ONE of the most important games of the year will take place in the Senior Hurling Championship next Saturday when St Rynagh’s and Kilcormac-Killoughey clash in Birr.
A defeat will knock St Rynagh’s out of contention for a knockout place and that will be very strange territory for one of Offaly’s great hurling clubs, and a dominant force until very recently.
With two rounds completed, St Rynagh’s difficulty is the big news so far from what is a very good championship.
The top team in each group qualifies for the semi-finals with the next two in two quarter-finals. In group 1, Coolderry are heading towards a quarter-final at least with four points from their two games. Birr have two points from one game, Ballinamere have two from two, Tullamore have none from one and Seir Kieran are pointless with two played.
Shinrone and Belmont have made flying starts in group 2. Shinrone are top with four points from two games, Belmont have three from two, Kilcormac-Killoughey have one from one, St Rynagh’s are pointless after two and Kinnitty have none from one.
Group 1
Birr v Coolderry: Friday, August 8 in Shinrone at 7.15pm
The meeting of Birr and Coolderry is as interesting in its own way as St Rynagh’s and Kilcormac-Killoughey.
It is a game between two clubs with real title ambitions and they are working so hard to turn things around. Both have hit the ground running. Coolderry ambushed Ballinamere in the first round and just about did enough to beat Seir Kieran in the second round. Birr destroyed Seir Kieran in the first round,laying down a big marker of intent and they certainly looked good that day.
If we take the two Seir Kieran performances at face value, Birr will win this and deserve to be favourites but we have to more or less ignore those games. Seir Kieran were dreadful against Birr, way off the pace and were much better against Coolderry – and Coolderry’s win over Ballinamere showed how potent they can be when in the mood.
It is a big test for both sides. We sort of know what we will get from Coolderry, loads of fire and brimstone and a lot of very good hurling. We are less sure of Birr. They have a lot going for them, some quality hurlers and they do look to be moving in the right direction.
This game, however, is the litmus test for them, a real examination of character. Coolderry will be licking their lips all week in anticipation of meeting Birr and rattling into them. Eoghan Cahill shot the lights out against Seir Kieran for Birr but was given the freedom of the park. That definitely won’t happen here and the jury is still out on Birr – Coolderry will show what they are truly made of.
There is a strong case for going with Birr in this one and it is a real 50-50 game. No result will surprise. Just as we can’t read much into Birr’s first round win over Seir Kieran, we shouldn’t take Coolderry’s big victory over Ballinamere as overwhelming proof of anything special or that they are going to win a championship. Ballinamere were poor that day but Coolderry did show that they are made of stern stuff and will be as eager to beat Birr as they were Ballinamere. It will be very tight.
Verdict – Coolderry.
Seir Kieran v Tullamore: Friday, August 8 in Kinnitty at 7.30pm
If we take performances to date at purely face value, you would go with Tullamore to beat Seir Kieran on Friday evening but it is not that simple.
Seir Kieran did recover well from their first round defeat by Birr with a great battling display against Coolderry while Tullamore looked decent when losing to Ballinamere in their only game to date. Tullamore looked to have improved from last year and have a good bit of hurling work done. Most of their dual players are playing and Cormac Egan, Niall Furlong, Mike, Dan and Peter Fox, Niall Furlong, Jack Daly and Cillian Bourke are all very important to the hurlers – they only got Bourke back late in the day, throwing him in at the deep end to try and curb the influence of county full back Ciaran Burke, and he will get very effective with more hurling miles up.
This is an intriguing game. Despite Tullamore’s bright showing against Ballinamere and Seir Kieran going close against Coolderry, this group looks like progressing as predicted – with Coolderry, Ballinamere and Birr making the knockout stages and Seir Kieran and Tullamore trying to avoid the relegation play off.
This is the biggest game of the year for both of these clubs. A win will not only more than likely keep them out of the relegation play off but gives them an outside chance of a quarter-final – there is shocks in every championship and one of them could surprise a big gun.
Tullamore are slight favourites for this one and you would nearly expect them to win but it is a real banana skin for them. They haven’t beaten Seir Kieran in a senior hurling championship game in the modern era and while this history doesn’t really matter, it does come into the equation. On some level, it means that Seir Kieran will expect to win and Tullamore will have doubts. Seir Kieran have been swimming against the tide for some time now and the Birr game did suggest that they could run out of road at some stage and have to take a step back.
They will, however, fight for their top flight lives and there could be another kick in them here.
Verdict – Seir Kieran.
Group 2
Belmont v Kinnitty: Saturday, August 9 in Birr at 5.15pm
Kinnitty recorded a sensational first round win over Belmont last year in a game that defined the year for both sides. Belmont had won the Division 1 Hurling League and entered the championship with great confidence but Kinnitty broke their season and they were gone early.
It rejuvenated Kinnitty and while they fell just short of making the quarter-finals, it was their best season in a few years.
The goalposts have changed again and Belmont have turned things around spectacularly this year, drawing with Kilcormac-Killoughey and beating St Rynagh’s. They are going really well and while they remain outside the top three title favourites, they have very genuine aspirations. They will probably be without Patrick Taaffe for this one – Taaffe went off with a serious looking shoulder injury in Ferbane’s senior football loss to Rhode on Friday evening – but they are playing with real intent.
Kinnitty were well beaten by a flying Shinrone side in the first round and the nature of that performance suggests that they are in bother. This, however, is a very different game for them. Shinrone have a young side, full of running and they just didn’t suit Kinnitty. Belmont will be more to their liking, notwithstanding the assertion that the favourites have a considerably stronger side. It will be more of a physical battle and Kinnitty will be trying to make it a dogfight.
Belmont will have to be fully tuned in for this but last year’s defeat will have them on high alert. Belmont are capable of bad days at the office, these can always happen for them but the form book does suggest that they will win this with a few points to spare.
Verdict – Belmont.
Kilcormac-Killoughey v St Rynagh’s: Saturday, August 9 in Birr at 7pm
The best wine is kept to last in this week’s Senior Hurling Championship fixtures with Kilcormac-Killoughey and St Rynagh’s playing the last game in the round on Saturday evening in Birr.
There has been great rivalry between these clubs in recent years but K-K have marched forward in the past couple of years while St Rynagh’s have been gradually slipped back into the pack. They are now staring an early exit in the face and all the smart money will be on that happening on Saturday.
St Rynagh’s just had to beat or at least get a result against Shinrone and Belmont in the opening two rounds but defeats has left them on the most treacherous of icy ground. The stakes are very simple here for them: win or bust.
You never know and comparisons can be drawn between St Rynagh’s and Rhode in football. Rhode have a handful of players at the tailend of their careers and their legs are weakening. They were well beaten by Edenderry in the first round but turned it around spectacularly with a great win over Ferbane on Friday.
St Rynagh’s have that capacity. They have the same tradition, pride and fighting qualities as Rhode and there could be a mighty kick in them. Like Rhode, they are heading into a rebuilding phase, no matter what they say to the people who point this out, but they will still give it absolutely everything they have – and they have the players to produce a rabbit from the hat.
You would give St Rynagh’s a bigger chance if K-K hadn’t dropped a point against Belmont the first day. They need to get a win on the board to make sure of qualifying and they will show no mercy here. They also have players coming back. While Jordan Quinn is a doubt with a hamstring injury, Adam Screeney has returned to action, playing part of three games last week. Charlie Mitchell is home from America, in good shape, and K-K will be much stronger and more tuned in than they were for Belmont.
St Rynagh’s do have a chance but it will take some performance. The problem St Rynagh’s have is that a couple of their older players have gone over the hill and this creates an inevitable vacuum. Luke O’Connor is a big loss for them and they have a couple of very exciting, talented young players on the scene now but they have yet to make the transition from players who will have great spells or even brilliant games to ones who are leaders and will grab a difficult game by the scruff of the neck.
SEE NEXT: Camogie star flying the Offaly flag proudly in the county’s most infamous border hotland
That will happen for them in time but they are young at the moment and St Rynagh’s are not the force they were just a few years ago. K-K have a point to prove here and they will relish the opportunity of knocking St Rynagh’s out. In its own way, a defeat is as damaging for K-K as it is for St Rynagh’s, even if they could still go through with one. It does all point to K-K getting the win here.
Verdict – Kilcormac-Killoughey.
