Hurling Championship 2017

Started by seafoid, May 19, 2017, 10:02:07 AM

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Lone Shark

Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on May 23, 2017, 02:31:41 PM
Should be a right good game in Mullingar on Sunday. This article has been well circulated in the midlands and should ensure it is feisty enough.

http://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport/251139/the-sideline-mouthpiece-if-we-can-t-beat-westmeath-we-may-as-well-give-up-hurling.html

It'll be a long aul winter in the King's county if Westmeath do the double over them for the second year in a row...

It takes some doing to cram so much ignorance, sabotage and cowardice into the one piece. No surprise that the writer is staying anonymous for that one.

I remember being very sorry that the Express hit the wall a few years back - it was a nice read, staffed by some very good people. Clearly they've all long departed the scene. 

manfromdelmonte

Thanks for sharing

Didn't realise Offaly people still had their county up on a pedestal like that

Lone Shark

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on May 23, 2017, 05:12:07 PM
Thanks for sharing

Didn't realise Offaly people still had their county up on a pedestal like that

Offaly people don't. We've suffered enough hardships since the turn of the millenium to know better.

One cowardly moron does not speak for the rest of us.

Avondhu star

There are good sound hurling people in both Offaly and Westmeath who would have no time for that type of shite. Neither county has a big population and is fairly evenly split between football and hurling. Its amazing that Offaly achieved what they did in the 80s and 90s. I recall one game where they were down 9 points against Kilkenny, came back to draw and won the replay by 9
Lee Harvey Oswald , your country needs you

manfromdelmonte

Quote from: Avondhu star on May 24, 2017, 12:37:49 PM
There are good sound hurling people in both Offaly and Westmeath who would have no time for that type of shite. Neither county has a big population and is fairly evenly split between football and hurling. Its amazing that Offaly achieved what they did in the 80s and 90s. I recall one game where they were down 9 points against Kilkenny, came back to draw and won the replay by 9
its two thirds football in westmeath I'd say
only 15 adult hurling clubs

shark

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on May 24, 2017, 08:48:05 PM
Quote from: Avondhu star on May 24, 2017, 12:37:49 PM
There are good sound hurling people in both Offaly and Westmeath who would have no time for that type of shite. Neither county has a big population and is fairly evenly split between football and hurling. Its amazing that Offaly achieved what they did in the 80s and 90s. I recall one game where they were down 9 points against Kilkenny, came back to draw and won the replay by 9
its two thirds football in westmeath I'd say
only 15 adult hurling clubs

True. Geographically it's close to 50/50, but the hurling areas are more sparsely populated. Plus roughly 1/3 of the population lives in Athlone area where hurling is almost non existent.

Avondhu star

#36
Quote from: shark on May 24, 2017, 10:05:37 PM
Quote from: manfromdelmonte on May 24, 2017, 08:48:05 PM
Quote from: Avondhu star on May 24, 2017, 12:37:49 PM
There are good sound hurling people in both Offaly and Westmeath who would have no time for that type of shite. Neither county has a big population and is fairly evenly split between football and hurling. Its amazing that Offaly achieved what they did in the 80s and 90s. I recall one game where they were down 9 points against Kilkenny, came back to draw and won the replay by 9
its two thirds football in westmeath I'd say
only 15 adult hurling clubs

True. Geographically it's close to 50/50, but the hurling areas are more sparsely populated. Plus roughly 1/3 of the population lives in Athlone area where hurling is almost non existent.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the strength of clubs in both counties. There is a good core of hurling there and you wonder what would it need to bring them on. What areclubs in big towns like Athlone Mulligar Tullamore doing to promote hurling
Lee Harvey Oswald , your country needs you

AZOffaly

Athlone is a wasteland for hurling. I think Southern Gaels might be the only hurling club in that end of the county.

Tullamore would be decent. They won the senior championship a few years ago and provided Kevin Martin and Shane Dooley to Offaly. More of a football club but probably the most northern serious hurling club.

manfromdelmonte

Quote from: AZOffaly on May 25, 2017, 12:28:14 AM
Athlone is a wasteland for hurling. I think Southern Gaels might be the only hurling club in that end of the county.

Tullamore would be decent. They won the senior championship a few years ago and provided Kevin Martin and Shane Dooley to Offaly. More of a football club but probably the most northern serious hurling club.
wha?
Ballinamere/Durrow?

the population of Westmeath is quite urban - Mullingar, Athlone two large towns with two weak hurling clubs, Moate, Kinnegad with no hurling clubs


AZOffaly

Ballinamere would be more the Clara side of Tullamore but I'll give you the Durrow end of the combo. But you know what I meant. Once you clear Tullamore you have places like Cappincur Daingean Edenderry, Rhode, Ballyfore, Ballycommon , Walsh Island etc. Hurling definitely a poor secondin those places.

shark

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on May 25, 2017, 07:53:29 AM
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 25, 2017, 12:28:14 AM
Athlone is a wasteland for hurling. I think Southern Gaels might be the only hurling club in that end of the county.

Tullamore would be decent. They won the senior championship a few years ago and provided Kevin Martin and Shane Dooley to Offaly. More of a football club but probably the most northern serious hurling club.
wha?
Ballinamere/Durrow?

the population of Westmeath is quite urban - Mullingar, Athlone two large towns with two weak hurling clubs, Moate, Kinnegad with no hurling clubs

Only 1 club in Mullingar town and they aren't terribly strong (although made county senior final in 2013) but have provided plenty of good players to the county senior team in the past 20 years. Same can't be said of Athlone.  There are a few clubs just outside Mullingar and one in particular makes plenty of use of the lack of a parish rule. So Mullingar as a whole doesn't do too badly from a hurling perspective. But with 4 football clubs (2 in town, 2 just outside) it is always the no.1 game.
Kinnegad has no club but plenty of lads from there play with Raharney, including the centre back on last nights u21 team. Moate, like the rest of that part of the county has never had any hurling tradition.

AZOffaly

Actually that Corner of Westmeath and Offaly would be fairly bereft of hurling. It's amazing the way it transitions. If you go from Ferbane into Ballycumber, Doon, Pullagh, Tubber, Shannonbridge there is very little hurling. Ferbane is an outpost with the Belmont club, and most of the others used to hurl with clubs like Belmont or Rynaghs. John Ryan played football with Shannonbridge and hurled with Rynaghs and played with Offaly in both. There is a couple of new amalgamations springing up to help with that. Then the west/south of Ferbane/Belmont sees the hurling really take off with Rynaghs, Birr, Kilcormac, and all the south Offaly clubs. North of Ferbane and Doon is into Westmeath, and that's the Moates, Mount Temples, Castledaly, Athlone.

A heatmap of hurling I think would be a fascinating subject, at County and Intercounty. It's in multiple pockets but is contained, and then dissipates as the football takes over.

East Galway, West/South Offaly, North Tipp, East Clare is one massive pocket. East/North Westmeath into north Meath. The Glens of Antrim and the Ards Peninsula, North Kerry, North Cork, bordering Limerick, where ironically the West of Limerick would be a football stronghold as it borders North Kerry. The south east with Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford and Mid/South Tipp. (Although South Tipp would be the strongest Football area of Tipp, you still have Mullinahone, Killenaule etc).

redsetanta

You could almost split Laois down the centre with Portlaoise in the middle. East of Portlaoise would almost be exclusively football and west would be hurling. Obviously there would be some clubs around the middle who are both hurling and football but for most the split holds. The hurling area of Laois borders North Tipp/South Offaly.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

Owenmoresider

Quote from: AZOffaly on May 25, 2017, 10:49:45 AM
Actually that Corner of Westmeath and Offaly would be fairly bereft of hurling. It's amazing the way it transitions. If you go from Ferbane into Ballycumber, Doon, Pullagh, Tubber, Shannonbridge there is very little hurling. Ferbane is an outpost with the Belmont club, and most of the others used to hurl with clubs like Belmont or Rynaghs. John Ryan played football with Shannonbridge and hurled with Rynaghs and played with Offaly in both. There is a couple of new amalgamations springing up to help with that. Then the west/south of Ferbane/Belmont sees the hurling really take off with Rynaghs, Birr, Kilcormac, and all the south Offaly clubs. North of Ferbane and Doon is into Westmeath, and that's the Moates, Mount Temples, Castledaly, Athlone.

A heatmap of hurling I think would be a fascinating subject, at County and Intercounty. It's in multiple pockets but is contained, and then dissipates as the football takes over.

East Galway, West/South Offaly, North Tipp, East Clare is one massive pocket. East/North Westmeath into north Meath. The Glens of Antrim and the Ards Peninsula, North Kerry, North Cork, bordering Limerick, where ironically the West of Limerick would be a football stronghold as it borders North Kerry. The south east with Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford and Mid/South Tipp. (Although South Tipp would be the strongest Football area of Tipp, you still have Mullinahone, Killenaule etc).
South Carlow too, MLR and St Mullin's from that end of the county anyway, but then that's bordered by Kilkenny and Wexford so no real surprise. You can almost divide Laois along a line going from Mountmellick southwards, with the east of that dominated by hurling, Portlaoise crossing over both, and the west pretty much all football. Wicklow's hurling would be mainly south of the county too with the odd outpost in Glenealy and Bray. Roscommon's hurling area stretches along the Galway border, only Roscommon Gaels and Dominic's not in that area but not really that far away either, it's non-existent north of Oran. East Cork would be dominated by hurling too? Mullinahone and Killenaule are close enough to Kilkenny whereas the further across into South Tipp you go the stronger football gets, Carrick on the Waterford border being hurling dominated too.

Farrandeelin

It's a wonder how Ros hurling has slipped 'below' Mayo in the pecking order in Connacht. Ros, as Owenmore says has a hurling hinterland, whereas Mayo has only 2 clubs that are any good.
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