Provincial & All Ireland Club Hurling

jaysusREF

MUNSTER: Thurles Sarsfields

CONNACHT: St Thomas

ULSTER: Loughgiel Shamrocks

LEINSTER: Oulart the Ballagh or Kilcormac-Killoughey

Firstly, who will win Leinster ?

Kilcormac for me

And who will take the AI crown?

I have a sneaky feeling that the Nordies might just do it again.

cat in the sack

go with you on Kilcormac-Killoughey for leinster, but Thurles Sarsfields to win it out.

zetecescort

Thurles if they manage to play for the full hour in the remaining games

jaysusREF

zetecescort wrote: »

Thurles if they manage to play for the full hour in the remaining games

That is a bit of a failing. They're a super team but they do seem to let their focus/intensity slip from time to time. Thurles and St Thomas would, on pure hurling ability be in front of the other two I'd say (assuming Kilcormac) but February and March take more than that. Loughgiel showed last year that they have what it takes beating both the Munster and the Leinster champions especially in the semi final in extra time they steamrollered Na Piarsaigh.

randd1

Why are the provincial championships on at this time of year? It makes no sense, its not good for top quality hurling (to be fair some games are great entertainment), natural light is at a premium and its unfair on supporters too.

Why don't they move the club provincial and AI championships to the following calendar year, start the provincial series in February, hold the matches alongside league games in weaker counties to promote the games and hold the AI club finals on the same day as the league final of the same sport which would guarantee a big crowd. It would give the clubs a winter break and not split the championships for nearly three months and retain the interest in the competitions rather than forgetting them for months.

As for the hurling championship, if they hurl for the full 60 in the remaining games, Thurles' quality to win it out. That said if Oulart get the monkey of winning Leinster off their back, I think they have a bigger stomach for a fight than anyone else, and wouldn't bet against them.

jaysusREF

Kilcormac 1-12 Oulart 0-11

low scoring but that was a hard fought close game. The early goal gave Kilcormac just enough breathing space. The work rate of both teams was immense in what looked like heavy conditions.
Hard luck Oulart but very well done Kilcormac.

WumBuster

Who's playing each other in the semi finals?

Tipperary animal lover

Munster v Leinster, Connaught v ulster...

jaysusREF

Thurles Sarsfields 8/11
Loughgiel Shamrocks 7/2 St Thomas 7/2 Kilcormac/K 7/1

jaysusREF

DOn't know what happened to the above post. The position got lost somehow.
That's the Paddy Power betting.

7/1 K/K ? That's a bit unfair. I can see that Thurles would be considered favourites but at those odds I'm having a punt or three on K/K

And there's this too - Loughgiel Shamrocks have won this twice before. The other three have never even won a Provincial title so this is new territory for all three of them.

I have an inkling that Thurles maybe think they have it in the bag!

jaysusREF

AIB GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Club Championship 12/13 Semi Finals

Saturday February 9th, 2013

Venue Portlaoise @ 2 00 PM

Thurles Sarsfields vs Kilcormac-Killoughey


Venue Parnell Park @ 4 00 PM

St Thomas vs Loughgiel Shamrocks

dastardly00

Just a reminder that these games are on today.

Saturday, February 9
AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Semi-Finals

Thurles Sarsfields (Tipperary) v Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly), Portlaoise, 2pm
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)

St Thomas (Galway) v Loughgiel Shamrocks (Antrim), Parnell Park, 4pm

E.T. if Necessary

Both matches are live on tg4 from 1.30pm.
Preview on gaa.ie here.

Betting odds:
Thurles Sarsfields 1/7 v Kilcormac-Killoughey 5/1 Draw: 12/1
St Thomas evens v Loughgiel Shamrocks evens Draw: 8/1

The two matches should be very competitive and hopefully we should see some good hurling!

dastardly00

Good game so far, nothing much between the two teams.
KK 1-08 Sarsfields 1-07 @ HT

dastardly00

Great win by the Offaly and Leinster champions.
Sarsfields had the momentum with about 10 minuted to go and were only 1 point behind KK, but KK scored 6 unanswered points to settle the contest.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Great win for K/K.I thought after thurles got within a point of them in the middle of the second half they were in trouble but it was some turnaround by them to hit 6 straight points.

Lar Corbett was vey poor today but its hard to blame him.If I had just won 10million in the lotto I'd find it hard to concentrate on hurling

GoldFour4

Fair play to the offaly side today, took their chances well and were well on top in the end.

Have to say I thought the sidelines and goals on the pitch were a disgrace.

nice_guy80

malistheman wrote: »

Fair play to the offaly side today, took their chances well and were well on top in the end.

Have to say I thought the pitch was a disgrace.

For February I thought it was in great nick

GoldFour4

nice_guy80 wrote: »

For February I thought it was in great nick

The majority of it was grand but the sidelines were bad

paddy no 11

5-1, i wonder did anyone at all have a bet on KK

dastardly00

Not much between the sides in Parnell Park with 10 minutes to go....
St. Thomas 0-15 Loughgiel 2-10

dastardly00

St. Thomas 0-18 Loughgiel 2-12 FT
Extra time will be played.

I thought St. Thomas had blown their chances when they missed a great goal chance and had a couple of wides in the last few minutes. Conor Cooney scored an equalising point in the last minute.

The players looked fairly wrecked at full-time, and the pitch is only going to get worse also.

WumBuster

Surprised to see Thurles Sars beaten. A Munster side hasnt won this competion since 2004 or reached the final since 2008

Mountainlad

St Thomas should have this game won. 2 goal chances missed and three wides late on.

Loughgiel have been clinical and taken anything that's come there way. Watson is yet to spark. Conor Cooney has had a stormer, and Bernard Burke was very effective second half. Not the best hurler, but with his pace and strength I'd hate to mark him.

Excellent contest overall.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

Conor Cooney is hurling like a man possessed here.

WumBuster

Loughiel hanging in there

Mountainlad

The goal has finally come for St Thomas, but have they the legs to hold out?

tonc76

Mountainlad wrote: »

The goal has finally come for St Thomas, but have they the legs to hold out?

Brilliant game and finish!!

Mountainlad

I thought the De La Salle v Clarinbridge game was the best club game I've ever seen, but that has given it fair competition.

Conor Cooney was immense though. Outstanding leadership from a lad who's only 20 a few months.

KevIRL

Great finish to that

MfMan

Thomas' perhaps the better hurlers but Loughgiel had the wisdom and experience to keep going in spite of the odds. Thomas' need to improve their discipline as frees cost them dearly throughout. Conor Cooney played the match of his life. On a drier, faster pitch Thomas' will probably be the better team. Thank God the referee will be different next time out.

Mountainlad

Pete Campbell wrote: »

Conor Cooney is hurling like a man possessed here.

tonc76 wrote: »

Brilliant game and finish!!

WumBuster wrote: »

Loughiel hanging in there

KevIRL wrote: »

Great finish to that

The game had a great audience down here in Waterford anyway

funkey_monkey

Some heart there from Loughguiel at the end. The replay will be doing well to be anything near as good as that - it had it all.
Not sure who to put my money on next week. Loughguiel might just shade it for me.

Mountainlad

MfMan wrote: »

Thomas' perhaps the better hurlers but Loughgiel had the wisdom and experience to keep going in spite of the odds. Thomas' need to improve their discipline as frees cost them dearly throughout. Conor Cooney played the match of his life. On a drier, faster pitch Thomas' will probably be the better team. Thank God the referee will be different next time out.

What did he do wrong?

dastardly00

Cracking finish to the game.
St. Thomas 1-25 Loughiel 3-19 AET

You gotta love the AI Club hurling semi-finals for drama and excitement!

Utopia Parkway

Thomas' will be sick to have drawn that. They should have won it in normal time but missed a load of chances in the last 5 or 6 minutes and then were 4 up again with 2 minutes left in extra time.

Don't think the pitch did any favours to the lighter Thomas' side. It was like a bog. I'm sure they will be hoping for a firmer surface the next day.

Mountainlad

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Thomas' will be sick to have drawn that. They should have won it in normal time but missed a load of chances in the last 5 or 6 minutes and then were 4 up again with 2 minutes left in extra time.

Don't think the pitch did any favours to the lighter Thomas' side. It was like a bog. I'm sure they will be hoping for a firmer surface the next day.

I can't imagine there's many halfway points between the two with a good surface this time of year.

MfMan

Mountainlad wrote: »

What did he do wrong?

Didn't too many favours to Thomas' anyway, very harsh yellow cards. Even Loughgiel goalie got one. Gave a 21-yard free to Loughgiel when penalising Thomas' for picking ball off the ground, TV replays proved they didn't. Couple of other times Thomas' players taken out of it but he waved play on. Arrived at the match without his common sense in my view.

Hidalgo

Outstanding game between St. Thomas' & Loughiel.
Wasn't it AET that they won their semi last year V Na Piarsigh.

Great strike by Watson to level it up. Conor Cooney gave an exhibition of hurling in very difficult conditions.

The refereeing decision that annoyed me most was in the 2nd half a Thomas' player was coming out, shouldered into the chest, the ref obviously saw it as he played some form of advantage even though the player was bottled up. End result of it was a point for Loughiel.

On another note, why do these games have to go to extra time rather than a replay, final isn't for another 5-6 weeks.

cat in the sack

great win for the offaly side today i though they were way the more skillful side plus they walked out over the thurles men in the last 20 minutes Lar went AWOL again today good win for offaly hurling.

Mountainlad

cat in the sack wrote: »

great win for the offaly side today i though they were way the more skillful side plus they walked out over the thurles men in the last 20 minutes Lar went AWOL again today good win for offaly hurling.

I joined the game very very late to be fair, and I only really saw about 7 minutes between the 42 minute and 49th, but in that time I saw Lar play to exceptional balls into the full forward line. One to Pa Bourke who did nothing with it, and the ball into Richie Ruth which very nearly yielded what might have been a crucial goal.

He's playing a much more withdrawn role, and I'm just wondering is everyone still expecting him to score goals when he's playing 50 or 60 yards out the field? Not saying that your analysis is wrong though, because for all I know he didn't puck a ball for the rest of the game.

cat in the sack

cat in the sack wrote: »

great win for the offaly side today i though they were way the more skillful side plus they walked out over the thurles men in the last 20 minutes Lar went AWOL again today good win for offaly hurling.

Im no Sars man but my congrats K/K on a spirited performance and a great win. Totally deserved and best of luck to them in the All ireland final. Good honest lads and brilliant hurlers to boot


While he does tend to have little value in these type of games, I think its a bit tasteless the way Lar is singled out by 'hurling folk' all of the time. Yes he was bad but so was the likes of Pa Bourke, etc. Why should Lar always carry the can? Bit of bitterness over him scoring a hat trick on KK. DJ Carey still gets respect for the damage he inflicted on Tipp over the years so why doesnt Lar get likewise? Of course it seems to be nullified from what happened the following two years. I always like to look at a hurlers collective form and Lar has had a fantastic scoring rate the last 3 or 4 years. A man who doesnt get paid for playing the game deserves a bit more respect especially for what he has done for it.

Mountainlad

Mountainlad wrote: »

I joined the game very very late to be fair, and I only really saw about 7 minutes between the 42 minute and 49th, but in that time I saw Lar play to exceptional balls into the full forward line. One to Pa Bourke who did nothing with it, and the ball into Richie Ruth which very nearly yielded what might have been a crucial goal.

He's playing a much more withdrawn role, and I'm just wondering is everyone still expecting him to score goals when he's playing 50 or 60 yards out the field? Not saying that your analysis is wrong though, because for all I know he didn't puck a ball for the rest of the game.

His 'analysis' is as deep as a puddle. Typical bitter bullsh*t. Lar is feeling the wrath over contributing greatly to the 'drive for 5' ending. Its unbelievable stuff altogether. If DJ Carey or Henry Shefflin was treated by other counties as poorly, civil war would be declared. Instead Lar is treated like trash and even his own crowd join in. Disgusting really

WumBuster

WumBuster wrote: »

Surprised to see Thurles Sars beaten. A Munster side hasnt won this competion since 2004 or reached the final since 2008

Newtownshandrum feat Pat Mulcahy, Cathal Naughton and the O'Connor twins were the last (serious club) but other then Toomevara throwing away a 13 point lead to Ballyhale, or De La Salle in 2011, we havent had even a contender and yet we claim to be the best province.

Tipp hurling needs the kiss of life and Cork has suffered. Clare Waterford and Limerick could also do with a boost. Granted Antrim,Galway or Offaly arent the strongest hurling counties but Loughgiel could well be back to back champions next month or perhaps St Thomas or K/K could cement both Offaly and Galways respective records at club level

WumBuster

Deleted User wrote: »

Newtownshandrum feat Pat Mulcahy, Cathal Naughton and the O'Connor twins were the last (serious club) but other then Toomevara throwing away a 13 point lead to Ballyhale, or De La Salle in 2011, we havent had even a contender and yet we claim to be the best province.

Tipp hurling needs the kiss of life and Cork has suffered. Clare Waterford and Limerick could also do with a boost. Granted Antrim,Galway or Offaly arent the strongest hurling counties but Loughgiel could well be back to back champions next month or perhaps St Thomas or K/K could cement both Offaly and Galways respective records at club level

It is slightly worrying from a Munster perspective that clubs havent gone on to win this out..Thats the way it always was..with respect to Antrim and Offaly but Munster clubs as the heartland of hurling should be beating these teams more often than not, with the Munster Club being a fierce tough competition I dont know whats going there and why they are not doing it in the All Ireland Series of late.. tbh I would have nearly put my house on Thurles Sars winning it out this year with the players they have..

randd1

WumBuster wrote: »

It is slightly worrying from a Munster perspective that clubs havent gone on to win this out..Thats the way it always was..with respect to Antrim and Offaly but Munster clubs as the heartland of hurling should be beating these teams more often than not, with the Munster Club being a fierce tough competition I dont know whats going there and why they are not doing it in the All Ireland Series of late.. tbh I would have nearly put my house on Thurles Sars winning it out this year with the players they have..

Thats the problem there. Just because they're from Munster it must mean that when they come to face the likes of an Offaly or Antrim club, they think because they're a Munster side they should win, and generally so do the bookies which boosts that assertion.

This despite the fact since the turn of the millennium Munster clubs have only got to four finals, winning only one.

They forget that clubs from Offaly and Antrim have pride and fight in them. in fact since the turn of the millennium, Antrim sides have almost the same record in finals as Munster sides as an entire province (getting to one less final), while Offaly have better record than Munster sides as an entire province in the same period.

And take Cork clubs record out of things, Offaly and Antrim clubs have a better record combined overall than the rest of the Munster sides all together. And even at that Cork clubs have only won 2 titles in the last 34 years.

Mountainlad

In fairness, Offaly produce some good hurling sides, Birr being one of the best club sides we've seen, in the 90's and the start of the last decade.

The Antrim club teams can also be good, certainly the clubs are of a higher standard than the county. This Loughgiel team in particular is a very good side.

That said, it is far easier to come out of Ulster than it is Munster.

Antrim teams have won Ulster 36/42 times (86% of every Ulster Championship). Compare that to Cork who've won the most club titles in Munster, and it's only 17/51 (33% of all Munster club championships). Only one other County (Down) has won the Ulster championship. Every county in Munster has, at least 5 times.

On average, if you're making the semi finals year in year out your bound to get to a few All-Ireland finals. I'm not trying to argue that the Munster teams aren't under performing in the all-ireland semis, and dastardly is probably right that complacency is an issue. But there's plenty of other factors too.

Grats

No doubt Lar Corbett will take most of the flak for Thurles Sarsfield's loss. This shouldn't be of major surprise, as judging by amount of media space devoted to Lar in the lead up to the game, Lar is the "main" man with Thurles, You have to wonder though if the man has learned nothing from the disaster against Kilkenny last year. Lar, and Eion Kelly, were the "brains" behind that Tipp gameplan which resulted in the weirdest and most unsporting display seen in Croke Park. Lar's celebrating when he GOT Tommy Walsh booked was about the only thing he got to celebrate. It shows the unsporting streak in the man. He repeated this act y'day when he was awarded a free.

Also, what Club could be happy with their "main" man interrupting his training plans to travel to the US just a week before the Semi Final?

Lar has been courting the media since he hit a high point in his hurling career back in 2010. Despite this brief spell at the top he still manages to attract huge publicity - and more luck to him. But when he receives criticism in the media for his poor displays he will have to accept it. Live by the sword, die by the sword!

It will be interesting to see if Tipp Manager O'Shea can harness Lar. If Lar goes silent again it will be a sure sign that O'Shea is cracking the whip. Whether the manager manages to get a good championship out of Lar remains to be seen.

BTW - Padraig Maher is experiencing a serious drop off in form. It makes you wonder if all the bad publicity after the Kilkenny game is affecting him.

Mountainlad

Grats wrote: »

No doubt Lar Corbett will take most of the flak for Thurles Sarsfield's loss. This shouldn't be of major surprise, as judging by amount of media space devoted to Lar in the lead up to the game, Lar is the "main" man with Thurles, You have to wonder though if the man has learned nothing from the disaster against Kilkenny last year. Lar, and Eion Kelly, were the "brains" behind that Tipp gameplan which resulted in the weirdest and most unsporting display seen in Croke Park. Lar's celebrating when he GOT Tommy Walsh booked was about the only thing he got to celebrate. It shows the unsporting streak in the man. He repeated this act y'day when he was awarded a free.

Also, what Club could be happy with their "main" man interrupting his training plans to travel to the US just a week before the Semi Final?

Not even close.

I think there's definitely not been a wholesale recognition for the fact that Lar has been playing a far more withdrawn role since he was cleaned out in the 2011 all-ireland final, and yet there's still an expectation that he should be scoring 3 goals in every game. The all-ireland semi was bizzare this year, I've heard half a million different stories about what went on but at the end of the day it was a really a bad day for Tipp all round.

As far as celebrating the yellow card goes, that is really a very small thing. I don't ever remember seeing Corbett pull a stroke bar maybe a very poorly timed challenge on Eoin Murphy in 2008, whereas I've seen it from Tommy Walsh a few times (though to be fair it's several years ago now).

What's far worse than a petty taunt over a yellow card is the things players say to each other about mothers, girlfriends, sisters etc but sure we don't mind that because we never hear it now, do we?

Utopia Parkway

Deleted User wrote: »

Tipp hurling needs the kiss of life and Cork has suffered. Clare Waterford and Limerick could also do with a boost. Granted Antrim,Galway or Offaly arent the strongest hurling counties l

Not 100% sure what you're trying to say there? How are Galway not a strong hurling county? They were in the All-Ireland final only a few months ago. And even though Offaly have been in the doldrums in recent years they have been a strong hurling county in the modern era.

Utopia Parkway

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Not 100% sure what you're trying to say there? How are Galway not a strong hurling county? They were in the All-Ireland final only a few months ago. And even though Offaly have been in the doldrums in recent years they have been a strong hurling county in the modern era.

TBF your right i dunno how or actually cant remember putting Galway in that bracket. Galway mightnt be traditional in the same sense of the big 3 but have had unbelievable underage and club success. Offaly while still having a strong club championship if Coolderry and now K/K are anything to go by have declined at intercounty level since the early noughties

premierstone

Grats wrote: »

No doubt Lar Corbett will take most of the flak for Thurles Sarsfield's loss. This shouldn't be of major surprise, as judging by amount of media space devoted to Lar in the lead up to the game, Lar is the "main" man with Thurles, You have to wonder though if the man has learned nothing from the disaster against Kilkenny last year. Lar, and Eion Kelly, were the "brains" behind that Tipp gameplan which resulted in the weirdest and most unsporting display seen in Croke Park. Lar's celebrating when he GOT Tommy Walsh booked was about the only thing he got to celebrate. It shows the unsporting streak in the man. He repeated this act y'day when he was awarded a free.

Also, what Club could be happy with their "main" man interrupting his training plans to travel to the US just a week before the Semi Final?

Lar has been courting the media since he hit a high point in his hurling career back in 2010. Despite this brief spell at the top he still manages to attract huge publicity - and more luck to him. But when he receives criticism in the media for his poor displays he will have to accept it. Live by the sword, die by the sword!

It will be interesting to see if Tipp Manager O'Shea can harness Lar. If Lar goes silent again it will be a sure sign that O'Shea is cracking the whip. Whether the manager manages to get a good championship out of Lar remains to be seen.

BTW - Padraig Maher is experiencing a serious drop off in form. It makes you wonder if all the bad publicity after the Kilkenny game is affecting him.

A couple of points here, firstly Eoin Kelly had fcuk all to do with what happened last August.

As for the celebrating when Tommy Walsh got the yellow, yes it was embarrassing and stupid, he did in no way shap or form repeat that last Saturday, he won a free and clenched he's fist and attempted to lift he's colleagues something every second player does, but of course everything Lar does is over analysed.

I agree re the trip to America I found it very strange but when I enquired into it apparently Lar had committed to it long before Thurles had made it to an AI semi, unfortunate timing at worst.

Padraig Maher has been outstanding all year for Thurles and yes he was poor on Saturday, but if you watch the game again he got a belt( accidental) across the chest very early iin the game, and infact was in hospital since to have it checked out as he's breathing was affected. The fact he even finished the game is commendable.

Im fairly sure Eamon O'Shea will rein Lar in, the stupid articles in the Independant for one will have to go, but Lar has great time for O'Shea and had him playing the hurling of he's life only two years ago, no reason why he can't repeat the trick.