Who delivers and who falls when Cork Premier Senior Hurling gets serious?

Given that all five of Cork’s traditional hurling powerhouses opened their Premier Senior Championship campaigns with convincing wins, it’s fair to say Midleton, Blackrock, St Finbarr’s, Sarsfields, and Glen Rovers are all well-positioned to push for the knockout stages.

But history suggests that status can shift quickly. Not once in the five years since the format change in 2020, have all five heavyweights reached the knockout stages in the same season.

Of the group – or six, if you include Imokilly – only Blackrock have featured in the knockout rounds every year under the current structure.

The others have all had stumbles. Glen Rovers were relegated in 2023. Sarsfields missed out in 2022. St Finbarr’s failed to qualify in 2020, 2021 and 2024. Midleton didn’t make the knockouts in 2020 or 2022.

It paints an odd picture: in that three-year span from 2020 to 2022, both the Barrs and Midleton were knocked out at the group stage twice, and won the county title once apiece.

Interestingly, up until last season, Blackrock weren’t alone in their record of annual knockout appearances. But no, it wasn’t Imokilly, the East Cork divisional side were denied a quarter-final spot in 2020 by UCC, who won the Denis O’Riordan Cup.

It was Douglas.

SHORTCOMINGS

The southside club reached the quarter-finals every year from 2020 to 2023. However, consistency has brought no reward. Douglas have lost all four of their knockout matches, making them statistically the weakest club at that stage of the competition.

Every other side with more than one knockout appearance has at least one win to show for it.

 UCC have a 1-1 record, Newtownshandrum have one win and two defeats, and Erin’s Own have one win from four.

Then there are the one-season quarter-finalists – Na Piarsaigh, Charleville, Kanturk and Fr O’Neill’s – each knocked out at the first hurdle in their lone appearances.

So how do the big six compare in knockout performance?

Blackrock have the most wins (7) over the five-year span, but their 4 losses – all since their 2020 title – mean they sit on a 63% win rate.

The best knockout win percentage belongs to St Finbarr’s. They’ve played the fewest knockout games among the big six but have only lost once – a 2023 semi-final defeat to Midleton. They won three games in 2022 en route to lifting the Seán Óg Murphy Cup, and another against Charleville in 2023, giving them an 80% win rate.

Next up are Midleton, with a 5-2 record in knockouts under the new structure. Both defeats came at the hands of Sarsfields. Their five wins span their 2021 county title, a 2023 final run, and last year’s quarter-final win over Newtownshandrum.

Sarsfields and Imokilly are tied behind them on four wins and three losses apiece. Sars didn’t win a knockout game under the new format until their 2023 championship-winning campaign, which saw them beat Blackrock, Imokilly, and Midleton. They added another knockout win last year – again over Midleton – before falling to Imokilly in the final.

Three of Imokilly’s four wins came last year during their run to county glory, with the other coming in 2023 against Douglas – their first quarter-final win after two straight losses in 2021 and 2022.

Glen Rovers have fared worst of the big six. Since 2020, they’ve won just three of six knockout fixtures – not including their 2023 relegation playoff which they lost – giving them a 50% win rate.

They haven’t won a knockout match since 2021, a drought they’ll be desperate to end this season. With the quality among the current squad and one win on the board, they’re well placed to achieve exactly that.