Premier SHC preview: Opportunity knocks with semi-final places up for grabs
Sarsfields' BrYan Murphy goes high to claim possession against Kanturk in the RedFM Hurling League Division 1 game in Riverstown in 2025. Picture: David Keane
While the quarter-final line-up in this year’s Co-op SuperScores Premier SHC may not be hugely surprising in and of itself, how the draw was reached might raise more of an eyebrow.
If, at the outset of the year, you had been told that champions Sarsfields would face Kanturk while Glen Rovers took on Charleville, it would not have caused a shock, beyond the fact that Blackrock would have failed to reach the knockout stages for the first time under the new system.
However, few would have predicted at the outset of the campaign that Charleville and Kanturk would emerge as group winners, with Sarsfields and the Glen settling for runners-up spots.
In one sense, it is indicative of the increasing democratisation of the top tier of Cork hurling – of the 12 that started off in 2020, Ballyhea, Carrigtwohill, Na Piarsaigh, Bishopstown and Erin’s Own have departed, with the Glen the only relegated side that have returned up to now.
On the other hand, while those final group classifications were not exactly misleading, they did perhaps mask a deeper overall picture – the four clubs in question finished with the same tallies.
Charleville topped Group 2 with four points, the same as what Sars had in second; it was a similar situation in Group 1, where third-placed Blackrock had four points too but were edged on scoring difference by Kanturk and the Glen respectively.
Victory over Sars in the opening game was what allowed Charleville to take first place on head-to-head record; however, since then they have lost their leader, Cork captain Darragh Fitzgibbon, to a quad muscle injury – defeat to neighbours Newtownshandrum in their last group match was not fatal but it was a missed chance to go for the automatic semi-final spot that went to Midleton.
As they seem to rediscover momentum, they face a Glen Rovers team that has only picked up on that front since losing their opener to the Rockies.
If the charge against the northsiders was that Patrick Horgan had to carry too much of the scoring burden, Eoin O’Leary showed with 3-5 across the wins over Kanturk and Fr O’Neill’s that he can become a go-to player.
Like the Glen, Sars shrugged off a first-round defeat to get the two wins needed to progress and they will be favourites against Kanturk, especially as their injury list begins to clear.
However, Kanturk laid down a marker in beating Fr O’Neill’s, were then unlucky not to hold on against the Glen and, when a response was needed against Blackrock, they produced it in emphatic fashion.
Brian O’Sullivan has had some formidable showings at midfield for the Duhallow outfit but to distill their impact down to just one player would do the collective a disservice. The challenges don’t come bigger than Sars but Kanturk always relish them.
While that double-header is ongoing in Mallow, Midleton hosts the other two games. First up, Fr O’Neill’s and Douglas will battle to preserve their top-flight status – these matches rarely have much between the sides as the prize for winning is overshadowed by the spectre of what follows for the losers, making them very tense affairs.
Following that, St Finbarr’s and Imokilly clash at this stage for the second successive year. Imokilly’s team is much-changed, albeit with plenty of quality still at their disposal; this will represent a step up from what they have faced so far but the Barrs have yet to fire.
If Brian Hayes – so influential in the equivalent fixture a year ago – is back from injury, it would give them an extra dimension and possibly provide the difference.
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