Big hurling weekend leaves Shinrone teetering on brink of early exit

A VERY eventful and exciting weekend of Offaly Senior Hurling Championship action has left Shinrone teetering on the edge of an early exit.

A fantastic, heart warming force of nature since winning their first ever title, amid scenes of wild jubilation in 2022, Shinrone have been very close contenders in recent years.

They lost to Kilcormac-Killoughey in the 2023 and 2025 finals and were second favourites at the start of this season. A shock defeat by Tullamore in the first round placed Shinrone under early pressure and their prospects nose dived on Saturday evening when a very impressive Ballinamere got away for a 3-28 to 2-23 win in Birr.

Shinrone fought hard and almost got back into it late on but couldn't live with a flying Ballinamere on the day. It meant that Ballinamere are safely into knockout hurling with three wins from three in group 2 and a win over Belmont in their final game will secure a semi-final berth.

It also means that Shinrone's fate is on a knife edge and they are dependant on results falling their way but it could happen for them.

Group 2 has Ballinamere on 6 points from three games, Belmont on 4 from two, Tullamore on 2 from three and Shinrone and Lusmagh both pointless from two.

Belmont got their season going with a 4-14 to 3-13 win over Tullamore in Kilcormac on Saturday. Belmont were ten points clear going into the last ten minutes, lost their way dramatically for a few minutes before recovering to claim a crucial win that sets them up.

Tullamore play Lusmagh in round 4 while Shinrone meet Bemont – in the final round, Shinrone must beat Lusmagh and Belmont and Ballinamere meet in a potential table topping shootout.

Shinrone have to win their two games and their next outing at home to Belmont will determine whether their hopes are alive going into round 5. If they do beat Belmont, they will have to take Lusmagh, which they will be expected to do and they will need Ballinamere to beat Belmont.

If Belmont get a result against Ballinamere, Shinrone will be gone if Tullamore beat Lusmagh. Those results would leave Tullamore and Shinrone tied on four points but Tullamore will qualify on the head to head. Lusmagh can also give Shinrone a lifeline by beating Tullamore and that can't be ruled out, though Tullamore will be favourites to collect those points.

Lusmagh are not out of the equation and can also get to four with wins over Tullamore and Shinrone. They will fight hard but it will be a surprise if they reach that figure.

If Lusmagh did beat Tullamore, the clash between Shinrone and Lusmagh would be for a quarter-final berth. However, if Shinrone don't beat Belmont, and on current form, that is a big possibility, then the meeting of Lusmagh and Shinrone could be to decide who avoids the relegation play off.

If Belmont lose to Shinrone and Ballinamere, and Shinrone and Tullamore beat Lusmagh, the group would see Belmont, Tullamore and Shinrone all tied on four points for two qualifying spots with scoring difference in the games between those three teams determining which two qualify. That could happen but Shinrone are dependant on Ballinamere doing them a favour and are staring an early exit in the face.

They will obviously be hoping to scrape in but it may not be the worse thing for them if they had an early exit. They have been fiercely competitive for the past few years and their emergence has brought a fantastic new impetus to the Offaly club hurling scene. However, they have been off the boil this year and just haven't captured the same form as other years yet.

They could very well bounce back very strong next year if they didn't qualify and that has happened St Rynagh's who were dismayed not to make the knockout stages for the first time in recent memory last year.

St Rynagh's have recovered very impressively this year and are through in group 1 with three wins from three. They eased to a 2-24 to 0-19 win over Kinnitty on Saturday and are playing very well.

Birr had an excellent 1-23 to 0-15 win over Coolderry to get their season going after a disappointing loss to St Rynagh's in their first game. Birr performed very well in the second half after losing star forward Eoghan Cahill to injury before half time. Cahill was playing very well when he was stretchered off and several other players answered the call in the second half as a below par Coolderry floundered,

Cahill suffered an ankle injury and Birr will be anxiously awaiting news of the full extent of it this week but hopes are growing that any absence will be short rather than long term.

Group 1 is also intriguing. Kilcormac-Killoughey were shocked by Coolderry in the first round and have 2 points from two games, the same as Birr while Coolderry have 2 from three games and Kinnitty have none from two and are favourites to play in the relegation play off from this group.

Birr meet Kinnitty and Kilcormac-Killoughey have St Rynagh's in round 4 while the final round has Coolderry against Kinnitty and Kilcormac-Killoughey meeting Birr in what could be an absolutely huge game.

Kilcormac-Killoughey remain favourites for four in a row but haven't ignited yet and with Charlie Mitchell out and Adam Screeney sidelined with a shoulder injury, they have looked much more vulnerable than they have in some time.

They are still very much the team to beat but their qualification out of the group is not guaranteed and already, Birr's excitement is mounting at the prospect of playing Kilcormac-Killoughey in a closing round fixture that could put the champions out.

Birr were very close to beating K-K in the semi-final last year and have no fear of Offaly's dominant force. It doesn't mean they will beat them but they do relish playing K-K and if K-K's fate was at stake, that would be some game in the last round.

Birr will be expecting to get to four points against Kinnitty in round 4 while K-K are favourites to beat St Rynagh's, despite St Rynagh's excellent form – St Rynagh's do have a decent chance in this.

Coolderry have their bye in the next round but will hit four points if they beat Kinnitty. This is where it gets fascinating – if Birr beat Kilcormac-Killoughey and them and Coolderry tied on four points, Coolderry would qualify on the head to head rule.

It means that K-K now have to do the business, though funnily enough a defeat against St Rynagh's would not put them out. If they beat Birr and Coolderry beat Kinnitty, Birr, Coolderry and Kilcormac-Killoughey would tie on four points with scoring difference in the games between those three clubs deciding which two qualify.

Kinnitty can reach four points with wins over Birr and Coolderry but that is in the long shot category.

You would still expect K-K to survive but their first round defeat by Coolderry has placed them on much more dangerous ground than they would have wanted and their advancement is far from written in stone.

It is new territory for many of these K-K players and the response will be interesting to watch – K-K have received bad defeats in senior B hurling and intermediate football in the past two weeks. Intermediate football doesn't matter to them but some of their senior hurlers are involved and it remains to be seen if all of this has any effect on their marquee team.

In the Senior “B” Hurling Championship at the weekend, Carrig-Riverstown eased to a 4-21 to 1-17 win over Drumcullen. Title favourites Seir Kieran were shown that every championship is hard won as they were held to a draw, 2-15 to 0-21 by an improving Clodiagh Gaels while Clara had an excellent 3-19 to 1-14 win over Kilcormac-Killoughey.

With two rounds to go, the senior B table has Seir Kieran top with five points, Clara on four, Carrig-Riverstown, Clodiagh Gaels and Kilcormac-Killoughey on three and Drumcullen are on their way out with three successive defeats.

Seir Kieran play Kilcormac-Killoughey, Clara have Carrig-Riverstown and Drumcullen meet Clodiagh Gaels in round 4. Round 5 fixtures are: Clodiagh Gaels v Carrig-Riverstown, Kilcormac-Killoughey v Drumcullen, Clara v Seir Kieran.

It is all very tight in this. Drumcullen will definitely be gone if they lose to Carrig-Riverstown in their next game while five points should get Seir Kieran through and they will be expecting to get higher than that. Clara are in a good position but have two very tough games to come against Carrig-Riverstown and Seir Kieran and if they lost them, they would go out if Clodiagh Gaels and Kilcormac-Killoughey got the better of Drumcullen.

In the Intermediate Hurling Championship, Shamrocks and Shinrone have qualified out of group 1 with four points from two games. The winner of their clash in the final round will qualify for the semi-finals with the loser in the quarter-final. The winner of Birr and Ballinamere will make the quarter-final with the loser in the relegation play off.

In group 2, Coolderry and Seir Kieran are also qualified with four points from two games while St Rynagh's and Brosna Gaels are pointless.

Coolderry play Seir Kieran with St Rynagh's taking on Brosna Gaels in the final round. The stakes are the same as group 1. The winner of Coolderry and Seir Kieran will go into the semi-final, the loser into the quarter-final. The winner of St Rynagh's and Brosna Gaels will be in the quarter-final, the loser in the relegation play off.