Big games to look forward to in Round 2 of Offaly Senior Hurling Championship

ROUND 2 of the Molloy Enviromental Senior Hurling Championship will take place next Friday and Saturday and the most attractive fixture is the group 2 meeting of Ballinamere and Coolderry.

Having just lost to champions Shinrone in the first round, this is an absolutely crucial game for Coolderry while it is Ballinamere's first game – with a number of the Offaly senior and U-20 hurling panels in their ranks, Ballinamere have some of the best talent in Offaly but need to start making inroads in senior hurling fairly soon.

You would normally expect Coolderry to beat Ballinamere but there is nothing clearcut about this fixture and it will be very interesting to watch it all unfold.

Kilcormac-Killoughey also enter the championship fray and are hot favourites to beat Kinnitty on Thursday evening in group 1.

With two groups of five, there is plenty of hurling to be done yet and round 2 won't determine anything but the stakes are very big for the first round losers, Coolderry, Tullamore, Kinnitty and Seir Kieran. With three out of five teams qualifying for the knockout stages in each group, a second successive defeat will really damage a club's prospects.

In the other group 1 game, Birr play Tullamore on Friday. With Kilcormac-Killoughey and St Rynagh's in this group, Tullamore will have earmarked Birr as their best chance of beating one of the big three and making the quarter-finals but the odds are against them.

The other group 2 fixture sees champions Shinrone play Seir Kieran while St Rynagh's in group 1 and Belmont in group 2 have byes.

The games are:

Group 1

Kilcormac-Killoughey v Kinnitty: Thursday, July 20 in O'Connor Park 7.30pm

Kilcormac-Killoughey will play their first game after getting a bye in the first round. Kinnitty were beaten by Birr and all the money here will be on Kilcormac-Killoughey.

Verdict – Kilcormac-Killoughey.

Birr v Tullamore: Friday, July 21 in Banagher 7.30pm

The meeting of Birr and Tullamore is interesting. After losing to St Rynagh's in the first round, it is one Tullamore have to win if they are going to make the quarter-finals. They have an outside chance but you couldn't go against Birr at the moment.

Verdict – Birr.

Group 2

Ballinamere v Coolderry: Friday, July 21 in Birr 7.30pm

Ballinamere and Coolderry is the standout fixture of round 2. It is Ballinamere's first game while Coolderry lost to Shinrone in the first round. Normally Coolderry would be warm favourites for this but they look to be heading into transition while Ballinamere are an emerging team. It is very close to a 50-50 game and no result would be a surprise. There is a temptation to go with Ballinamere but we will stick with history and Coolderry's ability to perform when their backs are to the wall.

Verdict – Coolderry.

Shinrone v Seir Kieran: Saturday, July 27 in Birr 7.30pm

Shinrone are warm favourites but Seir Kieran performed with terrific character when running Belmont very close in the first round. The underdogs will fight with every inch of their fibre but champions Shinrone have a lot of momentum behind them.

Verdict – Shinrone.