Senior Hurling Club Championship 2015

[G@@]

Abbeyleix beat Castletown by a point while Clough-Ballacolla had 7pts to spare over The Harps. So, it's a Castletown V Harps relegation final on Saturday 29th August, presumably in O'Moore Park. Ryan Mullaney is out for that game I believe, so it might even things up a bit for The Harps who appear to be riddled with emigration over the past few years.

[merman]

Results from the weekend

Abbeyleix 0.19 - 2.12 Castletown

CB 0.18 - 0.11 The Harps

Camross 2.16 - 0.13 Ballinakill

Borris/Kilcotton 1.15 - 1.15 Rathdowney/Errill

Decent start to the weekend with Castletown and Abbeyleix serving up some lively fare; very tense and competitive but Abbeyleix will need much more in the quarter-final. They don't carry a huge threat in their forward line and rely heavily on scores from frees and long-range points; if the radar is anyway off then they are in big trouble. I thought Ryan Mullaney was superb for Castletown and he would be a huge loss if he's missing for the relegation decider.

The CB-Harps game was extremely disappointing. CB won in 2nd gear and apart from a 10 minute nap at the start of the second period always looked in control. The introductions of Picky Maher and Stephen Bergin were a major shot in the arm and both might be needed from the start next time out. That level of performance won't be enough against RE or BK. I'd be extremely worried for The Harps....

I enjoyed the Camross-Ballinakill game and the score line doesn't accurately reflect on what was a close game for long periods. Camross were wasteful at times but you always felt they would have the nous to grind out the win eventually. Ominously, they are in a semi-final with 4 weeks to prepare and will fear no one. Ballinakill shouldn't be too deflated and will quite rightly fancy their chances against CB or Abbeyleix.

RE and BK was billed as the game of the weekend and although tight and tense, it never really caught fire for me. BK will be devastated and though I would still have them as major championship contenders, I think this was a huge set-back. RE, for their part, will feel that Paddy Purcell and Ross King coming back in for the replay should see them through and again, 4 weeks training is probably what they need rather than a quarter-final.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was the County Final pairing.

Replay is Thursday at 7:30 in OMP.

My rankings as of right now;
RE
Camross
BK
CB
Bkill
Aleix
Castletown
Harps

[finbar o tool]

wasn't at the games Saturday night but from what i hear, Mermans account sounds fairly accurate.
i did make the games last night though and over all it wasn't great. the first game did have a bit of urgency about it but the hurling itself wasn't great. there was a period in the 2nd half of about 15 minutes and id say there was 15 wides in a row. if Ballinakill dont figure out where the goal posts are they could be in trouble no matter who they meet. seamus dwyer wasted a lot of ball from midfield. Camross were as bad for a while but the last 10/15 minutes they caught fire and finished strong. Aaron Moore was very lively when he came in. Zane was strangely very bad on the frees too.

the 2nd game was fairly lively but again, not great hurling. i was probably on a high after watching Galway beat Tipp and expected more but there was a lot of ball wasted from both sides and BK relying on Scully and RE relying on Kavanagh from placed balls.
RE got lucky with the goal but they looked like they were closing the gap that was there at the time anyway. kavanagh is lovely to watch and will only get better.
John Purcell and Ryan got on a lot of ball for RE Joe Fitz cleared a lot of ball.  how BK left Foyle on him ill never know. he should have been switched somewhere or out on the sideline.
cant see BK going much further. i said it before and ill say it again, they are lacking some things badly. cohesion, guts, and ruthlessness around the big square at the shooting end. they could have had 3 or 4 goals easy but made a shite of them. either over passing or under passing. cant seem to get the best out of their players like foyle, joe campion, young stapleton, paddy whelan.
RE left smiling anyway, and i heard that king and purcell WONT be back in time, that they are staying in the states for another couple of weeks but Dowling will be back. with or without them they will have enough to get over BK the next day IMO.

[redsetanta]

From reading the reports here it sounds like it's R/E or Camross again this year.

[Ogie]

Borris Kilcotton will beat Rathdowney Errill Thursday night

[Uisce]

Borris Kilcotton will beat Rathdowney Errill Thursday night

What will be the lotto numbers be tomorrow night? 

[Keyser Söze]

1. Borris Kilcotton took a huge set back failing to beat an badly understrenght Rathdowney Errill.

2. Camross are ticking along BUT I do not think they have the overall quality. In 2013 they won a surprise county final. The general public (and I think opposition teams) underestimated them time and again. This surprise factor is gone. I don't see them winning a final. But on the other hand who will beat them.

3. Rathdowney Errill, tipping along. Sunday was a quiet boost to the club in general. A win the next day and they would most likely avoid B/K in a semi final. With Camross on the opposite side they wouldn't be beaten in a semi final.

4. Clough Ballacolla are (IMO) a team in a bit of a crisis, and I'm not sure they realise it. The Harps were beaten before the game began the other day. Many of their bigger players play as total individuals. There is no sign of it being addressed?

5. Ballinakill did not look like they believed they could beat Camross. They will be glad they are not in a relegation battle and I'd imagine the belief and desire for 2015 is on the wane. One more day out and will probably put up a decent showing.

6. Abbeyleix have been a little overhyped over the past 12 months. I reckon Ballinakill would love a crack at them.

7-8 Castletown and The Harps.
Castletown just aren't good enough right now, but have some potential. 7/8 of their starting 15 are young players with the potential to be very good hurlers. When is the question. 
The Harps, while not an old team, haven't added anybody near the calibre of John Brophy, Conor Dunne or Brian Dunne in a long time.
I have no idea which team will go down. Will the SHC be any the worse for their absence? No. Wiil they sleepwalk through the SHC A next year? Yes.

The 8 team championship has many benefits, but not for Ballyfin, Colt, Clonaslee, Shanahoe, Rosenallis and Mountrath. Realistically when will any of those teams ever make it back into the top 8? Portlaoise will not be beaten this year. Castletown or The Harps will not be beaten next year.

[burdizzo]

Should probably be a 10 team championship, as the 'B' is too weak for the team going down, and it gives nobody in the 'B' the chance to get up and taste life at senior 'proper'. Or even for a new amalgamation?

[SCFC]

To be fair though Ballinakill won the senior b last year and look like staying up.
It's up to the likes of Mountrath and Ballyfin and Clonaslee to get to the next level and beat the team relegated from senior.

[Keyser Söze]

Yes, but Ballinakill going down the previous year was a major surprise. And as stated above re this year and next years championship, they were never going to be beaten last year.

The 8 Senior teams in 2015 plus Portlaoise are on a different level to the rest.
8 out of this 9 will make up the Senior championship and the other will win the Senior B for the next ten years.

[Jimmy P]

I'm not so sure about that. Portlaoise ableit convincing against Ballyfin the other night should have been beaten by Rosenallis in the 1st round and are not completely above Ballyfin or the other top teams in the senior B quality wise.

The major advantage the relegated teams have is huge amounts of senior experience which cannot be trained. Look how well Abbeyleix have done since they were promoted in '13. The sort of experience they have garnered over the past two years is invaluable. Ballyfin,Colt Mounthrath et al are crying out for that sort of hurling and a 10 team championship may be an idea. However I do also agree that the aforementioned all need to make big improvements to be deemed as a senior team.

[Uisce]

Hard to know how to deal with this issue. I'm sure the SeniorA was introduced as there was an evident gulf in class between senior and intermediate teams and teams were going up and down. I agree that 8 teams is very few in a senior championship. The best way for teams like Colt and Rosenallis to improve is to expose them to senior hurling. Obviously that could go one way or the other, these teams could take a hammering and that would help nobody but the possibility of taking a scalp should be enough motivation to improve.

I really think the CB should look to increase the number of teams from 8 anyway. I suppose it depends on teams, would they prefer to be fighting to stay in the senior division or winning seniorA? I know its not the same thing but it is comparable to Laois in a way.. First aim is to remain in the Liam McCarthy, then see what happens after that.

[Keyser Söze]

Good points Uisce.


BUT as I stated earlier the current Top 9 are going to remain as the teams that make up the SHC participants and the SHC 'A' (when was this rebranded?) winner for many years to come.

Only possible alternative is if SHC 'A' favourites slip up badly in the semi finals some year. An earlier slip up under the current structure would do nothing but guarantee they regrouped and won the championship.

[finbar o tool]

Good points Uisce.


BUT as I stated earlier the current Top 9 are going to remain as the teams that make up the SHC participants and the SHC 'A' (when was this rebranded?) winner for many years to come.

Only possible alternative is if SHC 'A' favourites slip up badly in the semi finals some year. An earlier slip up under the current structure would do nothing but guarantee they regrouped and won the championship.

agree with this, and also agree the senior A teams need to up their game big time. the few matches ive seen this year from this grade have been very poor, you would think you were looking at junior A sometimes.
i think there should be more tournaments for adult teams to enter like there was back in the day. that would give the likes of Ballyfin/Colt/Clonaslee a chance at good hard games of a higher grade and be up against teams from other counties.

[finbar o tool]

Rumour has it Purcell is back in town for tonight's game.

R/E to win it by 2pts.