This Sunday promises to be a big day for all
twelve clubs competing in this years county senior hurling championship.
Twelve clubs set out some months back in a
bid to win this years News and Star Cup, and already six of that twelve have
secured their place in the knockout stages of the competition.
While six clubs have secured their place in
the quarter finals of this years championship, every club this weekend have a
must win game for one reason or another, as final places in the table will
decide who plays who in the next in the competition.
The four teams in Group A in this years
championship advancing to the quarter finals are already known. Ballygunner,
Passage, Dungarvan and De La Salle have all reached the quarter final places,
but who finishes where in the group can still change.
At the other end of the group Portlaw and
Ballyduff Upper have not won any of their four games played to date and the two
meet to see which of the two will secure their senior status for another year
and which will have to win a relegation play off game in the coming weeks.
In group B Fourmilewater and Roanmore have
reached the quarter finals, but all four of the remaining teams, Mount Sion,
Abbeyside, Cappoquin and Tallow still have a chance of advancing to the quarter
finals while for one of them they will have play either Ballyduff Upper or Portlaw
in a relegation play off.
The Group B games have a 2pm throw in on
Sunday afternoon with games pencilled in for Cappoquin, Lemybrien and Fraher Field.
At Cappoquin, Fourmilewater and Abbeyside
will do battle.
Fourmilewater will know going into this game
that if they avoid defeat in this game they will win the group and therefore
get what is in effect perceived to be the easier of the quarter finals, but
looking at the four sides in group A there is no easy game going to come from
that group.
They had to work hard last week to overcome
the challenge of Cappoquin, but what it showed was the fighting spirit that is
within the group not giving up till the final whistle is blown.
Abbeyside are set to play without John Hurney
in this game as he was sent off last weekend against Mount Sion and are also
without Mark Ferncombe who missed the last few games with injury. The loss of
one would be a big one for Abbeyside. The loss of both is huge.
Abbeyside will know that they have to get
something. Should they loose Sunday by a big score and Cappoquin and Tallow
were to record a good win, then Abbeyside could be drawn into a relegation play
of, but that is unlikely to happen as their score difference is superior to
that of the two clubs further west.
Fourmilewater will get the nod to win this
game, but Abbeyside despite missing players could make it very difficult for them.
Mount Sion have had an indifferent start to
this years championship but look to be coming good at the right time.
They had a good win last weekend against
Abbeyside even without the suspended Martin O’Neill and his inclusion this
weekend will strengthen them somewhat for this game.
Tallow were in last years county final but
this year have not looked like a side that were going to do the same this year.
The Bride siders know that they have to win
this game and even if they do win it might not be enough to spare them having
to play a relegation play off.
These two sides meet at Lemybrien. As pointed
out Mount Sion appear to be coming good at the right time and get the nod to
win here.
The third game in group two takes place at
Fraher Field.
For a long number of years Roanmore struggled
somewhat in the senior championship but always did enough to secure their
status for the following year.
This is the second year in a row that they have
qualified for the knockout stages which shows the club is moving in the right
direction.
Cappoquin did well to retain their senior
status last year and this year they set a target of reaching the knock out
stages.
The majority of the current Cappoquin team
have come from successful underage teams in recent years. From watching
Cappoquin down the years I have noticed that as the year goes on, and the
longer they remain in contention in a competition, the better they seem to get.
This was often at underage level however where it is often a little easier to
instil confidence into a team, so it will be interesting to see will it transfer
now to the adult grade.
Roanmore are often a very difficult side for
anyone to beat and have pulled off wins in recent years that few expected of
them. This is a game that could go right to the wire, but something is telling
me, maybe it is knowing more what they can do, Cappoquin could emerge winners
here.
In Group A games are pencilled in to start at
3-30pm at Walsh Park, Carrickbeg and Fraher Field.
Ballygunner and Passage meet at Walsh Park,
where the winners will top the group.
Reports last week suggested that Ballygunner
even without up to four first choice players looked very impressive when
playing Dungarvan. Both sides had qualified for the knockout stages of the championship
ahead of that game and the question has to be asked, how much of an effort did
Dungarvan really put in during that game as they had a lot of their players
involved in a delayed 2015 County Under 21 Final last Tuesday evening, and may
have been holding something back for that game.
Passage last weekend had to work hard to
overcome the challenge of Portlaw and a week earlier also worked hard to beat
Dungarvan in the Sargent Cup Final at Fraher Field. There is nothing like a
local derby game to bring a performance out in a side and we can expect both of
these sides to go for it in this game.
Ballygunner have dropped just one point from
eight so far in this championship to date, that a draw against De La Salle.
While Peter Queally’s charges will put work hard as they have in their last few
games, if Ballygunner are at full strength in this one, its hard not to see
them win.
Dungarvan and De La Salle meet at Carrickbeg
on Sunday afternoon. Both of these sides clashed in the relayed 2015 County
Under 21 Final at Carriganore on Tuesday evening and a number of players from
both sides will be in action again here. It’s a big ask to ask player to line
out in there big games in just over a week.
De La Salle last weekend had a comfortable
win over Ballyduff Upper but at times were made to fight very hard as at times
no more than two pucks of the ball separated the sides on the score board.
Both sides have some quality players to pick
from. Its suggested that Dungarvan might not be able to pick a full strength
squad and that would suggest that De La Salle will win, but Dungarvan often
love it when they are written off. If there is going to be a draw in this weeks
games it could well be in this one.
What could be the big weekend of the game
this weekend is the clash of Portlaw and Ballyduff Upper in what is a play-off
to see who will avoid a relegation play off against a side from group B.
While both have yet to win a game in this
years championship, there was signs last weekend that both could be nearing
their best.
Portlaw made it very hard for both Dungarvan
and Passage in the championship to date, and will feel that they can do the
same this weekend.
Ballyduff have be struggling with injuries
all year but last weekend Kevin Casey got some game time in late on in the game
and if he starts this time around it will be a major plus to the side from the
far west.
Portlaw will know having a much better score
difference to Ballyduff Upper that a draw will be good enough to ensure that
they are playing senior hurling next year. In the like of Paul Power, DJ Foran,
Noel Kelly and Blake O’Connor they have the players to get a result, but
Ballyduff Upper in the likes of Tom Feeney, Seamus Hannon, Shane Kearney, Mikey
Kearney and Eoghan Murray also have the players to help them to a first win in
this years competition.
Who will win here is anyone’s choice. It could
go right to the wire. The Ballyduff players are more accustomed to playing at
Fraher Field and therefore they get the nod to win and ensure that they are
playing senior hurling again in 2017
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