Hurling action heats up
Preliminary quarter-final pairings to be finalised
THE PRELIMINARY quarter-final match-ups for the domestic hurling championships will be determined this weekend, but some clubs already advanced to the last eight have started the process of trying to fill the time until their first knockout game on the week ending October 6.
The reward for the top two teams in each group is a direct route to the quarter-finals, bypassing the extra round that was added in order to provide nine weeks of competitive action rather than eight for two-thirds of the participants.
However, with three of the next five weekends occupied with football activity, the need for the already-qualified hurling teams to stay sharp will be a major consideration for mentors.
After the pairings for the first knockout round of hurling are finalised from Friday through to Sunday, football will return to the spotlight with rounds four and five down for decision on the weeks ending September 8 and 15.
The elimination of hurling sides will begin on the week ending September 22, when those preliminary quarter-finals are staged.
The difference in structures between the codes this season means that preliminaries are not required in football, with the lasteight ties to be played on the final weekend of September.
And then, on the week-ending October 6, the top two in the hurling groups will return to competitive action at the quarter-final stage.
Teams already in that category include St. Anne’s (Senior), Rathnure and HWH-Bunclody (Intermediate), Geraldine O’Hanrahans, Monageer-Boolavogue and Rathgarogue-Cushinstown (Intermediate ‘A’), St. Patrick’s (Junior), and Ballyhogue (Junior ‘A’).
One of the preliminary quarter-final pairings in the Senor grade is already cast in stone, as Oulart-The Ballagh will face Rapparees in a game that will double up as a relegation semi-final.
The Enniscorthy men are rock bottom in Group B after four straight defeats, and they cannot improve their position even if they spring a surprise against St. Martin’s.
Sixth in their group will play fifth on the other side, and that cannot be anyone apart from Oulart-The Ballagh due to previous head-to-head outcomes - having lost to Glynn-Barntown, and beaten Crossabeg-Ballymurn, who themselves are guaranteed to finish at the foot of Group A.
That also means the losers of the latter’s preliminary quarter-final against the fifth-placed Group B side will drop into a relegation decider.
And most of the intrigue next Sunday will centre on who Crossabeg-Ballymurn will face when the knockout action begins.
Oylegate-Glenbrien currently occupy fifth spot, but only because of an inferior scoring difference to Cloughbawn and Faythe Harriers, with the trio on four points apiece.