Belmont and Birr aim to cause upsets in hurling semi-finals
By Kevin Egan
Birr and Belmont may have topped their respective groups in the Offaly SHC, but both clubs will still start as underdogs this weekend's semi-finals following impressive showings from Kilcormac-Killoughey and Shinrone in the quarter-finals a fortnight ago.
Shinrone’s unpredictability remains something of a concern for supporters of that club and while Belmont’s preparation is less than ideal with a five-week gap since their last game and the distraction of Ferbane's football match against Shamrocks last Sunday, they tend to match up well against the Tipperary border club, particularly around the middle.
There are concerns about Belmont’s scoring power close to goal – the starting full-forward line scored 0-2 between them in the group game between the clubs – but every game that Oisín Kelly gets under his belt changes the arithmetic on that one.
Eamonn Cleary is arguably the form goalkeeper in the county right now while Killian Sampson is dominating games from centre-back, repelling runners coming down the middle very well. Belmont won the group game without scoring a goal, but chances are they’ll need one or two here, and they won’t come easy.
Shinrone will start as marginal favourites on Sunday (Grant Heating St Brendan's Park, 4.30pm), but this is unquestionably the game of the weekend.
It's a lot tougher to make a case for Birr against Kilcormac-Killoughey, who were so impressive against Ballinamere even with several of their bigger name players having a relatively quiet afternoon.
For all their qualities, one that goes under the radar with the county champions is their discipline in the tackle. Dan Ravenhill found the net with two close-range frees when the game was dead in the water last time out but aside from those two strikes, they conceded no more than 0-5 from frees in any their five championship outings.
Eoghan Cahill is not going to be afforded the chance to put up ten points from dead balls and that makes it very hard to visualise Birr getting to the kind of total that they will need to win this game (Saturday, Tullamore, 4.30).
Finally, looking ahead to Sunday’s Senior 'B' hurling final (2.30, Birr), Carrig & Riverstown have looked like the form team all year, but Clara exposed some weak links while Lusmagh continue to look very impressive. This should be a fantastic contest that is very close to 50/50, or perhaps one where the 'small parish' have a point or two to find, at most.