The race for the Volunteer Cup resumes on Saturday with the group stages coming to an end. All eyes will be cast to Corrigan Park then to the glens with what is effectively two quarter-finals with St John’s hosting St Galls before Rossa travel to Cushendall.
We preview the games as we look ahead to knockout hurling once again.
Bathshack.com
Senior Hurling Championship Group 2
Johnnies favourites to make last four
St John’s vs St Galls
Date: Saturday August 31
Venue: Corrigan Park, Belfast
Throw in: 1pm
Referee: Colum Cunning (Dunloy)
Quarter-final number one. The Johnnies against the Milltown Row Azurri at Corrigan Park and although some may look on this one as a forgone conclusion, it’s got the ingredients to be a cracker. St John’s will be favourites to progress but they come up against a St Galls side who have the knowhow and experience to make life difficult for the home side.
Loughgiel had 17 points to spare on St Galls but the Falls Road men gave a decent account of themselves despite what the score board showed at the end of the hour. The Shamrocks hit the boosters in the last five minutes of the first half, landing the last four points to take an eight point lead into the interval before scoring an unanswered 1-5 in the last eight or so minutes. It’s all if’s but’s and maybe’s, but St Galls were competitive throughout. Kieron McGourty, Jackson McGreevy, Niall O’Neill and Karl Stewart all causing the Shamrocks problems at differing times.
St John’s gave a jackyl and hyde performance against Loughgiel in their first match. An outstanding start where Michéal Bradley hit four points in the opening four minutes before losing Shea Shannon and Ryan McNulty to red cards. Loughgiel reeled them in and while it wasn’t pretty, a late Odhran McMullan adding more gloss to the score line from a Shamrock’s perspective. Eventually after an eventful 60 minutes, they fell to a six point defeat but a match where they went through their full range of brilliance, grit and determination. All traits they showed in spades during their run to the semi-final of the championship.
McNulty’s red was the result of a second yellow card and he will be available for selection. A huge bonus for the Johnnies but Shea Shannon won’t feature which leaves a void to be filled. A void but they have options where a rejig and the inclusions of Conor Johnston and Donal McKernan remain positive possibilities while Barry McFall and Conal Bohill could also feature.
Like their last match however, St Galls are likely to be without the services of Conor and Sean Burke along with Tomás O’Cairan and Mark Napier missing from their Intermediate championship winning team while doubts remain over CJ McGourty. The good news for St Galls is Ryan Irvine has been cleared fit and is back in contention for a starting place.
These two sides have only met once this year, the Johnnies starting their league campaign with a resounding win over their city rivals by a score line of 3-22 to 0-5. That was at the end of March though and I wouldn’t expect any landslide akin to that on Saturday afternoon but I would expect St John’s to progress.
Bathshack.com
Senior Hurling Championship Group 1
Rossa hoping to change the status quo
Cushendall vs Rossa
Date: Saturday August 31
Venue: Páirc Mhuire, Cushendall
Throw in: 5:30pm
Referee: Kevin Parke (Naomh Éanna)
Saturday will be Rossa’s fourth championship match in 2019. For those naysayers of the round robin format, it’s been a while since the Shaw’s Road side could make that claim. They will hope that they can emulate St John’s from last year and reach the last four but they have the small matter of a meeting with the reigning champions on their own turf to deal with.
Has anyone got a sense of déjà vu regarding this year’s championship yet? The sequence of events running up to Saturday’s ‘quarter-finals’ are very similar to those of 12 months ago. Cushendall, the masters of getting it right when they need it most. A solid if not spectacular league, just like last year, yet they could quite conceivable have beaten the bookies favourites for the title in their first match and that without a host of players who helped them to claim their 14th county title last year. A sign that when it comes to the crunch, Cushendall can raise their game. A sign, if it were needed, that they are a formidable championship team.
They blunted the much vaunted Cuchullain attacking unit, thanks largely to the tenacity and intensity shown by their defence. Where they were let down on the day was in front of the posts and with the expected return of Neil McManus, it will go a long way to restoring some confidence. The sheer presence of the Ruairi’s talisman on the pitch is enough to lift the rest of his teammates by another 20% never mind what he brings to the table himself. A match winner.
The Cushendall attack weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders last day out and while the Dunloy defence would have played a major roll in that fact also, they still have the players to do damage. Ryan McCambridge on his day could leave the field with five or six points to his name while the blistering start made by Fergus McCambridge against the Cuchullains was a sign that he too can prove to be a match winner. The threat of Paddy McGill on the edge of the square was prominent against Dunloy and forced the Cuchullains in to a rethink in their tactics with Conor McAllister’s huge poc outs landing in his area. Another feather to their attack if it were required.
Rossa were probably the recipients of a bad draw in the round robin. Dunloy left the Cushendall match stealing the win and with a sense of disappointment on how they performed. They went some way to restoring their position as favourites at Rossa’s expense two week’s ago. The Jeremiah’s finished the match strongly to reduce the Dunloy winning to seven points but the tie was over going into the last ten minutes.
Against Ballycastle in the first leg, Rossa cut loose and put on a show. A glimpse of what this side are capable of when they are allowed to play. Deaglan and Tiarnan Murphy have the skill and pace to do damage while Stephen Beatty is always a threat. His ability to win ball from poc outs is essential for Colly Murphy’s men but so to is Mickey Armstrong. The Antrim man was so influential against Ballycastle in both legs around midfield but Rossa were forced to drop him deeper as Dunloy threatened to run riot. Again he was effective but his absence around the middle in rucks was felt and Rossa will be left with a conundrum as to where they feel best to deploy him.
Cricky McGuinness and Stephen Shannon will form the spine of their defence and they will brace themselves for an altogether different prospect on Saturday. Where Dunloy’s attack is based on pace and agility, Cushendall will be power and guile. Rossa may not feel the need to play a sweeper, allowing Armstrong to play in what I see his strongest position, around the middle of the park where he can dictate and influence.
I would expect Callum McVeigh to be restored to the starting 15, he brings something different and an ability to win ball from rucks that will be pivotal if Rossa are to progress while Aodhan O’Brien and Gerard Walsh will also have a say on the outcome of this one.
Rossa will travel to Páirc Mhuire with a sense of nothing to lose. The bookies will have Cushendall as strong favourites to progress to the semi’s but that may suit the west Belfast men. If they can reach the levels they did against Ballycastle then it won’t be an easy evenings work for the home side but that defeat against Dunloy will feel like a win for the Ruairi’s. They will take confidence from their performance in Pearse Park and it would take a braver man than I to bet against them making the last four.
