Premier SFC: Quarter-final bye slightly more useful than hurling equivalent

Facts and statistics go hand-in-hand, united by their inalienability – and, given how so much of the modern world involves opinions of questionable justification or veracity, the truth is something important to cling to.

In that landscape, we must start with a clarification: last week, we carried a piece which failed to mention that Kiskeam had been the first Duhallow team to play in the top tier of the county football league. Given their colours of black and white, it’s only right that record should be acknowledged with clarity.

Another statistic, in the wake of Blackrock’s defeat to Midleton in Sunday’s Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC semi-final: the team receiving the bye to the last four – six different clubs since 2020 – have never won the title.

It is perhaps explicable partly in the fact that the hurling championship has been a democratic affair since the restructuring: five editions up to now and five different winners, though either Sarsfields or Midleton will make it two victories in that era.

As we are well are, the Premier SFC has been a bit more of a closed shop – since Carbery Rangers’ victory in 2016, the roll of honour reads Nemo Rangers four wins and Castlehaven and St Finbarr’s two each. The bookmakers reckon that this year’s title will again go the way of one of the big three, with Nemo and the Barrs strong favourites to win their semi-finals on Sunday, against Newcestown and Ballincollig respectively.

Well, funnily enough, there is a large similarity in terms of the hurling and football – last year, when Castlehaven retained the Andy Scannell Cup, they became the first team the win the revamped championship after bypassing the quarter-finals.

In the hurling, the situation is so acute that the winners of the semi-final featuring the bye team have never managed ultimate glory, though of course Midleton have the chance to change that.

For the first three seasons after the restructuring, the football was the same: in 2020, the Haven earned top seeding and did get over the Barrs after that epic penalty shootout in Páirc Uí Rinn but lost the final to Nemo, albeit nearly 11 months later.

A few months on, it was Douglas who had the best group-stage record – so far, the only team outside the top troika to gain such an accolade – but they lost their semi to Clon, who in turn were edged by the Barrs in the final.

Then, in 2022, the Togher side carried the confidence of champions as they romped through the groups to move straight to semis, with an impressive win over the Haven putting them as favourites to beat Nemo and secure a double.

Unfortunately for the Barrs, that didn’t transpire as Nemo beat them and the next year, while the boys in blue again had the top ranking, this time they lost to the Haven, who in turn beat Nemo in the final.

That was the first time that the winners of the seeded side’s semi had won the title and the Haven repeated the dose in 2024, this time as the first top seed to go all the way.

In the half-decade up to now, Nemo have always had to contest a quarter-final, making this campaign new territory for them. They’ve never had a problem taking challenge in their stride.