Premier intermediate the exception in terms of bye benefits in hurling

Earlier this week, we looked at the quirk of the Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC and how, since the reformatting of the championships, it has never been won by the team receiving the quarter-final bye.

Compared to the other four grades, the top tier is a special case in that only the top seeds advance directly to the last four. From senior A down to premier junior, there are two automatic semi-final places to group winners, with the other first-placed team then contesting the quarter-finals with the three runners-up.

It therefore stands to reason that there would be a better chance of those championships being won by teams that have managed to take the direct route – that is the case but how different is the overall landscape?

We have five years’ worth of data to crunch across four different competitions and a largely similar picture emerges, albeit with one exception – which may almost be expected, given the identity of the grade in question.

At senior A level, four of the five editions have been won by teams that have earned one of the top two seedings – seven of those ten teams have won their semi-finals. The sole exception came in 2023, when Newcestown beat Killeagh in a quarter-final and then overcame Carrigtwohill, who had progressed straight to the semis. In the final, the Carbery side got the better of Blarney after a replay.

The intermediate A level has the exact same figures as senior A – seven of ten bye teams winning their semis, with four of them going on to ultimate glory. Dungourney in 2022 are the exception; as it happens, they contest the Premier IHC semi-finals this weekend, having taken an automatic spot.

The lower IHC (202-21), which was then renamed Premier JHC, conforms too: four winners who had received byes, with just a slightly lower six-from-ten figure for semi-final wins. Erin’s Own (2023) were the only winners of the fifth tier to have played a quarter-final in the year of victory.

As you’ll have divined from a process of elimination, the Premier IHC stands apart from the rest. When we examined group winners’ quarter-final results a fortnight ago, it went against the grain too and the grade’s competitiveness is such that there is very little disparity across the dozen teams in a given year.

Only two of the champions – Courcey Rovers in 2021 and Watergrasshill last year – received byes, while Courceys’ win over Castlelyons was the only time that the top seeds won their semi-finals, with a 50 percent strike-rate overall for the sides that bypassed the quarter-finals.

While it is not as acute as premier senior – where the winners of the semi-final featuring the team with the bye have never gone on to win the final – those figures do highlight a clear discord between the middle tier and the others.

We shall see if the coming weekend’s action follows the existing trends or threatens to change them.