Kilcormac-Killoughey the favourites as Senior Hurling Championship swings into action

KILCORMAC-Killoughey are the clear starters' favourites as the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship swings into action this week.

With a multi talented generation of young hurler now on the scene, Kilcormac-Killoughey have the ingredients for a spell of dominance but hurling is never that simple and they will have plenty of pitfalls along the way.

They won the Senior Hurling Championship title in great style last year, blasting Shinrone out of the water in the final and they will be fiercely determined to make it two in a row.

Once again the Senior Hurling Championship consists of two groups of five with the top team going into the semi-finals and the next two criss-crossing in two quarter-finals. The bottom teams meet in a relegation play off.

The real business will begin as usual in the knockout stages but the group stages determine so much and there is a cut-throat one here with Shinrone, Ballinamere, Birr, Belmont and Kinnitty all paired together.

Shinrone won their first ever championship in 2022 and returned to the final last year. Ballinamere are an emerging team with a quality of hurler that is the envy of most while Belmont have been knocking on the door for a few years and were desperately unfortunate not to make a final. Birr are Birr, the most decorated Offaly club but in the midst of another of those long famines that they have hit quite frequently in their long history.

They haven't won since 2008 and are now closing in on twenty years without a title. They have an outside chance of winning the Sean Robbins Cup and are certainly not among the teams who will be written off but their defeat by Belmont in the Division 1 Hurling League final raises questions and it will take vast improvement for them to do it.

That can happen as a campaign progresses but as things stand, Shinrone, Ballinamere and Belmont are all above Birr in the pecking order and they are going to have to beat one of them to progress as well as making no mistake against Kinnitty.

This will be a fascinating, compelling group and it will be terrifically exciting to watch it unfold. Kinnitty will be determined to pull off an upset and if they do, it will almost certainly sound the death-knell for that team.

There is a case for making Ballinamere second favourites for the title. The quality of hurler they have, the experience that Brian Duignan, Ross Ravenhill and Ciaran Burke have developed along with the emergence of Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill etc, means that there is absolutely no disputing the assertion that they have the players to win a championship.

Having the players, however, and winning one are two entirely different things and Ballinamere's recent record does not quite justify such a high rating. They will continue to work hard, do the right thing and the big breakthrough could come some day. It remains to be seen if that is this year but they are very serious contenders.

It is a big year for Shinrone, who could slip back into the pack very quickly but who have enough quality hurlers to challenge once again. Belmont represent a big conundrum. They took a big step back last year when failing to qualify from the group but their display in the league final win over Birr was really convincing. Oisin Kelly is a great addition as he is fully fit after recovering from a cruciate injury while David Nally will be back in a few weeks.

Paddy Clancy has gone to Australia and is a loss but Belmont have genuine prospects if they don't lose key players to injuries. Adam Egan and Aron McCabe have come out of minor and are additions and Belmont can certainly dream of glory.

They could, however, slip up in the group and there is so little room for error here. Ballinamere, Shinrone and Belmont are the initial front runners to qualify but it won't be a surprise if Birr put one of them out while it would be a big surprise if Kinnitty get through.

Group 2 looks to be more clearcut where Kilcormac-Killoughey, St Rynagh's and Coolderry are the clear favourites to qualify with Tullamore and Seir Kieran very much the underdogs.

If Tullamore or Seir Kieran beat one of the top three, it will change the goalposts and they are both capable of upsets.

Ter Guinan, Daniel Hand, James Mahon and Leigh Kavanagh will all be playing senior for Kilcormac-Killoughey this year and they won't weaken them one little bit.

One of the big problems facing the title holders is keeping everyone happy and they will have good players on the bench or even playing senior B.

They are the team to beat but like Limerick, every team can be beaten. With the players at their disposal, K-K have to be setting their ambitions a lot higher than Offaly but their manager Shane Hand won't be allowing that talk to infiltrate their camp.

The Offaly title has to be won first and this won't be simple. We make K-K the favourites, Ballinamere second favourites with Belmont, Shinrone and St Rynagh's in the next group and Birr and Coolderry also in the mix of teams who could win a title.

Verdict – Kilcormac-Killoughey.