Cork Premier Senior Hurling: Charleville, Fr O'Neills and Newtown looking to push into title mix

WE are all set for what should be a fascinating end to the group stage of the Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship this weekend. 

There will be a lunge for the line in two of the groups to ensure qualification for the much sought-after knock-out stages.

Group B is potentially the most interesting of all the three groups. We know that leaders Douglas are safely qualified but after that, the second spot is up for grabs, with all three sides still very much in the mix.

If Erin's Own were to secure a win over Fr O'Neill's in their battle in Cloyne and snatch second place, it would have to go down as one of the great Houdini acts of this championship.

The Glounthaune club looked destined for a relegation play-off given the manner of their 11-point defeat to Douglas in Round 1, but Eoghan Murphy's leveller, in the ninth minute of injury time against Charleville in their second match gave them a lifeline.

They've scored seventeen points in both of their games so far, which is a clear illustration of how much they are missing their star man Robbie O’Flynn. You feel that they will have to up the scoring rate to get the job done this weekend. A goal or two would certainly help in this regard. 

Interestingly, it is actually quite possible that they qualify out of the group with by far and away the worst points difference in Group B. In saying that, a defeat here might still see them being dragged into the relegation play-off picture.

CONCERN

Their opponents Fr O’Neill’s will have been disappointed by the manner of their defeat to Douglas in the last round. Their tally of 0-16 in that game won't win many games, and they only scored 1-15 in their opening-round draw with Charleville, so their scoring rate will have been a concern. 

They look to be struggling to get the most out of Declan Dalton and Billy Dunne at present and that's a puzzle they are going to have to solve this weekend if they are to have any chance of progressing.

Douglas would realistically require a draw between Blackrock and Midleton to have a chance of securing the top seed spot that brings with it an automatic semi-final place.

This is potentially good news for Charleville, as they might be getting Douglas when the focus is not quite at 100%, which might open the door for them. They certainly don't want to follow in the footsteps of Watergrasshill by drawing all their group games in one year.

Group A is done and dusted in terms of identifying the two clubs that will progress, but there are still two salient matters to be determined.

Blackrock and Midleton have huge points differences, so the likelihood is that the winner of that ends up as top seeds, although you wouldn't be surprised if this was not the last meeting of these two this year.

The other game could be a damp squib, or it could get very interesting very quickly, should Glen Rovers find themselves in a dogfight with Bishopstown, as a relegation play-off awaits the loser of that one.

Last, but not least, is Group C, with the big questions here being, can Sarsfields finally show a bit of consistency in this competition, and can the reigning champions St Finbarr’s rediscover their mojo and do enough to sneak past the tricky challenge of Kanturk?

Sars were lucky to come out of their opener against Kanturk with a share of the spoils but then looked like potential champions in the manner that they took care of the Barrs. These one-off performances won't do though. At some stage, Sars are going to have to start putting big performances in back-to-back games. A win over Newtownshandrum this weekend would certainly be a start in this regard.

The Barrs were surprisingly flat in that three-point defeat which felt like a bigger margin than that. Their big players need to bring their A game to Fermoy this weekend.

If there is going to be a major surprise this weekend then it could well be in this group.