Itâs shaping up to be very competitive again this year. Cappamore have arguably had the most difficult start but theyâll really be hoping for a result this weekend. I saw them a couple of times last year and they looked well drilled but wonât want to be zero from three to start. Serious pressure then.
I was at Bruff vs KY. Bruff were in command until the double blow of the red card and Finnâs injury. Iâm not sure of the extent of it but their favourites tag takes a real hit without him. He was pulling the strings at centre forward before going off.
Theyâll be happy to have ground out a result though in those circumstances. They must have hit 15pts from frees out of 22. KY could be aggrieved with some, but more were needless.
I was very surprised with Glenroeâs win, although I had heard Monaleen didnât look to be at their best the first day out. Havenât seen either D/A or Effin so canât comment there.
Obviously Finn would be a massive loss; theyâve finally moved him forward to 11, they should have done that years ago. Wasted at 6. Was Kyle Dillon or Danny OâLeary on the frees?
I saw both Effin & D/A in challenges in the lead-up, and not surprised at all by Effin winning. D/A were impressive enough while missing a couple of their best players but I think a full-strength Effin will go a long way.
Itâs so open, apart from the famed JAHC itâs the most enticing and hardest to call out of the 4 championships. I would say all teams outside of Knockainey have a very realistic chance of winning it out. You can tell by round 2 results that all teams are very evenly matched - games like Glenroe/Monaleen and Effin/DA. If NCW can get their full compliment theyâll be hard beat, they were still missing a pile of bodies against Cappamore. Effin with POD are a very dangerous prospect
Given the amount of adult first teams in the junior championship and the competitiveness of the championship, why does the winner have such a poor record in Munster?
Is the standard fairly low? Appreciate that by sheer weight of numbers and amount of clubs Cork fairly dominate it but aside from Blackrock winning it 15 years or so ago i canât recall too many Limerick sides getting to the final. While Waterford clubs seem to do alright it strangely enough despite having a far less clubs than Limerick. More often than not the Clare representatives didnât even win the county junior title, think there is only 3 adult first teams in this years renewal in Clare.
The general standard in all divisions is definitely up on seven or eight years ago but The standard isnât hectic. The doon or nap teams are usually good but lose players as the season goes on.
The intermediate championship used to be very weak. 4 or 5 bad junior teams in it truth be told and only one could ever go down.
Iâd have to look back but who were the last junior champions to get relegated the following year? Iâm fairly sure st pats stayed up a season.
Yeah, Clare intermediate championship is a bit like that. Standard is very up and down. Top 6 or so sides are solid while the bottom 6 should really be junior A and take paddlings. Wouldnât be surprised to see it reduced from 16 to 12 in the coming years.
The junior is limericks 4th tier too whereas itâs 3rd in a lot of counties, Iâm not sure how big of a difference that makes as there are only 8 premier intermediate teams but possibly it has an effect?
Itâs so hard to get out of the junior, that a lot of the time when the team wins it out itâs just sheer relief and the celebrations go on for weeks after. Interest in the Munster club campaign can be limited enough. Then again the same can apply in every other county.
The teams that have come up in recent years have tended to be the most physical, Croagh probably an exception to that with a young, fast and skilful team.
With the change in the calendar itâll be interesting to see does it benefit the better (in hurling terms) teams and not just the bigger sides who can grind it out in deepest October or November.
The intermediate has improved but it used to be a poor standard. Iâd say the top four in junior championship would have always won against the bottom four in the intermediate a few years back but I guess winning brings a lot of momentum too.
To call a spade a spade thereâs little enough between most of the junior and intermediate sides (outside of the top three or four intermediate sides)
The intermediate is a very even standard this year, last year Effin were a step above everyone else and they are stronger again this year. Fergal OâConnor is out midfield for them this year apparently and is a great bit of stuff.
Iâd be most critical of the county board but the four different championships is the best thing theyâve ever done.
It used to be far too easy to win just one game and stay up for another season. So many clubs became stale off the back of it in my opinion.
You still have the big four and nap will definitely have to come back to the pack but Iâd say over the next 5 to 10 years youâll see a few break throughs.
Ballybrown have a few very good underage teams and they are supplying Limerick with good players which isnât always the case for a club who is nearly always senior. They probably are best placed to make a break through.