Main contenders begin to stand up in Offaly Senior Hurling Championship

WITH the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship progressing more or less on expected lines, the main contenders have begun to stand up and show that they mean business.

With three rounds played, there are three things worthy of particular note:

1 – Shinrone have done very well in their first ever defence of the Sean Robbins Cup. With three wins out of three games, they are top of group 1 and are assured of at least a quarter-final place.

2 – Kilcormac-Killoughey are arguably the team to beat. They have played the two weakest teams in group 2 but look to have improved from last year when they lost the final, helped considerably by the introduction of two of their brightest young talents, Adam Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh.

3 – Ballinamere have emerged as very serious contenders. They have four points from two games, are almost certainly into the quarter-finals and are moving with impressive intent. It is a big ask for them but they now command complete respect and look to have a lot of the ingredients to do a Shinrone on it, and make history.

St Rynagh's are also in that quartet of main contenders with Birr the pick of the rest – you never know with Belmont and Coolderry but their form has not been good enough to date and Coolderry in particular are on life support, gasping for air.

The top team in each group qualifies for the semi-finals with the next two in two quarter-finals.

Group 2 has gone entirely according to predictions so far. Kilcormac-Killoughey and St Rynagh's have four points from two games, Birr four from three while Kinnitty have none from two and Tullamore none from three.

It means that Tullamore are definitely out of the equation and can't qualify. They competed well against Kilcormac-Killoughey for 25 minutes on Sunday but there was an air of inevitability about K-K's win as they romped home, 2-30 to 0-20.

St Rynagh's had an important 2-19 to 0-21 win over Birr on Friday evening. Birr battled the whole way and were not far away.

Kinnitty are still alive in this group but are hanging on by a thread. They will have to beat Tullamore and St Rynagh's and they will be very much underdogs against the latter. Instead it looks like their game against Tullamore will decide who goes into the relegation play off against the bottom team in group 2 – most likely Seir Kieran.

In group 2, Shinrone have six points from three games, Ballinamere four from two, Belmont two from two, Coolderry none from two and Seir Kieran none from three.

It means that Seir Kieran won't make the quarter-finals and their only priority is to stay up. Coolderry are still alive but only just. They will be expecting to beat Seir Kieran in the next round and if they do that, their fifth round fixture against Belmont will determine who advances to the quarter-final.

Last weekend, Shinrone once again rallied powerfully late on to break Belmont hearts, getting the late scores for a 3-16 to 0-20 win.

Tougher tests will lie ahead but Ballinamere were impressive in a 2-26 to 0-19 win over Seir Kieran. Seir Kieran had ran Belmont and Shinrone very close in their first two games but couldn't live with Ballinamere once they hit top gear in the second half.

With games to come against Belmont and Shinrone, Ballinamere should qualify, even if they lose those two and teams end up tied on four points.

Round 4 fixtures are:

Group 1: Kilcormac-Killoughey v St Rynagh's; Tullamore v Kinnitty;

Group 2: Seir Kieran v Coolderry; Ballinamere v Belmont.

Round 5 games are:

Group 1: Kilcormac-Killoughey v Birr; Kinnitty v St Rynagh's;

Group 2: Ballinamere v Shinrone; Coolderry v Belmont.