Shinrone aim to prolong historic season in Leinster tilt

AN early demise in the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship will be only a fleeting annoyance to Shinrone but they will be very much aiming to prolong their most successful season ever when they enter provincial action for the first time on Saturday next.

A trip to Newbridge on Saturday to face Kildare kingpins Naas represents a real banana skin for Shinrone and they will have to be very focused, completely up for the game to survive.

The winners will meet Ballyhale Shamrocks or Castletown Geoghegan of Westmeath in the semi-final and that is a huge incentive for Shinrone. While no team can take anything for granted in Leinster club fare any more at any level and in any grade, it will still be a massive shock if Ballyhale don't qualify.

The ace Kilkenny side are favourites for Leinster and on everyone's short list of All-Ireland contenders. The semi-final will be played in Croke Park on November 27 and playing in Croke Park is one of two great attractions for Shinrone. The other of course is to pit themselves against one of the best club sides in the country, to try and take them out and see where they stand.

Shinrone of course won't be looking one second beyond Saturday's game. They can't afford to but the possibility of Croke Park and Ballyhale Shamrocks is part of the background music that will make Shinrone so determined to ensure their year lasts another couple of weeks at least.

The days of any side taking the champions of any county for granted are long gone. Club teams at all levels are all so well prepared now and it takes a good side to win any championship. There was a time when the Offaly club champions would not consider the possibility of losing to the Kildare representatives but not any more.

We have seen it in football with strange results, especially in lower grades. Mullinavat have evicted both Bracknagh and Westmeath's Shandonagh from the Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship. They may be the Kilkenny senior champions but a short few years ago, there would have been long odds on them winning any game.

Shinrone will be anticipating very tough opposition from Naas and know it will take a very good performance to advance.

There is a niggling doubt that they won't fully focus on the Leinster club championship. They have returned to full training, are getting in quality work and all the word emerging from Shinrone suggests that they are very determined but we won't truly know until the action begins on Saturday.

Shinrone are favourites and should win but there are unique pitfalls for any side winning their first championship. Their achievement in annexing their first ever Offaly senior hurling title was tremendous. It really was a breath of fresh air to the game in the county and it is always good to see a new side emerging.

Whether they can carry that a step further remains to be seen but we can take it that Shinrone will be looking at this as a great opportunity. They will be hoping to add further senior titles but having won none for their first 130 years or so – they are one of the oldest clubs in Offaly -, they will be very conscious of the possibility that this ship may never sail again.

Shinrone will have respect for Naas and will have their homework done on them. Some of the Shinrone team have lost to Kildare at underage level and they know that there is a decent level of hurling in Kildare – even if it is of very secondary importance compared to football and their chances of breaking through to hurling's top table are very slim.

This is a game that Naas could win but Shinrone will be quietly confident. They were brilliant in the second half of their county final win over Kilcormac-Killoughey and their confidence is flying. It will be a tough battle but they have the hurlers and the form to secure that Croke Park date.

Verdict – Shinrone.

Tullamore are also out in Leinster club hurling action this weekend, playing Westmeath's Fr Dalton's in O'Connor Park at 1.30pm. The Shinrone v Naas game is in Newbridge at 1.30pm on Saturday.