going off what people have said, there probably were a few mitigating factors, as well as simply being beaten by the better team on the day. I watched the previous game and I thought the performance was decent, although I have no idea how strong that Dublin schools side was.

The combined schools team is a good idea if the competitions were played at different stages. As pointed out, nearly all the Offaly players had played some grade of schools competitions, some played dual. When you factor in as well that the majority of players who saw game time are on the 20s panel, I just can’t understand how players would not be fatigued. Maybe the 20s management are managing the load on the players well, but I think some players are at serious risk of being overloaded.

Good spread of Offaly players involved in college hurling this year

Fitzgibbon Cup
Adam Screeney K/K- UL
Charlie Mitchell K/K-UG
Dan Bourke Ballinamere-UG
Liam Hoare Carrig-UG
Ter Guinan K/K-UG
Cathal King Carrig-SETU waterford
James Mahon K/K-TUS Midwest
Joseph Ryan Birr-TUS Midwest
Dara Maher Shinrone-MU
Daniel Hand K/K-Garda
Donal Shirley Brosna Gaels-DCU
Sam Bourke Ballinamere- DCU
Peter King Carrig- ATU Galway

Freshers
Harry Sweeney K/K- UL
Gearoid Maher Shinrone-UL
Darragh Scully St Rynaghs-UL
Liam O Riordan Ballyskenagh-UCC
Sam Younge Shinrone-UCC
Paddy Lyons Drumcullen- UCD
Brian Guinan K/K-UCD
Leon Hayden Tullamore- MU
Eanna Mulhare St Rynaghs- TUS Midwest
Callum Hogan Lusmagh-ATU Galway
Michael Boylan St Rynaghs-ATU Galway

Mullingar CBS putting in right up to an excellent Kilkenny CBS team (championship favourites for a lot of people) at least verifies what most of us thought on the day, that this was an excellent team and there was no shame in losing to them.

Offaly Schools still underperformed on the day, but hopefully the individual schools can keep going in their Leinster campaigns and it'll be easier to conclude that there was no huge downside to putting out the combined team.

Were Kilkenny cbs not 15 pts up and conceeded 3 late goals ?

Faithfulfollower1 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:23 am Good spread of Offaly players involved in college hurling this year

Fitzgibbon Cup
Adam Screeney K/K- UL
Charlie Mitchell K/K-UG
Dan Bourke Ballinamere-UG
Liam Hoare Carrig-UG
Ter Guinan K/K-UG
Cathal King Carrig-SETU waterford
James Mahon K/K-TUS Midwest
Joseph Ryan Birr-TUS Midwest
Dara Maher Shinrone-MU
Daniel Hand K/K-Garda
Donal Shirley Brosna Gaels-DCU
Sam Bourke Ballinamere- DCU
Peter King Carrig- ATU Galway

Freshers
Harry Sweeney K/K- UL
Gearoid Maher Shinrone-UL
Darragh Scully St Rynaghs-UL
Liam O Riordan Ballyskenagh-UCC
Sam Younge Shinrone-UCC
Paddy Lyons Drumcullen- UCD
Brian Guinan K/K-UCD
Leon Hayden Tullamore- MU
Eanna Mulhare St Rynaghs- TUS Midwest
Callum Hogan Lusmagh-ATU Galway
Michael Boylan St Rynaghs-ATU Galway

Is Colin Spain not on DCU fitz squad? maybe I'm mistaken

greenairfield wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 3:39 pm Were Kilkenny cbs not 15 pts up and conceeded 3 late goals ?

A point in it at half-time, Kilkenny hit three goals in around 7 minutes at one stage to lead by 12, Mullingar hit back with a run of goals of their own.

KCBS the better team absolutely, but not a mismatch at all.

Wing Back wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 4:29 pm

Faithfulfollower1 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:23 am Good spread of Offaly players involved in college hurling this year

Fitzgibbon Cup
Adam Screeney K/K- UL
Charlie Mitchell K/K-UG
Dan Bourke Ballinamere-UG
Liam Hoare Carrig-UG
Ter Guinan K/K-UG
Cathal King Carrig-SETU waterford
James Mahon K/K-TUS Midwest
Joseph Ryan Birr-TUS Midwest
Dara Maher Shinrone-MU
Daniel Hand K/K-Garda
Donal Shirley Brosna Gaels-DCU
Sam Bourke Ballinamere- DCU
Peter King Carrig- ATU Galway

Freshers
Harry Sweeney K/K- UL
Gearoid Maher Shinrone-UL
Darragh Scully St Rynaghs-UL
Liam O Riordan Ballyskenagh-UCC
Sam Younge Shinrone-UCC
Paddy Lyons Drumcullen- UCD
Brian Guinan K/K-UCD
Leon Hayden Tullamore- MU
Eanna Mulhare St Rynaghs- TUS Midwest
Callum Hogan Lusmagh-ATU Galway
Michael Boylan St Rynaghs-ATU Galway

Is Colin Spain not on DCU fitz squad? maybe I'm mistaken

Didnt see him listed on any of the panels mustve opted out of college hurling

Why on earth would St Brendans C S V Cistercian College in the Leinster Senior B replay be played in Carlow?

I assume lack of playable pitches? Astro in carlow is good.

It would have to be the only reason, just seems madness all the same.

Getting any match played on grass over the next two to three weeks will be a miracle.

Clearly there is no field playable have you see the rain?
Also with Cistercian in the leinster rugby cup and both schools on a tight schedule around leaving cert and mocks it probably had to be played hence the astro.

I know it's been fairly wet, but there's a bit of me thinking - is this not precisely what the Faithful Fields was built for, to have playable pitches for games at this time of year? Most clubs are working off the same patch of grass they've had for generations and while they put a lot of effort, money and time into it, they can't spend the kind of money that is required to make these modern pitches that are designed to drain off heavy amounts of water.

Moreover, if you're a club, your ground has to be optimised to take heavy traffic in Summer time. If the Faithful Fields is dry as a bone and rock hard throughout the months of July and August, then that's no problem for Offaly, that's not the time when it's badly needed. It's in December and January when there is huge demand and most pitches aren't available.

Maybe there's a benign explanation for this but if there isn't a single usable pitch in that facility, then it would suggest that something has gone wrong somewhere.

Our new "president" wouldnt let the all ireland in there never mind a schools game.