Cork Hurling Championship permutations as the group phase draws to a close
Billy Hennessy, St. Finbarrs, Conor O'Brien, Blackrock, Robbie O'Flynn, Erins Own and Tim O'Mahony, Newtownshandrum.Picture: Jim Coughlan.
After two rounds of jostling for position and attempting to edge oneself as close as possible to a knockout berth, the group phase of the Cork hurling championships will conclude in typical number-crunching fashion this weekend.
Thirty games to see 30 teams forage on and 30 more fall off. Up for grabs across the five tiers - Premier Senior, Senior A, Premier Intermediate, Intermediate A, and Premier Junior - are 21 quarter-final places and nine semi-final spots.
Of those 30 knockout berths, eight have already been claimed and filled, including the unbeaten Blackrock, Midleton, and Douglas in the top grade, and Bride Rovers and Newcestown in the tier below.
For eight more, the die has already been cast and their race already run, including perennial challengers Glen Rovers and last year’s beaten Senior A finalists Courcey Rovers.
That leaves 22 spots to be fought out by 44 teams. That leaves a myriad of questions.
Can reigning champions St Finbarr's keep alive their title defence? Or will Kanturk, for the second year running, be responsible for dumping out the champions in Round 3, as they did with Midleton 12 months ago?
Can injury-ravaged Erin’s Own - never to be written off - jump from fourth to second in their Premier Senior group. Or can promoted Fr O’Neill’s reach the quarter-finals at the first time of asking?
Can they become the first Senior A champions of the new format to successfully negotiate the Premier Senior group stages?
Down the ladder, can relegated Na Piarsaigh remain in the Senior A hunt for a quick return to the top table?
Can 2022 beaten Premier Intermediate finalists Castlemartyr sneak through in a group that sees only two points separate all four teams.
Below, we look at the many, many permutations at play in the Premier Senior, Senior A, and Premier Intermediate championships.
Blackrock and Midleton are already assured of knockout involvement ahead of their clash at Carrigtwohill.
The winner will secure the number one group seeding from across the three groups and move straight to the semis.
In the event of a draw, Blackrock claim top spot in the group based on their superior score difference, but they would be caught by Douglas for the top group seeding if the latter win in Group B.
Loser of Glen Rovers-Bishopstown fights relegation. A draw will do for the Glen.
Douglas punched their knockout ticket when recording their second group win three weeks ago.
Charleville, currently second, will both advance to the quarter-finals and finish the group in top spot if they down Douglas at Mourneabbey.
If Charleville were to record a third straight draw, that leaves the door open to both Fr O’Neill’s and Erin’s Own to leapfrog them into second.
In that instance, Fr O’Neill’s would need a four-point winning margin over Erin’s Own, whereas Erin’s Own would need a 12-point winning margin.
Should Douglas make it three group wins from three, the game between Fr O’Neill’s and Erin's Own becomes a straight shootout for second.
All four are still very much in the hunt. Sars sit in pole position. A win or draw will do.
A first group loss would see the league champions gone, unless Kanturk and the Barrs finish level, or they somehow manage to maintain a better score difference than Kanturk in the event of them beating the Barrs. Currently, the men from Duhallow are -2, Sars are +3.
A win for the Barrs keeps their back-to-back bid alive. A draw is only good enough if Newtownshandrum don’t take maximum points off Sars.
There’s no result that can save the champions, though, should they suffer a second group defeat.
A Newtown victory over Sars puts them into the knockout phase. Kanturk must win and keep the fingers crossed that Sars do likewise.
If Kanturk win and Sars lose, it comes down to score difference between the pair, as explained above.
All very straightforward here. Bride Rovers have already won the group. No result this weekend can change that. Second spot is a straight shootout between Killeagh and Na Piarsaigh at Cobh.
Should a stalemate prevail, Killeagh’s better score difference will carry them into the last six of the championship.
Another Senior A group that requires very little breaking down. Unbeaten Newcestown have long secured their knockout place.
They currently occupy one of the two semi-final spots and will be keen to hold onto such when they meet already eliminated Courcey Rovers.
The winner of Blarney and Ballyhea nabs second in the group. A draw will get the job done for Blarney.
After two senior groups that explain themselves, Group C requires calculators aplenty.
For Carrigtwohill, they will progress with a win, draw, or a defeat of eight points or less to Fermoy. If Fermoy beat Carrigtwohill by 10 points, Fermoy will progress, irrespective of what happens in the other game.
A win of less than 10 will be sufficient for Fermoy, so long as Cloyne lose, draw, or beat Mallow by two points less than what Fermoy have to spare on Carrigtwohill.
If Carrigtwohill maintain their winning form and Mallow manage a first win, then Cloyne (-1), Fermoy (-2), and Mallow (-13) would be tied on two points and second spot would be decided by score difference.
A seven-point Mallow win and five-point Fermoy defeat sees Mallow jump from fourth to second.
Castlelyons’ +25 score difference means they are pretty much nailed on for a top two spot, even in the event of Ballincollig (+20) ending their winning run and Dungourney (-12) defeating Bandon to leave the three of them tied on four points.
That said, the minimal score difference between Castlelyons and Ballincollig means the latter could not only sneak top spot in the group but a semi-final ticket were they to beat the 2020 and 21 runners-up by three or more points at Mallow.
If Dungourney win and Ballincollig lose, the Intermediate A champions drive on.
Matters are delicately poised here. So much so that should winless Carrigaline (-8) overcome Valley Rovers (0) by five points and Ballymartle (+3) become the latest team in the group to fall to Éire Óg, by a margin of at least seven points, then bottom-placed Carrigaline would go level on two points with Valleys and Ballymartle and overtake both on score difference to snag second.
A draw for both Ballinhassig and Casltemartyr, against Kilworth and Watergrasshill respectively, will ensure they remain in the two qualifying positions come 3.30pm on Sunday.
Irrespective of other results, Watergrasshill go through if they beat Castlemartyr.
For bottom-placed and winless Kilworth, they too can advance with victory over unbeaten Ballinhassig and there being a winner in the Castlemartyr-Watergrasshill fixture.
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