Do Coolderry deserve to be ranked above county champions K/K?

As if there wasn't enough controversy generated by his football club list, KEVIN EGAN now brings you the end of season hurling rankings. He throw the cat amongst the pigeons right from the off by rating Coolderry above county champions Kilcormac/Killoughey. 1 - Coolderry. This controversial call could lead to effigies of this columnist being burned from Ballyboy to Mountbolus, but one bad quarter-final does not change the fact that Coolderry are the best team in the county. They topped their group with ease and will start 2013 as the clear favourites to secure the Sean Robbins Cup. 2 - Kilcormac-Killoughey. If they pull off a shock win over Oulart or Ballyhale then we would revise this list and give them the top spot, but even though they can only beat the opponents put in front of them, they gave chances to a lot of moderate opponents this year and some of their first-half performances have been very ordinary. Of course that doesn't change the fact that they full deserve their county title - but we're ranking teams in terms of overall ability here, not just results. 3 - St Rynagh's. Their quarter-final win over Coolderry was the best performance of the year by any club and in theory, they should be able to build on their achievements this summer. However, they also lost three games, all comprehensively. 4 - Birr. Their rip-roaring U21 final against St Rynagh's was a joy to behold, but a deeper examination of their underage results makes for some poor reading. They have a few years to make serious structural changes, otherwise a long lean spell is in prospect. 5 - Shinrone. They have some of the best young hurlers in the county ready to augment a good senior panel who impressed when beating Clareen in the quarter-final. Their group game against Birr was a missed opportunity, however. Now they must continue their progression from being a stylish but underachieving club, into a powerful, modern and still skilful outfit. 6 - Seir Kieran. They're a joy to watch and they have some great individuals - but there is a limit to how far Joe Bergin can carry them. Some of their other young prospects haven't developed as much as they should have. 7 - Brosna Gaels. This club is the best argument against the nonsensical idea that Offaly hurling needs to go back to a Birr-centric approach. Their players have married their footballing strength and skill with good hurling instruction and a lot of traditional clubs could learn from their approach to the game. They should contribute to all county panels in 2013. 8 - Belmont. The absence of some dual players and a few key departures due to emigration left them very short this year. At full strength they have a lot to offer, but they crumbled without Colin Egan's ball-winning ability in the knockout stages. 9 - Kinnitty. Aside from their game against Shamrocks, they scored one goal in four games. K-K and Brosna Gaels both beat them by exactly one goal. If they can keep most of their best players on the field and figure out how to create more goal chances, they'll improve on this placing next year. 10 - Tullamore. Despite Shane Dooley's prolific scoring ability, only Shamrocks scored less than them in the senior championship, illustrating to their biggest problem. Players other than Dooley scored just 14 points in the four games that the county player started. The club's trend of improving in one code while stepping back in the other continues. 11 - Lusmagh. They played some wonderful hurling at times this year and gave Thomastown plenty to think about for long spells as well. Their season is proof that relegation need not be a disaster for any team if they look at the intermediate grade as a chance to win and come back stronger. 12 - Drumcullen. A relegation play-off victory over Shamrocks and a narrow defeat to Birr doesn't redeem a season in which they looked woefully off the pace at times. There are no obvious candidates to replace some of their older stalwarts, so they'll start next year as front-runners for relegation. 13 - Shamrocks. They aren't as bad as their results from this summer suggested, but they still have a lot of work to do before they'll even be competitive at intermediate level. They need to do better at getting their best team on the field consistently. 14 - Ballinamere. They played the four best teams in the IHC this summer, winning one, drawing one and narrowly losing two. They aren't that far off the mark and need to keep pushing on. 15 - Killurin. They may sit a mere one place below Ballinamere in our list, but there is a big gap between the two clubs. They got a nice draw this year and failed to take advantage, producing a terrible display in the quarter-final. Some nice league form suggested that they had more in the tank and their first round win over Carrig & Riverstown added to that sense of hope, but from July onwards they never caught fire. 16 - Carrig & Riverstown. Their stint in division one of the league didn't give them the boost they hoped for in the championship, though they did secure an historic win over Birr. Underage results suggest slow and incremental progress, so it'll probably be another few years before they start consistently getting into semi-finals. 17 - Killavilla. By far the strongest outright junior club, they looked strong throughout the league and group stages of the championship. Their inability to get over the line against Shinrone and again in the Leinster Special Junior championship suggests both that they aren't far off and that they have more work to do. 18 - Clara. One good result against Ballinamere doesn't hide the fact that they are still well off the pace. They are a big enough club to do better at their second sport but, as evidenced by their place below Killavilla on this list, they're a lot closer to junior than senior. 19 - Ballyskenach. Came within an hour of dropping down to junior and based on current form, if they went down, they'd struggle to come back up. 20 - Crinkill. This club played 17 competitive games this year, losing 15 and drawing one. They scored less than ten points per game on average and conceded over 20. Sadly, their relegation was fully deserved. 21 - Killeigh. Topped their group, but only beat Killeigh by a goal in Kinnitty. Shinrone travelled to Killeigh and came away with a 4-11 to 3-12 win en route to winning the Junior championship. They clearly aren't far off the mark. 22 - Edenderry. Much of their form this year was in keeping with previous seasons, but their win over Kinnitty suggests that they have the potential to do much better. Hopefully that result spurs the club on to even greater efforts and greater rewards. 23 - Raheen. Not everyone in the club would agree with their decision to go solo, but their county final appearance will be seen as vindication of that choice. Still, it's hard not to wonder if Killeigh/Raheen/Killurin could become another Brosna Gaels with the right approach. 24 - Gracefield. There are some real stalwarts in the club and some quite good young players too - Shane Lawless and Keith Mullally in particular would be comfortable hurling at a much higher level. Clearly they need more help however as they always find someone too good, even at the Junior B grade. *What do you think? You can leave a comment here or email sport@offalyindependent.ie to give your views on Kevin's ratings of Offaly's clubs.