All you need to know about the teams in the Offaly Senior B Hurling Championship

Kevin Corrigan takes an in depth look at all the teams challenging in this year's Offaly Senior B Hurling Championship....

Birr

Manager: Johnny Kelly;

Selectors: Colm Cahill and Dylan Hayden;

Captain: Eoin Pilkington;

New players: Adam Fitzgerald, Max Boyd, Rickie Fitzsimons, Alesio Szoma;

Last year: Lost to Clara in the sem-final;

Star player; Eoin Pilkington;

Prospects: With four teams qualifying from the group, Birr will be hoping to challenge for one of these. They will be well capable of troubling all teams and they have a chance of getting to the semi-finals. They are unlikely to be strong enough to win the championship.

Clara

Manager: Sean Nolan

Selectors: Paddy Phelan, Wesley Coyne ,Steven Weir

Captain: John Ledwith

New players: Conor Doyle ,Conor Taylor

Long term injuries / Absentees: None;

Last year: Beaten finalists;

Star player: Conor Doyle;

Prospects: Clara played very well last year, reaching the final and it was a sign of their progress that they were bitterly disappointed to lose to Tullamore. They have a lot of very good hurlers and have earned full respect. They should be contenders this year. Cathal O'Meara will have benefitted from a year on the Offaly senior hurling panel while Conor Doyle was outstanding for Offaly U-20s. This will be his first year playing adult hurling and he should be very good here. Clara should be able to claim one of the semi-final places and are contenders, though it remains to be seen if they can get as close as they did last year.

Clodiagh Gaels

Manager: Tony Doran (Laois);

Selectors: Kevin Hinch, Ned Casey;

Captain: Kevin Kinahan;

New players: Ben O’Brien, Jack Kelly;

Long term injuries/Absentees from last year: None;

Last year: Relegated from senior;

Star player: Liam Langton;

Prospects: Clodiagh Gaels are among the championship favourites and could well be the team to beat. They had three players on the Offaly senior hurling panel this year, Liam and Conor Langton and Joey Keenaghan while Kieran Coonan was the Offaly U-20 hurling sub goalkeeper and is likely to be number 1 next year. Ruari Dunne was also a sub. Those players will make them strong and they are capable of beating everyone in this championship. There are some question marks about them and they can lose big games but they can also win them. They should get to the semi-finals and will be hard to beat.

Kilcormac-Killoughey

Manager: Mark Leonard;

Selectors: PJ Murray, Eamon Keenan, Daithi Nolan;

Captain: Not picked yet;

New players: A number of players are now eligible out of minor grade. Adam Screeney and Looking forward to introducing a few new players who have aged out of the minor grade last year. Adam Screeney, Brecon Kavanagh and possibly, James Mahon could play senior and other outstanding players such as Leigh Kavanagh and Daniel Hand could have a year at senior B before they go up to the top flight;

Long term injuries/ absentees from last year - A few players are likely to drift away or drop down a grade as outstanding young players emerge;

Last year: Beaten by Tullamore in the semi-final.

Star player: James Mahon – Adam Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh are also eligible but they are ready for senior level at the moment and are likely to play there.

Prospects: It would be very unusual for a second team of a senior club to win the second grade championship but it is a very live possibility this year. Kilcormac-Killoughey were not far away last year. They have a huge supply of young players coming on, really good hurlers apart from the ones we know about from the Offaly minor and U-20 sides of 2022 and 2023. They are just very strong and it will be a surprise if they don't claim a semi-final berth. Don't be surprised if they go the whole way and they could well be the team to beat.

Lusmagh

Manager: Vincent McKenna (Borrisokane);

Selectors: Fintan Kelly, Pat Temple, Brendan Kelly;

Captain: Not picked yet;

New players: Ruari Kelly, a member of the Offaly minor and U-20 hurling panels in 2022 and 2023 is now eligible; Eunan Temple is also up out of minor

Absentees from last year: David Kelly, John Murphy, Shane Lanigan are gone from last year while Martin Byrne and Graham Lynch have emigrated

Last year: Beat Drumcullen in the relegation play off;

Star player: Eimhin Kelly;

Prospects: Lusmagh are behind Clodiagh Gaels, Kilcormac-Killoughey and Clara in the pecking order at the moment but their prospects are as good as anyone else outside of them. They will have a chance of making a semi-final but equally, they could find themselves in the relegation play off. There is games they can win here and they have plenty to aim at. Numbers are a big issue for them, Graham Lynch is a big loss, though he could be back later in the year, and they are championship outsiders.

Shamrocks

Manager: Ned O’Connor

Selectors: Ollie Minnock and MichealBuckley;

Captain: Stephen Malone;

New players: None;

Absentees from last year: Darren Meacle, Jack Molloy, Conor Moran, David O’Toole;

Last year: Intermediate champions;

Star player: Padraig Cantwell;

Prospects: The first target for Shamrocks will be to stay up but they will be setting their sights much higher than that. They were down in intermediate for a couple of years but will be confident of competing at the higher level. They should be capable of holding their own but David O'Toole is a huge loss while they really need to get Padraig Cantwell back. Injury ruled him out for most of Offaly's season and Shamrocks just can't cope with the loss of players like these. Managing their dual commitments is also a challenge for them. They will have a chance of a semi-final place but could end up in the relegation play off. They don't look to be strong enough at the moment to win a championship.