I caught 4 of the 6 games last weekend either live or streamed. 5 of the 6 games went along expected lines with the favourites winning by 7/8+ points. The big shock was Whitehall with all their names turning over Cuala who were missing a scatter of theirs. This was well called by @binkybarnes. Lee Gannon did a good job blackguarding Cualas new import Donal O Shea. Brigids came close to the next shock. They were beating Crokes at half time on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-6. However like Cork they scored sparsely in the 2nd half and Crokes ran out 6 point winners.
In group 1 Na Fianna will be expected to have too much for Naomh Barrog. They were missing 4/5 starters last week but had enough quality to get over Judes. Jack Meagher was highly impressive and it will be interesting to see can he maintain that.
Craobh vs Judes is massive for both. A loss and you are staring at relegation. I think Judes have the quality and age profile to get over the line here. Callum Graham was sharp last week vs NaF bagging 1-2. They have a few others up front dangerous too. Craobh are very reliant on Cian Derwin for scores. If he is held it is all over.
Boden vs Lucan is the first heavyweight clash in this group. Boden as I said previously are in transition and scored well in their win vs Barrog last week. Fionn Murphy clipped 1-5. Their teamsheet is littered with young lads being blooded. Lucan are the opppsite, Carter in his 3rd year seems to be committed to the old guard of lads in their 30s rather than blooding lads who have won minor and 21 championships in recent years. They are carrying a few ducks in my mind. Chris Crummy started midfield last week but Colm Walsh was their standout player. I think they will have enough about them to get the win
Group 2
I got it badly wrong about OPER last week giving them a squeak vs Vincents. They turned in one of their 4/10 performances throwing in the white flag early doors. They are in for another long weekend this week vs Crokes who surely wonât be as slow starting.
Cualas loss vs Whitehall last week really opens up the group. I believe Liam Murphy is back in the country this week and will bolster their attack but without the O Callaghans they look poor. I fancy Hedgo and co to account for them.
Brigids and Whitehall is a right intetesting clash. Whitehall with everyone are decent but Iâm led to believe they could be down a few with injuries tonight. There is a distinct drop in quality when they go outside their 15. Despite their loss last week Brigids have to be encouraged by the performance. I think theyâll get the points this weekend.
Carlow Senior Hurling semi finals pairings, bar some mathematical freak, more or less nailed down with a round to spare after this evenings proceedings.
St Mullins beat Mount Leinster Rangers 5-14 to 1-18 which decided top placing. Both sides were in about 2nd or 3rd gear and it had the tempo of a challenge match so you could read very little into it.
Ballinkillen beat Bagenalstown 5-15 to 1-12
Semi finals will be;
St Mullins v Myshall
Mount Leinster Rangers v Ballinkillen
Ballinkillen always take care of Bagenalstown. Theyâre still kicking themselves in Ballinkillen for letting the 2022 semi final slip against St Mullins in injury time with Bagenalstown waiting in the final.
Itâs the usual caveat ahead of the semi finals that itâll most likely be the Big 2 in the final but Ballinkillen with the likes of Dion Wall, David English, Jack Treacy, Ciaran Whelan, Cormac Lomax and Eric English in their ranks always have the potential to be dangerous on their day and spring a shock. Theyâre well overdue a win over Rangers. Havenât beaten them since the 2001 County Final in the monsoon.
Lomax more known for his footballing prowess but a good hurler by all accounts too. Ciaran Whelan seems to be consistently scoring around 0-10 or more between frees and play. The Left Wing Back podcast will keep you covered in the build up to those semiâs.
Oylegate held off Naomh Ăanna in the evening game in Bellefield tonight. Finished 0-16 to 0-14. Eoin Molloy sent-off about halfway through the second half for an off the ball incident with Podge Doran. Not a great result for the Joe Fortune coached Gorey men who are now 1/3. Albeit theyâre flying it in the football.
St Martinâs were very comfortable winners against Oulart in one of the earlier games. I didnât see any of the Rathnure v Ferns game but another fine win for the Blackstairs mountain men there. Skippy Ruth has them flying with 3/3. The big result last night saw Faythe Harriers oust the Shels.
Lomax and Choo Choo are from Fenagh so football would be the priority. Fenagh donât have a hurling club and Ballinkillen donât play football so they have a sister club arrangement. Ballinkillen need the few Fenagh lads if they are to make the breakthrough.
Isnât Skippy Ruth a long time Rathnure resident? Married to Aoife OâConnor? Wexford hurling needs a strong Rathnure.
Stopped clocks and all that but I got 6/6 this week. Caught 4 of the games live.
In group 1 last night Na Fianna had a facile win over Barrog. Barrog clipped 1-2 in injury time to put some shine on the scoreboard. Huge gulf in class between the Sen A and Sen B winners in 2024. Na Fianna had a good few missing like Rushe, McHugh, Brian Ryan and Sean Currie. Jack Meagher was very impressive in midfield as was AI goalscorer Tom Brennan. Barrog had a lot of passengers and were lucky to finish with 15. However they will be targetting their games vs Craobh and Judes later. Sean Doyle and Nathan Kidd did well for them.
Today Lucan overcame Ballyboden. They were the better team but struggled to put them away. Colm Walsh was very impressive again in midfield. It was a scrappy game with sweepers at both ends. Boden were game, played very deep but are limited. Fionn Murphy is a find for them. Must have clipped 4 points today. He still has a few years at under 20. Could be a nice half forward/midfielder in time but wonât be an inter county inside forward.
Judes had a huge win in the other game. Craobh facing relegation now.
In group 2 Kilmacud toyed with OPER. It really could have been anything that they put up, however they do concede a bit too heavily. Iâm in the record that they have the best panel in the country. They had lads playing today that wonât be on their 26 at the business end of the year. Despite two losses OPER still have a chance of progressing but will need a big improvement. Strike me as a team happy to be senior is all.
Brigids vs Whitehall on Friday was an entertaining clash. Whitehall were down Eoin O Donnell and Eddie Moran. They then lost a heavily strapped Dara Grey after 15 mins. They started strongly with Cormac Costello clipping 4 first half points. Brigids moved Andy Dunphy onto him in the second half and snuffed him out. Lee Gannon picked up Cian O Sullivan and in my opinion beat him. He is a natural defender. Would be an automatic for Dublin if he committed. Down Moran and Grey the Whitehall backs were limited and duly exposed. Diarmuid Breslin clipped about 2-4. Brigids have a very solid 15. They were missing a good few last year through travels and injury but all are back now. I expect them to qualify.
Vincents had a good win over struggling Cuala. Only have a scoreline on this game.
Losing the Kildavin-Clonegal contingent wouldnât have helped the Ballinkillen cause either. There were high hopes for Fenagh when they won back to back minor A titles in 2017 and 18â but they havenât really made their mark at senior at all yet. Yo-yo between senior and intermediate.
Yeah thatâs the link. They have a good young forward line to be fair and won the Leinster intermediate last year to get back on track after their first relegation since going senior in 1940. A young Codd added to the ranks this season too.
Iâm struggling to see it based off the past two weekends. This is Carters 3rd year and looking from the outside it seems that he is overly loyal to an older cohort of players from his first year. To my mind there were 5 players starting today that are not good enough. I know Luke Walsh is currently injured and will strengthen things but there are cohort of good 18-21 year olds there better than those starting. Costello, Lyons, Coogan, Coffey, Bolger.
They play Chris Crummy in midfield the last day but he was back in defence today.
They have done well in the round robin stuff but ultimately have shit the course in the last two semi finals vs Crokes and NaF with no shows. @Loko_Cove is probably better placed to critique
Itâs your last year of minor. Or it is in Limerick anyway. So you could be 17 playing depending on birthday. I think thatâs a county by county thing though
