Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 preview

[swiftpost]

Aidan Bracken Building Design Senior Hurling Championship

Group 1
Kilcormac/Killoughey V Shamrocks
Birr Saturday 09/08 17.45 Ref: P Freeman

As both teams lost their opening fixtures this is a must win game for K/K & Shamrocks. Granted K/K were missing Kevin Grogan and Peter Healion for their first game but they will feel they should of come away from Rath with the points. A few of their U21's did not perform well for Offaly and will be hoping to get back on track on Saturday. Again K/K will look to Dan Currams, Ciaran Slevin and Eamonn Lee for scores and you would imagine Joe Dooley will have someone watching them also. Shamrocks are not a bad team but they never seem to give hurling their all for a full year. Stephan Delaney, Thomas Coughlan and Trevor D'arcy did not play in their opening game V Ryanagh's and you would wonder why. They were dependent on Derek Molloy that day and will look to him for scores. I'm going for K/K as I think they just have too much hurling for Shamrocks

Coolderry V St Ryanagh's
Rath Sunday 10/08 17.45 Ref: T Carroll

On paper this looks like the game of the weekend. The county's second top club side over the last 5 years against a club that fancies themselves as contenders for the Sean Robbins Cup. Coolderry were not impressive in their earlier game against K/K. They hurled Damian Murray and Joe Brady midfield but I would be surprised if that combination was there again. Their half back line of Kevin Brady flanked by Barry and Kevin Teehan is very solid. Up Front they will be looking for more support for Brian Carroll. The returning Cathal Parlon might provide this. They also have their intermediates to pick from as they recently finished their championship campaign. Banagher have a young team and are all good hurlers, Conor Hernon, Diarmuid & Cathal Horan and Stephen Wynne to name a few. Paul Quirke was 1 of their best forwards last year and will be hoping for a few scores. Banagher may even use some minors in this encounter Sullivan and Conneely. Championship V Coolderry is not an ideal debut. Coolderry's experience and ability to come through.


Group 2
Drumcullen V Tullamore
Mucklagh 05/08 19.15 Ref: B Gavin

Tullamore are favourites after their shock win against Birr. This will give them great confidence and following last weeks lose in the football, a win here would be very welcome. County Senior Shane Dooley will lead the line helped by U21's Francis Kerrigan and Ger Treacey. They also have former county underage hurlers like James Keane. Shane Kelly and Kevin Martin played a large role in their victory of Birr. They also have a few solid defenders in Bane, Egan and Condron. Drumcullen, Who feel they should have 2 not 1 point going into this game will not fear Tullamore as they bet them in the championship 2 years ago, S Dooley getting sent off that day. Conor Gath is still a major part of their plans but they have good hurlers scattered around the field. The Sash would love if this was a close messy game, because if it get's physical hey will thrive. I'm going for the underdogs here and reckon Drumcullen will win by a couple of points.

Birr V Lusmagh
Rath 10/08 19.15 M Kirwan

Lusmagh have Aidan Hanrahan back and that will be a huge boost, they scrapped a point in their opener V Drumcullen and will know they need to improve to get anything from this game. They are a solid team who work very hard. Gary Kelly is a good free taker and county U21 hurler Paul Beringham will be hoping to be in the thick of things. Lusmagh bet Birr a few years ago and can always raise their game sufficiently to challenge any team. If they get a good start who knows. Birr on the other hand will expect to win this, losing to Tullamore will be seen as more of a blip than a warning. Dylan Hayden and Stephan Brown have enough pace to threaten the Lusmagh rearguard. They have a couple of U21 who could be used Harding,Lonergan and Whelehan. Rory Hanniffy will play a big role as should Sean Ryan. Defensively they shoul be solid with Michael Verney, Watkins and Cleary. I'm going for Birr here providing they are fully focused!




Group 3
Seir Keran V Belmont
Kilcormac 08/08 19.15 Ref: C Groome

S/K welcome back Joe Bergin who missed their opening game with a serious finger injury. His loss that day was massive. S/K looked resigned to defeat very early into the game. It's hard to pick out positives from that day for S/K. They will be looking to redeem themselves and will be fired up. This should be a good game but S/K are a good side regardless of opening result. Belmont were unlucky to lose to Shinrone. Colin Egan and John Egan ran midfield that day. David Kenny was quiet but effective. Mark Egan was very accurate from free's with Alan and Paul Egan also very busy. Belmont will push S/K close and are quiet an under-rated side but a fired-up S/K should come through.

Kinnitty V Shinrone
Birr 09/08 19.15 Ref: M Walsh

Last years game between these sides was not a classic with Kinnitty snatching a victory at the end. Both teams opened with victories, however the manner of both was vastly different. Kinnitty were easy winners against Clareen, while Shinrone failed to sparkle when overcoming Belmont. Damian and Mark Bevans were their better forwards on that occasion. Willie Comerford,Derek and Mark Morkham were impressive in defence. The return of Daniel Hoctor will be a massive boost and may take some pressure off "Diggy" Cordial. Kinnitty are without Andrew McRedmond who was very impressive V S/K. However they have Stephan Molloy to return. James Rigney and Colm Coughlan are important cogs in this side. If they hurl like they did V S/K they will win, but Kinnitty are an up and down sort of team, but on the basis of the 1st game I'm going for them to prevail.

[Lone Shark]

Hard to argue with much of that - fairly thorough and you'd be along similar lines to me on most of the stuff.

KK vs Shamrocks - Agree completely that KK SHOULD have too much hurling for Shamrocks, but should and do are two different things. Kilcormac have proven time and again that they can throw in an awful performance, but even allowing for that they should take this with a bit to spare. Shamrocks losing so badly to Rynaghs in the first round didn't bode well.

Coolderry vs Rynaghs - For me this is the finished product against a team who may or may not develop. A lot of Rynagh's good young players are no better now than they were two years ago, and that's not how it should be. If Parlon is back and on form then I expect Coolderry to comfortably win this one.

Drumcullen vs Tullamore - This is essentially do or die for Drumcullen while in the back of their minds Tullamore will be thinking that they have another chance. The Sash game was the only one I missed in the first round so I'm not sure where their improvement has come from, but if they've harnessed that sense of injustice well, they can horse into Tullamore and might sneak something here.


Birr vs Lusmagh - unlike yourself, I don't think that there are any provisions here. Birr need to win, and when they need to win I think that they will. Lusmagh will take a few good scores and Kelly will hit frees all day as you said, but I don't see them as having any answer for some of Birr's pacier forwards. Birr by anything from six to nine for me, without ever being under too much pressure.

Seir kieran vs Belmont - I'm obviously a little bit biased here and I do think Belmont will have their work cut out, but if Kenny can close out Bergin, as I suspect he might, I don't know if Clareen will score much from elsewhere. Strong possibility this will be the lowest scoring game of the weekend. Clareen still favourties, but the standard of hurling between Shinrone and Belmont was very decent and it's yet to be proven if Clareen can match that.

Shinrone vs Kinnitty - As I said above, the standard of hurling from Shinrone in round one was very decent. Dan Hoctor is a huge addition back in terms of size and general play and Carney up front has added a steady two or three points from play to the attacking lineup. Kinnitty have a lot of lads that can take scores and they have a lot greater ability to get goals, but I'd be having a slight edge towards Shinrone in this one.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The first round after the summer break is probably the most difficult to preview – even moreso that the first round of the spring. Very little is known about how the teams are going fololwoing the summer break, who’s in form and who’s available or unavailable. A definite picture as to the mood of the combatants will form over the coming weekend. Here’s a stab at an analysis of this round anyway anyway.

Kilcormac/Killoughey v Shamrocks.
Last meeting:- Kilcormac Killoughey 4-15 Shamrocks 1-10 (2006 round 1).
2 previous meetings, K/K winning both.

The first senior club match on the new sod of St. Brendan’s Park since it reopened and a rare visit to hurling headquarters for the Rahan/Mucklagh/The Island side. Shamrocks are probably the only team Kilcormac will play who play in a similar style to themselves with their running, supporting, handpass mode, although neither seemed to use this much in their first round matches.

It will be interesting to see which of Damien Kilmartin or Stephen Byrne Kilcormac select in goal. Byrne is vastly experienced though prone to lapses while Kilmartin hasn’t really convinced. While they have an abundance of speed throughout the field they also have a few heavyweights in the side and could do with a more persuasive dietician!
Shamrocks have more dual players than any other club and this will no doubt hinder preparations as even with a ‘hurling one week, football the next’ they are playing football while the opposition are playing challenge matches. Despite this handicap they gave Coolderry a good rattle in last year’s quarter final though were very poor in the first round this year against St. Rynagh’s.

Kilcormac have more scoring options which gives them the nod here to advance to a ‘winner take all’ against ’Rynagh’s in a fortnight in a group which may well be decided on scoring difference.

Coolderry v St. Rynagh’s
Last meeting:- Coolderry 1-13 St. Rynagh’s 0-12 (2006 semi final)
Last 5 meetings:- Coolderry 2 wins, St. Rynagh’s 1 win, 2 drawn.

No doubt, the tie of the round. Coolderry’s win over Kilcormac first time out has them in pole position in the ‘group of death’ and while they are this observer’s fancy for the title at this stage they have some improving to do first. We all know their best fifteen but placing them is a different matter. They would probably be best served by an ‘Offaly 2008’ style with Kevin & Joe Brady at 5 and 6 and with Hall, Corcoran and Paddy Teehan breaking the ball for Brian Carroll, Barry Teehan and Damien Murray to run onto at pace. Cathal Parlon’s availability following a series of injury layoffs would give them a third scoring option up front, one more than anyone else and probably two more than most.

Hard to know what ’Rynagh’s will do. I know we can’t read anything into their pre-summer form but they really need to perform now or their summer will be over, given they’ve two tough matches to come. While they haven’t beaten this Coolderry team, they’ve ran them close on four occasions, drawing twice. They really need to Horans to perform more consistently than last year and if they can then they’ve a decent chance here. Like Kilcormac, t’will be interesting to see who’ll be in goal where they chopped and changed last year.

Coolderry shouldn’t be put off by a physical ’Rynagh’s challenge. Almost all their team are in their mid to late twenties and they’ve very few novices in the side, Mark Bergin excepted. This, and their forwards greater ability to score should see them prevail.

Tullamore v Drumcullen
Last meeting:- Tullamore 2-17 Drumcullen 5-6 (2007 round 4)
Last 5 meetings:- Tullamore 3, Drumcullen 1, 1 drawn.

Tullamore were full value for their win over Birr last time out while a scorekeeping error denied Drumcullen the win they earned. Last year the sides played an amazing match with Drumcullen goals keeping them in it right to the death. Tullamore have improved much since then and Francis Kerrigan gives them goalscoring opportunities and Shane Dooley will have improved following his championship year with the county team.

Drumcullen’s backs are decent enough but they will struggle up front where they will depend utterly on Conor Gath.
Tullamore to drive on and put themselves in with a good shout of an automatic semi final slot.

Birr v Lusmagh
Last meeting:- Birr 3-15 Lusmagh 1-8 (2006 round 2)
Last 5 meetings:- Birr 4, Lusmagh 1.

The second Sunday in August and already a ‘must win’ for both sides as defeat would leave either side out of the race for Robbins unless Drumcullen can win either of their matches.

Birr looked like they’d rather be elsewhere during their first round tie with Tullamore and there are still conflicting reports as to who will wear the Bainisteoir’s bib. Doubts, too, over Brian Whelahan’s participation- his presence is vital to their hopes. Paul Cleary missed that defeat to Tullamore with his hand injury and his return will give rise to an interesting selection choice. Will he return to centre half back leaving Niall Claffey at full back or will Cleary man the edge of the Birr square? While Claffey looked at home at full back Cleary was never comfortable in the centre back berth.

Lusmagh are full of grand hurlers who don’t translate the abundance of skill they possess into scores on the board. They’ve a good defence where David Moran will be aided by Kevin and Brian Berminghan and Ger Gardiner and Eoin Kelly is a good goalkeeper. A lack of sharpness cost them dearly against Drumcullen where they only hurled in patches. They scored a good win over ’Rynagh’s last year but that was on the back of a hard-fought win over Shamrocks which brought them on a ton. This time they don’t have that.

Much depends on Birr’s attitude – if they’re up for it they’ll be unstoppable but if Lusmagh can stay with them the belief will gather pace, as it did with Tullamore. Still, Birr’s need looks to be greater and should see them through.

Seir Kieran v Belmont
Last meeting:- Seir Kieran 5-17 Belmont 0-4 (1997 round 3)
Last 5 meetings:- Seir Kieran won all 5.

This game will be eagerly awaited for the anticipated clash of David Kenny and Joseph Bergin presuming they line out at centre half back and centre half forward respectively. They’ll know each other well having marked each other many times this summer at county training, and playing such a big part in the other’s improvement and each team will need their star hurler making a big impact if they are to hope to win.

The outcome of the clash of styles will decide this. Clareen will play with a rigid six backs and six forwards; Belmont will look to keep moving making space for the Egans up front. Belmont are hampered as always by a lack of pace in defence though Clareen may not have the legs to exploit this.

It’s always hard to know with such a clash in styles, but Belmont’s record against the hurling clubs from the south of the county is not good. Clareen at a guess.

Kinnitty v Shinrone
Last meeting:- Kinnitty 0-13 Shinrone 0-10 (2007 round 2)
Last 5 meetings:- Kinnitty 4 Shinrone 1.
There have been three close encounters between these two in the last three years with Kinnitty winning all three. They’ve improved alot since their last meeting though, coming within a whisker of reaching the final last year. Their defence has a better look with James Rigney at 6 while James Dempsey now established in goal will offer agility around the square. Up front they’ve a good mix of style and grunt which should see them accumulate enough scores to see them through.

If Kinnitty do have an Achilles heel it’s in the air and Shinrone, with Derek Morkan and Daniel Hoctor in the diamond area may just have the artillery to exploit that.

With a win over Belmont under their belts Shinrone have a good chance of progressing but they’re probably at the same level as last year while Kinnitty have moved on. Kinnitty to win.

[Plain of the Herbs]

If ever a final scoreline was misleading this was it. Tullamore held a slender 0-13 to 0-9 lead on the three quarter mark when Harry Ryan was dismissed for a second yellow.

Minutes later, Shane Dooley blasted a good goal from 20 metres and the floodgates opened after that. Dooley scored his second goal on the call of time when he pulled right handed on a ground ball and fired past Shane Guinan.

Tullamore led 11 – 6 at half time but Drumcullen could have been closer had Ray Gath pulled first time four yards out instead of effecting a roll-lift, and the chance was lost.

It was a good match played at a good championship intensity throughout, with some good scores taken by both sides and some good hurling throughout the field.

Tullamore will now be hotly fancied to top the group and will prove a difficult team for any of the championship contenders to face.


I see on the County board site Belmont beat Clareen 1-19 to 1-13 in the other match played tonight. Interesting times we live in!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Kinnitty had an emphatic win over Shinrone at Banagher last night. They were already well in control nearing half time when Fergal Kealey’s two well taken goals gave them a 2-9 to 0-4 half time lead.

Shinrone were very poor and will get it hard enough to beat Clareen next time out though a win there would put them into the quarter finals.

James Rigney gave the best individual display of the championship so far. The Kinnitty centre half back gave an outstanding display, getting to the ball first no matter where it went, reminiscent of Brian Whelahan in his pomp.

Up front Stephen Molloy was always at the centre of things, always up in support of teammates and getting into scoring positions using his body swerve to good effect ho hit ofur points from play. Odhran Kealey hit two good points in the first half, but was quiet in the second half until he hit three points the exact same way in a five minute spell late on.

With a final round against Belmont to come, Kinnitty are now strong favourites to top their group.

At this stage the quarter finals look to be best avoided as they will likely contain Birr, Kilcormac or ’Rynagh’s, and one of Coolderry, Tullamore or Kinnitty. Of course that could all change this evening . . . or in a fortnight!


Kilcormac/Killoughey 2-12 Shamrocks 0-8.

In the first match yesterday evening Kilcormac overcame Shamrocks 2-12 to 0-8 in one of the worst hurling matches I have ever seen. Derek Molloy’s 40th minute free was the only score of the second half until Peter Healion’s goal 57th minute goal. Healion scored another goal a minute later to seal a 2-12 to 0-8 win but Kilcormac looked anything but championship contenders, even allowing for the conditions.

Despite the heavy rain the Banagher pitch held up very well throughout the two matches.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Coolderry gave a dazzling display of forward play in the first half to take a 2-12 to 0-1 lead to the dressing room at half time. ’Rynagh’s only score of the half didn’t come until just before the break.

’Rynagh’s scored two quick goals at the start of the second half and a comeback looked on but they were unable to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Coolderry found it difficult to get into scoring positions in that second half but they were never in any danger.

Coolderry are safely through and ’Rynagh’s now face Kilcormac in an eliminator next time out. Hard to know what to make of that – neither impressed at the weekend.


Birr 2-21 Lusmagh 2-7

It wasn’t that Birr gave a dazzling display; they didn’t, they just tipped away doing the simple Birr things which usually led to scored. Adrian Lynch’s well taken goal gave the Reds a good start but Birr weren’t long reeling them in. Birr led 1-7 to 1-5 at half time having faced the wind and Gary Hanniffy finished the match with nine points from play.