Club Hurling

Started by BallyroanAbbey, April 16, 2017, 11:40:37 AM

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The Rover

maybe Liam Delaney Abbeyleix could be a future prospect.

redsetanta

Was he minor last year?
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

The Rover

not 100% sure about last year but he was the year before.

merman

Delaney was a minor 2 years ago. Was with the 21s last year.
Definitely worth a look.

With 2 Gaels teams in the Senior A Final, where does that leave us with who goes forward to Leinster?

Don Draper

Quote from: merman on September 12, 2017, 07:46:43 AM
With 2 Gaels teams in the Senior A Final, where does that leave us with who goes forward to Leinster?
A play off between The Harps and Rosenallis I'd presume.

redsetanta

Presuming they both want to play in the competition!
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

Don Draper

Quote from: redsetanta on September 12, 2017, 09:26:31 AM
Presuming they both want to play in the competition!
The prize is not playing in it. Loser goes forward for their sins.

merman

I'm going to give Camross and Ballyfin Gaels hesitant nods for this weekend.

Camross really should beat CB. They have the cohesion and strength to grind teams down and I don't see them conceding more than 12-15 scores. Their forwards haven't exactly clicked this year in the championship but the hope is that if even 2/3 can contribute a little extra then Keenan will provide the rest. I'd also expect Dwane Palmer to start at full-forward and he's had reward there before in big games. The only fear I would have for Camross is the weight of expectation; nothing short of a Championship would have been deemed acceptable from the minute they started out this year. They've claimed Palmer and Brady Cups but they will count for nothing should they be denied on Sunday.
For CB, they deserve credit for resurrecting their year. I'd give them a chance as they have the experience and quality that demands respect. The concern is what will happen if Camross shackle Hyland and impose their game onto the CB forwards and midfield. If CB can hurl their game, can play to their strengths and if their forwards deliver, then they might just pull through. Their return of 3 titles in the last 8 years is a decent return; 4 in 9 would be huge, I'd imagine this would be the sweetest after the way they were wrote off by many this year, myself included.

Ultimately, I feel the loss of Picky is huge; perhaps insurmountable. I think Camross have that bit between their teeth and there is a steely focus about them all year, even up to this media-ban.
I don't think it will be a shootout like last year's Final and I'm siding with Camross to complete the treble.
CB 0.12 - 0.16 Camross

Ballyfin Gaels sauntered through Div 2 of the league and will be buoyed by the Mountmellick lads who have had a great year themselves. They are athletic and powerful and Fintan Deegan has proved himself an astute coach. I like Finn at centre-back and the likes of Eanna Lyons, Gareth Dunphy and George Lanham should all register from play.
For Colt Gaels, they've been boosted by the Clonad lads and having Garoid Parkinson fully involved this year has re-energised their midfield. Colt performed well on their own in Div 1B and they'll be quietly confident that they have come in nicely under the radar here. The farce of Clonad hurling less than 24 hours earlier will do them no favours, however, and I don't know if they'll be able to hold the Ballyfin forwards.

I'm going to give Ballyfin Gaels the edge here; 2.12 - 1.10


Keyser Söze

Ok, big day of hurling tomorrow. In both games, all known form and results to date point to an obvious winner. Will it pan out that way?

Senior Final
Camross are what they are, a combination that adds up to more than the sum of their parts is the general consensus. But that would not be giving them the credit they deserve. From 1-15, and beyond, they have hurlers. Most of them laden down with medals from underage right up to Senior. All of them can hurl. All of them work hard and all of them always seem to know what is expected of them each time they are on the ball. They are the best prepared club team I have ever seen in Laois.
It is the small things. Watch their defence tomorrow. 2 of them are expected to use physicality and mop up ball, before handing it off, another two are expected to hurl slightly loose, trusted to read the game and act as outlets for the two above. Gearoid Burke commands the centre and performs all sorts of roles. Joe Phelan is almost a "utility player" and will hurl at corner back, full back and possibly wing back tomorrow.
There is no luck attached to the wins they have had over the past 5 years. They are ferocious, and more importantly, methodical.
They deserve the breaks they get.
Both midfielders were excellent the last day. Again, playing to a very defined role. One whose job it was to win possession, carry through tackles and lay it off. The other played a "trequartista" role- "do as you please, but do it well!". That man needs no introduction.
They have a scoring threat as I outlined before the semi final (scroll up!). Palmer is a "new" addition to this scoring threat. Lively and skillful. Takes serious watching.

Clough Ballacolla are a bit of an enigma. No team that loses by 21 points mid season should get within an asses roar of a county final, let alone win one. Never mind a team who manages to lose twice by that margin. They should be a write off. They were always going to hurl well against Rathdowney Errill, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get the credit they deserve for doing so.
They were always going to beat Abbeyleix, but again they went and did it.
I would have concerns over the mobility of 2 of their starting 6 backs and also another they may need to bring on in defence. From midfield up mobility isn't an issue. What Hanlon and Coonan no longer have in speed they cover for with cleverness.
I think Tom Delaney should be on the half back line. This would make Clough Ballacolla a much stronger unit as far as I am concerned.
The two losses will act as serious motivators for Clough Ballacolla, as will the sight of the finish line looming in the horizon for many that take the field tomorrow- There are 5/6 guys starting tomorrow who you would be hard pressed to GUARANTEE another final appearance to (by my reckoning only Damien Keenan fits that bill for Camross). The aforementioned mobility at the back could be exposed tomorrow.
Midfield will hold their own.
Up front Ballacolla have scorers. I tipped Ballacolla to win in 2015 (here or on laoistalk) because of their greater spread of potential scorers. They don't necessarily have an advantage over Camross in this department anymore, but they still have scorers.
Like the semi final I can see Hyland delivering big time tomorrow. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The brief sojourn at centre back may have inadvertently helped strum up a freshness and desire for hurling on the half forward line. Him keeping Gearoid Burke busy could open up gaps elsewhere for tap over points. Burke does a huge amount of covering across the back line.

Doran v Hanlon
Phelan, Phelan & Burke v Delaney, Maher & Doyle
McEvoy, Cleere & Broderick v Keenan, Dooley & Burke
Keenan & Duggan v Delaney & Corby.
Collier, Collier & Delaney v Hyland, Phelan & Coonan
Palmer, Dowling & Holmes v Dunphy, Bergin & Hanlon

It should be Camross. But when you look at the possible lines above. Neither team stands out as particularly superior to the other.
It may come down to decisions made on the line.
When I look at Camross on the line I see decisiveness, aggression and methodical planning. A dictatorship at times too!
When I look at Clough Ballacolla I don't see the above. There is often an air of "too many chiefs......".

There is another aspect to this. The idea that "Camross always hurl in finals". Not true. They were terrible in '14, not hectic in '15 and even when they won in '13, Borris Kilcotton froze on the day. I am not buying that "Camross hurl in finals". I also don't agree with Merman's comment above that nothing short of a championship win would have been deemed acceptable out of this year. They are not that outstanding. I don't believe Camross people think they are either.

I am finding it tough to call this. I think Clough Ballacolla will take it right to the wire. Will they cross the line?
To contradict alot of what I said above, yes, I think they will. Clough Ballacolla to take it by about 5 points in a mild surprise.

SENIOR 'A' FINAL
I am not going to go into the detail I did above, but Ballyfin Gaels are favourites, and will win this as far as I am concerned. They are a year and a half on the go and have performed in every single championship match they have played. That has included games vs The Harps, Rosenallis and Castletown. Despite how the semi final result panned out, I rate all three of those above Colt Gaels.
Ballyfin were very close to winning this final last year. To come back this year and beat a team like The Harps in such a methodical way in the semi final is testament to both their ability and to the clever way they set up. They will play a sweeper, two if you want them to. They will soak up pressure and carry the ball out.
Finn, Hartnett, Lowry, Bermingham, Dunphy and Lyons will all score form play. Colt Gaels won't match this.

U17 Final
Three points of importance here.
1) Castletown Slieve Bloom have a large number of the team that lost to Camross in the minor final available to play at this age grade.
2) Underage hurling in Camross will have received a huge boost with the minor win. The lads that played in that final will be full of confidence tomorrow.
3) Camross "Gaels" must be a huge area to pick from? Difficult to know how much stronger Mountmellick, Ballyfin and Emo will make them.
A bit of a shot in the dark, but I will go with Castletown Slieve Bloom to be hurt enough from the minor final to take a win here.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

Keyser Söze

Quote from: Ogie on September 24, 2017, 02:30:06 AM
Camross carry on with the same shit, the inbred bullshite that only they believe in, the 'dark arts' of abuse & stopping free flowing hurling, abuse people on the line & from behind the goal, get ahead & then stop the game every chance you get, led by an old school leader on the line that they believe in,  BK fell for it, Clough Ballacolla won't, I'm no Clough Ballacolla fan but for Laois hurling we should be damning those Camross antics & hoping hurling wins out, Clough Ballacolla havegeexperience & quality

Rule 101- Don't post when drunk!
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

oneflewoverthecuckoonest

a couple of hours to the action and the signs are for a dry afternoon.

I think the senior b will be a very tight affair and it could come down to the better conversion rate from frees.  Personally I am against "gales amalgams" functioning outside the highest club grade, and todays final is a slap in the face for those single entity clubs operating at "b" level.  Ballyfin to scrape it.


The 2016 A championship was a vintage version with a memorable drawn final.  I think the standard of fare in 2017 has taken a mighty dip and the two relatively lifeless semi finals continued a low standard championship.  Not one team at Senior A level has an unbeaten record in the championship. If you were to delete the Camross-Abbeyleix game from memory, then the black and amber would be strong favourites, that defeat hinted that as others say they are a functioning sum of the parts.
Clough Ballacolla needed to peak to beat Rathdowney and they went through the motions against Abbeyleix once they started strongly against the breeze, the second half of that game was almost like a tame challenge game. I do fear the legs may be gone on some of the C/B veterans, today may tell.

My overall read on Camross is that they are akin to Tyrone in football...very functional, programmed and a cornerstone of their game plan is to establish a lead and thereafter control the game...........if they lead early I suspect they will win in a workmanlike fashion, similar to the Borris semi.

The fly in the ointment would be C/B flying out of the traps and getting a lead, then just as we saw with Camross v Abbeyleix(or Dublin-Tyrone), the "program" then stutters, and C/B could well hold on.
Whoever  is in front by 2 or 3 points in the first 15 minutes is likely to win....could we have another draw in 2017?

blueandwhite1

Congrats to Camross. They beat Rathdowney Errill, B/K and C/B in the same year and ground it out today. Were out of the game for long periods and very wasteful but overall were the best team in 2017. 4 champions in as many years. Can't be bad for Laois hurling especially given that Abbeyleix and Castletown are improving. Standard was pretty poor today and both teams played much more poorly than they are capable of. Exciting finish though. Zane stood up in the end when it mattered after a poor game by his standards.

redsetanta

Now that they're champions maybe they'll do a bit more for the county.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

BallyroanAbu

Quote from: blueandwhite1 on September 24, 2017, 10:08:47 PM
Congrats to Camross. They beat Rathdowney Errill, B/K and C/B in the same year and ground it out today. Were out of the game for long periods and very wasteful but overall were the best team in 2017. 4 champions in as many years. Can't be bad for Laois hurling especially given that Abbeyleix and Castletown are improving. Standard was pretty poor today and both teams played much more poorly than they are capable of. Exciting finish though. Zane stood up in the end when it mattered after a poor game by his standards.

I would think quite the opposite that 4 champions in as many years, implies that there is no outstanding team.

burdizzo

Maybe, maybe not...
While it may not have been the best final ever, it was pure gold compared to what went before. Ballyfin had it won, but completely went to sleep in the second half. Both sides were overly reliant on frees and both missed gaping goal chances. God knows how Ballyfin will make the step up to senior proper, but good luck to them.
In a way, the it seemed like the better team lost the senior. However, Camross had the better spread of scorers, and got the goals at the right time, and for more than that you can't ask. Hope they do well in Leinster, though it seems a long way away.
Thought Stapleton was very fussy in the first half, but for a time in the second let practically everything go! But it was enjoyable, overall.