Carrig-Riverstown aim for December extension to memorable season

VERY much in bonus territory, Carrig-Riverstown will be aiming to prolong their season into December with a big Leinster Club Junior Hurling Championship semi-final coming up in Birr this Sunday.

With their confidence flying, Carrig-Riverstown will be bracing themselves for a very tough challenge from St Mary's of Leixlip but have been playing well enough to suggest that a historic place in a provincial final is very achievable – Wexford's Fr O'Regan's Cranford and Kilkenny's Tollogher-Rosbercon play in the other semi-final with the final down for Saturday, December 9.

It has been a great year for the Offaly-Tipperary border outfit to date. They were clearly the best side in the Offaly Intermediate Hurling Championship, winning the title very impressively and they have attacked the provincial campaign with heart warming hunger and intent.

They had a bit of a gap to enjoy themselves after winning the Offaly title but soon got back into the training fields and the work they have done has been obvious to see in Leinster.

They have been very impressive in wins over Westmeath's St Brigid's and Dublin's Good Counsel Liffey Gaels. They had to come through a real dogfight to beat the Dubliners, 1-20 to 3-11 and that game will bring on this group of players a lot.

It is a very exciting time for Carrig-Riverstown, a border club with a powerful and very interesting history to tell. This is a golden era of sorts for them – they will need to achieve more for it to go down as that but there is clear evidence of the great work that has been going on at all levels in this proud club in recent years.

This has shown at adult and underage level. They combined with Crinkle to reach the U-20 hurling final last Saturday and this group of players have been fiercely competitive all the way up the underage ranks. Kilcormac-Killoughey have provided a powerful barrier to success but the emergence of quality young players in this area has been a great boost to Offaly hurling.

Carrig-Riverstown/Crinkle gave a tremendous account of themselves in last Saturday's U-20 final, really putting it up to Kilcormac-Killoughey and forcing them to dig very deep for the win. While K-K did deserve to win, it would not have taken a huge amount more for CRC to get there and that shows how good of hurlers they have.

The bulk of the U-20 team came from Carrig-Riverstown – Crinkle'scontribution was also important - and several of them played in their Leinster club win over Liffey Gaels – Liam Hoare, Patrick Bergin, Joe Hoctor, Cathal King, Peter King, Lee Hogan, Conor McDowdall and Kian McDowdall featured in both games.

Cathal King and Joe Hoctor were key members of the Offaly U-20 hurling squad this year while Liam Hoare's return from a health battle and his excellent form in the goals has been warmly welcomed by everyone in Offaly.

You can be fairly certain that Carrig-Riverstown will perform close to the best of their ability on Sunday – it is great that this game is not clashing with the Kilcormac-Killoughey v O'Loughlin Gaels one and interested supporters have an opportunity to see both.

It will take a very big performance to win and Leixlip will be very difficult to beat. Kildare has produced some very good club teams and Naas are going very well in the senior campaign – they beat Shinrone well last year and while Naas are a step ahead of anyone else in Kildare, it does give an indication of the possible challenge that Leixlip will provide.

At the same time, it presents a rare opportunity for Carrig-Riverstown to reach a Leinster final. They want it, they are playing very well and they have big game players all over the field. There is a great chance for them to make it and to see where they stand against Kilkenny or Wexford opposition.