Tipperary Intermediate Hurling Power Rankings After Round 2.
Two rounds down, one remaining, and the Tipperary Intermediate Hurling Championship is beginning to reveal what is real and what was merely an opening-weekend impression.
There are now four teams with perfect county championship records.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have scored the equivalent of 70 points across their opening two matches and conceded only 36. Ballingarry and Borrisokane are both sitting on four points and have identical scoring records, 48 for and 37 against. Arravale Rovers have also won twice, including victories over Mid champions Clonakenny and a Shannon Rovers side that pushed them to the wire in Newport.
But power rankings are not standings.
If this were purely a statistical rating system, Kilsheelan/Kilcash would be number one.
They have the best attack, the joint-best defensive average and by some distance the best scoring differential in the championship.
Shannon Rovers would also be nowhere near 11th. Their points-equivalent scoring difference of plus 25 is second only to Kilsheelan/Kilcash, despite losing to Arravale Rovers.
The rankings are attempting to answer a slightly different question.
Who would you trust most if the championship entered knockout hurling tomorrow?
That requires looking beyond wins and losses. The quality of opposition matters. Divisional form matters. Player availability matters. So does whether a huge score was created against a badly depleted team, whether an attack is sustainable without frees, and whether a team can survive when a game turns against them.
For comparison throughout this piece, goals have been converted into their three-point value. So Kilsheelan/Kilcash’s opening scores of 4-26 and 4-20 are worth 38 and 32 respectively, giving them 70 points-equivalent across two games.
Round 2 also gave us the first serious movement in the rankings.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have jumped from fourth to second. Borrisokane are the biggest climbers, moving four positions after their demolition of Newport. Portroe move sharply in the opposite direction after being dismantled by Kilsheelan/Kilcash.
At the bottom, Carrick Davins are becoming detached from the field.
And in the middle?
Chaos.
That is usually where the Intermediate Championship is at its best.
16. Carrick Davins
Previous ranking: 16th
Championship record: 0 wins, 2 defeats
Points-equivalent: 17 scored, 56 conceded
Average: 8.5 scored, 28.0 conceded
Round 3: Arravale Rovers, Clonmel Sportsfield, Saturday at 5.00pm
There is now a substantial gap between Carrick Davins and every other attack in the championship.
Davins have accumulated just 17 points-equivalent across two matches.
The next-lowest team, Holycross/Ballycahill, have scored 35.
In other words, the second-lowest scoring team in the grade has produced more than twice Davins’ attacking output.
Round 1 was difficult enough, a 6-18 to 1-06 defeat to Shannon Rovers. The hope entering Round 2 was that the scale of that result reflected a particularly bad afternoon rather than the true level of the team.
The response against Clonakenny did little to ease those fears.
Davins were restricted to 0-08.
Mikey Whelan and Ray Cooke supplied two points each, both players relying on placed balls for their Round 2 returns. Mikey Ryan, Billy Roche, Conor Mackey and Luke Faulkner provided the remaining four points.
That means only 0-04 came from play.
Across the two games, Erin Cronin-Walsh’s Round 1 goal remains their only green flag.
Defensively there was improvement. Conceding 1-17 was considerably better than allowing Shannon Rovers to hit 6-18.
But this is not currently a defensive problem first.
It is an attacking crisis.
A side averaging 8.5 points-equivalent per game cannot place enough pressure on an opponent to turn matches into contests.
Davins are already out of the qualification race and finish against Arravale Rovers, the number-one team in these rankings and confirmed Group 2 winners.
The immediate objective is to rediscover competitiveness before the relegation series.
At present, they look like the team in most danger.
15. Clonoulty/Rossmore
Previous ranking: 14th, down one
Championship record: 0-2
Points-equivalent: 41 scored, 70 conceded
Average: 20.5 scored, 35.0 conceded
Round 3: Portroe, Newport, Saturday at 2.00pm
There was significant improvement from Clonoulty/Rossmore in Round 2.
The problem is that the starting point was so low.
After conceding 4-26 against Kilsheelan/Kilcash, Clonoulty/Rossmore produced a far more aggressive attacking performance against Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams.
They went from 0-16 in Round 1 to 3-16 in Round 2, a nine-point improvement when converted to points-equivalent.
Aidan Loughman contributed 1-03. Padraig Heffernan and Aaron Ryan also found the net. Sean Ryan added four points, while Paddy Ryan and Odhran Quirke contributed from both play and placed balls.
There was genuine fight in the second half after Kickhams had established control.
That is the positive.
The negative is the number 70.
Clonoulty/Rossmore have conceded 70 points-equivalent in two games.
Nobody else has conceded more than 56.
Their current defensive average is 35 points per match, almost double the 18-point figure being conceded by Kilsheelan/Kilcash and Shannon Rovers.
Some of that requires context.
Clonoulty/Rossmore’s intermediate side is always vulnerable to what happens with the senior panel. As the senior championship progresses, personnel can disappear upwards. Continuity becomes difficult and a team that looked relatively settled during the divisional championship can change quickly.
But 4-26 and 2-26 are enormous concessions regardless of circumstance.
Round 3 brings Portroe.
The North champions are coming off their own chastening defeat and will see the fixture as an opportunity to rebuild confidence and secure qualification.
Clonoulty/Rossmore need to treat it differently.
This is about stopping the slide, finding a defensive structure they can carry into relegation hurling and building on the attacking aggression displayed against Kickhams.
The second half in Annacarty offered something.
They need considerably more of it.
14. Ballybacon/Grange
Previous ranking: 13th, down one
Championship record: 0-2
Points-equivalent: 37 scored, 51 conceded
Average: 18.5 scored, 25.5 conceded
Round 3: Borrisokane, Templetuohy, Saturday at 4.00pm
The league table says two defeats.
The performances say Ballybacon/Grange are in a healthier place than that might suggest.
They were well beaten by Newport in Round 1, 0-26 to 0-14, but their response against Moyle Rovers was much stronger.
Ballybacon produced 2-17, improving their Round 1 attacking total by nine points-equivalent, and lost by only two.
Paul Cummins has changed the complexion of this attack.
He scored 0-12 in Round 2, eight of those points coming from play. Across the opening two rounds he has accumulated 0-19, with ten points from general play.
Oisín Ryan and Shane Ryan also found the net against Moyle Rovers. They have scored 1-04 and 1-03 respectively across the championship to date.
That matters because the biggest concern after Round 1 was over-dependence on Cummins.
Against Newport, he accounted for half their total.
Against Moyle Rovers, Ballybacon found two goals elsewhere and made a genuine game of it.
There is still a defensive issue. They have conceded 51 points-equivalent, and Borrisokane are arriving after their most impressive performance of the season.
Qualification is gone.
The relegation battle awaits.
But Ballybacon have escaped these situations before, and their current trajectory is considerably better than Davins or Clonoulty/Rossmore.
They are beginning to create a real attacking threat.
Now they need a result to validate it.
13. Holycross/Ballycahill
Previous ranking: 15th, up two
Championship record: 1 draw, 1 defeat
Points-equivalent: 35 scored, 46 conceded
Average: 17.5 scored, 23.0 conceded
Round 3: Ballingarry, Littleton, Sunday at 6.30pm
No team improved its attacking output more dramatically from Round 1 to Round 2.
Holycross/Ballycahill scored 0-11 against Cappawhite.
Against Skeheenarinky, they produced 4-12.
That is an increase from 11 to 24 points-equivalent, a jump of 13, the biggest Round 1-to-Round 2 attacking improvement anywhere in the championship.
The source of the transformation was obvious.
Goals.
Eoghan Hickey scored 2-03, Luke O’Mara added 1-01 and Jamie Woods also found the net. Hickey now has two goals across the opening rounds, O’Mara has 1-04 and Woods 1-01.
A team that had looked toothless suddenly carried genuine danger.
The 4-12 to 1-21 draw also changed the group.
Holycross/Ballycahill remain bottom, but they are level with Skeheenarinky on one championship point and direct qualification is not completely dead.
The equation is extremely difficult.
They have to beat Ballingarry, already confirmed as Group 3 winners, and require the other game between Cappawhite and Skeheenarinky to fall favourably.
That is a large ask.
There is another complication specific to Holycross/Ballycahill.
Their senior side also has championship commitments, so the exact make-up of the intermediate team can never be viewed in isolation.
But the performance against Skeheenarinky was the first sign that this group can seriously hurt an intermediate defence.
They climb two spots because they have finally shown a route to winning a county championship game.
12. Skeheenarinky
Previous ranking: 10th, down two
Championship record: 1 draw, 1 defeat
Points-equivalent: 40 scored, 46 conceded
Average: 20.0 scored, 23.0 conceded
Round 3: Cappawhite, Lattin, Sunday at 6.30pm
Skeheenarinky should be frustrated.
Round 1 against Ballingarry was disappointing, but understandable. They had beaten the same opposition in the South final and Ballingarry responded strongly when the teams met again.
Round 2 was the opportunity to reset.
Instead, Skeheenarinky allowed Holycross/Ballycahill to score four goals and escaped with only a draw, 1-21 to 4-12.
Their attacking output improved significantly, from 0-16 to the equivalent of 24 points.
Defensively, however, the four goals are impossible to ignore.
Their overall scoring differential is now minus six.
There is still a safety net because Skeheenarinky are South champions and have the preliminary quarter-final route available if required.
But direct qualification remains very much alive.
Round 3 against Cappawhite is essentially their championship within the championship.
There is useful historical context here.
These teams met in New Inn in the 2025 county championship and Cappawhite edged it 1-25 to 1-24. Skeheenarinky were within a single point of a team that subsequently reached the latter stages of the championship.
That result is far more relevant than league form or reputation.
Skeheenarinky know they can live with Cappawhite.
What they cannot do is concede goals as cheaply as they did against Holycross/Ballycahill.
The South champions remain dangerous.
They have simply made their route much more complicated than it needed to be.
11. Shannon Rovers
Previous ranking: 12th, up one
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 61 scored, 36 conceded
Average: 30.5 scored, 18.0 conceded
Round 3: Clonakenny, Toomevara, Saturday at 5.00pm
This is the ranking most likely to generate an argument.
And statistically, it should.
Shannon Rovers have the second-best points differential in the entire championship at plus 25.
They are averaging 30.5 points-equivalent per match, bettered only by Kilsheelan/Kilcash and Arravale Rovers.
They are also conceding only 18 per game, tied with Kilsheelan/Kilcash for the best defensive figure in the grade.
Those numbers do not look anything like the 11th-best team in the championship.
There is an obvious distortion in the sample.
Round 1 was the 6-18 to 1-06 demolition of Carrick Davins.
That single result accounts for a huge portion of the differential.
Round 2 provided the far more valuable evidence.
Shannon Rovers were within touching distance of beating Arravale Rovers.
Conal Moran was magnificent, scoring 0-13, with six points from play and seven from placed balls. Eamonn Hough scored 1-01, while John O’Meara added 0-03. Austin Tierney scored two second-half points and was also denied from close range as Shannon Rovers nearly completed the comeback.
They trailed by two at half-time and were still behind entering the final stages.
Then they took the lead.
Arravale needed Conal Donovan’s injury-time goal to win it 2-21 to 1-22.
That performance matters far more to Shannon Rovers’ championship credentials than putting six goals past Davins.
Conal Moran now has 0-19 across the two county games, while Eamonn Hough, Austin Tierney, Andy Byrne and John O’Meara ensure there are multiple routes to the scoreboard.
The reason they remain outside the top ten is the wider body of form and the fact that they still have only one county championship victory.
But there is a strong chance 11th is too low.
Their Round 3 game against Clonakenny is effectively knockout hurling. A win takes Shannon Rovers through. The current permutations also leave them better positioned in the event of a draw.
If they reproduce their second-half performance against Arravale, they will be extremely difficult to beat.
Shannon Rovers are the team most capable of making this ranking look foolish.
10. Moyle Rovers
Previous ranking: 11th, up one
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 42 scored, 45 conceded
Average: 21.0 scored, 22.5 conceded
Round 3: Newport, Templemore, Saturday at 4.00pm
Round 1 was a game Moyle Rovers left behind.
They created opportunities against Borrisokane but hit 13 wides and lost 0-22 to 0-17.
Round 2 was the response they needed.
A 3-16 to 2-17 victory over Ballybacon/Grange was not comfortable, but it put their championship back in their own hands.
The most encouraging element is the change in attacking output.
Moyle improved from 17 points-equivalent in Round 1 to 25 in Round 2.
Daire Luttrell and Anthony Phelan both added goals to their championship scoring totals, while the broader player sheet shows a much healthier spread than was evident in the opening round.
Their overall numbers are not spectacular.
They have been outscored 45-42 across the two matches.
But this is a team that reached the knockout stages last year and understands what the third group game feels like when qualification is on the line.
Their meeting with Newport is the perfect example.
Both teams have two points.
Newport’s current scoring difference is considerably healthier, so Moyle should approach the game knowing that simply staying close may not be enough.
The 2024 Junior champions have progressed quickly since promotion.
Saturday will tell us whether they are ready to make the knockout stages for a second successive season.
9. Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams
Previous ranking: 9th
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 53 scored, 47 conceded
Average: 26.5 scored, 23.5 conceded
Round 3: Kilsheelan/Kilcash, New Inn, Saturday at 2.00pm
Kickhams got the win they needed.
Whether the performance was reassuring is another question.
Their 2-26 to 3-16 victory over Clonoulty/Rossmore gave them 32 points-equivalent, an 11-point improvement from their 0-21 opening defeat to Portroe.
That is significant.
So is the scoring profile.
Stephen Browne has now scored 0-17 across the championship, with 0-12 coming from play and 0-05 from placed balls.
Cormac Carr has contributed 1-03, Shane Buckley 0-08, while the Round 2 sheet shows scoring contributions from Elliott Thompson, Adam Daly, Paudie Slattery, David Butler and Micheál Gleeson.
Kickhams are spreading the workload.
The concern is what happened at the other end.
Clonoulty/Rossmore had scored only 0-16 in Round 1.
Against Kickhams they produced 3-16.
Last year’s county finalists gave up three goals to a team currently averaging 35 points conceded per game themselves.
That is not the defensive platform Kickhams would want before facing Kilsheelan/Kilcash.
And that is where their entire championship has landed.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash v Kickhams.
New Inn.
Two o’clock Saturday.
Kickhams know that defeat could leave them outside the direct knockout places. Portroe are expected to beat Clonoulty/Rossmore in the other game, so last year’s finalists may require the performance of their season.
There is enough scoring talent to trouble Kilsheelan.
But the defence that faced Clonoulty cannot appear in New Inn.
This is do or die.
8. Cappawhite
Previous ranking: 6th, down two
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 43 scored, 37 conceded
Average: 21.5 scored, 18.5 conceded
Round 3: Skeheenarinky, Lattin, Sunday at 6.30pm
Cappawhite’s overall numbers remain respectable.
Their defensive average of 18.5 is among the best in the competition.
They have a positive scoring differential.
They have two championship points.
Yet their stock fell considerably in Round 2.
The reason is not simply that they lost to Ballingarry.
It is how they lost.
Ballingarry played with 14 men for approximately 42 minutes and still won 3-17 to 1-18.
Cappawhite had the numerical advantage for most of the game and could not translate it into control.
The scoring breakdown reveals another issue.
Dara McCarthy scored 0-10 in Round 2, all ten from frees. Willie Barry contributed 0-04, one from a placed ball, while Daire Duggan scored 1-01.
That means 11 of Cappawhite’s 21 points-equivalent came from placed balls, leaving only ten from general play.
McCarthy has 0-19 across the opening two rounds but just 0-03 from play.
There is nothing wrong with possessing an elite free-taker.
It becomes a problem if the attacking system relies on the opposition providing the opportunities.
Ballingarry’s defence was able to survive despite being a man down because Cappawhite struggled to create enough clean scores from open play.
Round 3 against Skeheenarinky now becomes enormous.
Cappawhite won the corresponding county championship meeting by only a point in 2025, 1-25 to 1-24.
They know exactly how awkward Skeheenarinky can make this.
Cappawhite remain capable of going deep into the competition.
But the version that played Ballingarry will not.
7. Newport
Previous ranking: 7th
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 46 scored, 40 conceded
Average: 23.0 scored, 20.0 conceded
Round 3: Moyle Rovers, Templemore, Saturday at 4.00pm
Newport were one of the most impressive teams in Round 1.
They scored 0-26, generated scores from everywhere and finished with 11 different scorers against Ballybacon/Grange.
That made their Round 2 performance against Borrisokane particularly surprising.
Borrisokane won 2-20 to 1-17.
The six-point margin was significant enough.
The way it developed was more revealing.
Newport had the wind in the first half and still reached the interval only level at 1-09 each.
The main reason was waste.
They hit ten first-half wides.
Colin Floyd scored 1-03, while Conor and Thomas Floyd also contributed. Newport again generated a remarkably wide spread of scorers, the player data shows 11 players registering in Round 2 as well.
That tells us something important.
Newport do not have a scoring-spread problem.
They have an efficiency problem.
Eleven different scorers is normally the sign of a healthy attack. Against Borrisokane, the issue was the number of possessions that ended without a score.
Borrisokane eventually punished them.
Michael Heenan drove the home side forward after half-time, Oisín Larkin found the net and the final five scores all went to Borrisokane.
Newport’s first two games have therefore shown two different versions of the same team.
Against Ballybacon, the wide scoring spread became an avalanche.
Against Borrisokane, it became a collection of isolated contributions without enough scoreboard pressure.
They now face Moyle Rovers with qualification at stake.
Newport’s best is good enough to win.
They need to rediscover it quickly.
6. Portroe
Previous ranking: 2nd, down four
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 42 scored, 53 conceded
Average: 21.0 scored, 26.5 conceded
Round 3: Clonoulty/Rossmore, Newport, Saturday at 2.00pm
No team suffers a bigger fall this week.
Portroe were second after Round 1 because beating last year’s county finalists mattered.
Their 1-19 to 0-21 victory over Kickhams was a serious championship scalp.
Round 2 was the opposite.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash beat them 4-20 to 2-14, and the twelve-point margin did not flatter the South side.
Kilsheelan led from the start.
By the 20-minute mark Portroe were six down. Mikey Creamer’s first goal helped bring them back to 0-12 to 1-07 by half-time, but once Mark Kehoe struck after the restart the game began to move away from them.
Creamer eventually finished with 2-01 and now has 3-02 across the championship, all of that scoring value coming from play.
John Sheedy has accumulated 0-12, Sam Madden 0-05 and Cian Hogan 0-03.
There is enough attacking quality.
The concern is the defence.
Portroe have now conceded 53 points-equivalent, the fourth-highest figure in the championship.
Round 1 masked that because Kickhams failed to score a goal.
Kilsheelan exposed it.
Portroe could not cope with the movement of the Kehoes, the supporting runners or the variety of Kilsheelan’s goal threat.
The good news is the draw.
Clonoulty/Rossmore are next.
Portroe will be expected to win, and as North champions they also retain the safety net of a preliminary quarter-final should the group mathematics go against them.
Their championship remains in a decent position.
Their power-ranking position does not.
They must rebuild the defensive platform that made them so impressive against Kickhams.
5. Clonakenny
Previous ranking: 5th
Championship record: 1-1
Points-equivalent: 46 scored, 43 conceded
Average: 23.0 scored, 21.5 conceded
Round 3: Shannon Rovers, Toomevara, Saturday at 5.00pm
Clonakenny did what they had to do against Carrick Davins.
Nothing more, nothing less.
A 1-17 to 0-08 victory put the Mid champions back on two championship points after their high-scoring opening defeat to Arravale Rovers.
The more interesting story remains their two main scorers.
Bobby Bergin has produced 2-10 entirely from play across the opening rounds.
Every one of his 16 scoring points has come from general play.
That is an exceptional number.
Cian O’Dwyer has gone about it differently.
He has scored 0-20, with 0-15 coming from placed balls and 0-05 from play.
Between them, Bergin and O’Dwyer have supplied 36 of Clonakenny’s 46 points-equivalent, almost 78 per cent of the team’s entire championship output.
That is both Clonakenny’s greatest strength and the question hanging over them.
Bergin can destroy a defence without requiring frees.
O’Dwyer can punish every mistake.
But where does the scoring come from if an opponent manages to contain one of them?
The Round 3 game against Shannon Rovers will test exactly that.
Shannon Rovers are conceding only 18 points-equivalent per game and have shown they can produce enormous attacking totals themselves.
Clonakenny cannot expect 1-17 to be enough.
They probably need something closer to the 2-20 they produced against Arravale Rovers.
A victory puts them into the knockout stages.
Defeat likely sends them towards their preliminary quarter-final safety net as Mid champions.
There is very little between fifth and the teams immediately below them.
Bergin is the reason Clonakenny remain this high.
4. Borrisokane
Previous ranking: 8th, up four
Championship record: 2-0
Points-equivalent: 48 scored, 37 conceded
Average: 24.0 scored, 18.5 conceded
Round 3: Ballybacon/Grange, Templetuohy, Saturday at 4.00pm
The biggest movers of the week.
Borrisokane did not receive enormous attention after Round 1.
They beat Moyle Rovers 0-22 to 0-17, but Moyle hit 13 wides and there was a sense that last year’s county semi-finalists had done enough rather than announced themselves.
Round 2 changed the conversation.
The 2-20 to 1-17 victory over Newport was one of the strongest performances of the weekend.
It was not straightforward.
Newport had the wind in the opening half, led by four at one stage and scored through Colin Floyd.
Borrisokane survived it.
They were level at half-time.
Then they took control.
Oisín Larkin scored 1-08 in Round 2 and has accumulated the equivalent of 1-18 across the opening two games.
Michael Heenan’s return was hugely significant. He hit 0-06, all from play, against Newport.
Ciaran Foley and Liam Cleary contributed 0-03 each, while Donal Cleary supplied the other goal.
The final passage was particularly impressive.
Newport had cut the margin back to one.
Borrisokane responded by scoring the final five points.
That is championship composure.
The performance was even more notable given the supplied match information indicates they were without Conor Ryan and Gary Ryan.
Their statistical profile now looks extremely strong.
Only Kilsheelan/Kilcash, Shannon Rovers and Arravale Rovers have scored more.
Only Kilsheelan/Kilcash and Shannon Rovers are conceding at a lower average.
They are already confirmed as Group 4 winners and finish against Ballybacon/Grange.
Last year’s semi-finalists are no longer hiding.
Borrisokane are a genuine championship dark horse.
3. Ballingarry
Previous ranking: 3rd
Championship record: 2-0
Points-equivalent: 48 scored, 37 conceded
Average: 24.0 scored, 18.5 conceded
Round 3: Holycross/Ballycahill, Littleton, Sunday at 6.30pm
There are prettier wins.
There are not many more valuable ones.
Ballingarry beat Cappawhite 3-17 to 1-18 despite playing with 14 men for approximately 42 minutes.
That alone says more about their championship credentials than most statistical categories.
Cappawhite have reached the county semi-finals in each of the last two years.
They had the numerical advantage for most of this game.
Ballingarry still won by five.
The key individual development was Dylan Walsh.
After a subdued opening county game by his standards, Walsh exploded for 2-06.
One of those goals and one of the points came from play, with the remainder of his total including a goal and five points from placed balls.
His overall championship tally is now 2-08.
Jack Cahill, so influential against Skeheenarinky, added another two points and sits on 1-10 across the two rounds.
Tommy McGrath has contributed 1-04 and Ben Ivers 0-05.
Ballingarry’s scoring is becoming less dependent on one man.
Their defence deserves just as much attention.
They have conceded only one goal in two county championship games.
Skeheenarinky were held to 0-16.
Cappawhite found the net once despite playing with the extra man for most of the match.
The wider numbers are almost identical to Borrisokane, 48 scored and 37 conceded.
What separates Ballingarry at number three is the quality of the Cappawhite win and the manner in which it was achieved.
They have already secured Group 3.
Round 3 against Holycross/Ballycahill gives them an opportunity to complete a perfect group campaign.
But the real message from Round 2 is bigger.
Ballingarry can win when the circumstances turn against them.
That is the sort of quality that travels well into knockout hurling.
2. Kilsheelan/Kilcash
Previous ranking: 4th, up two
Championship record: 2-0
Points-equivalent: 70 scored, 36 conceded
Average: 35.0 scored, 18.0 conceded
Scoring differential: plus 34
Round 3: Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams, New Inn, Saturday at 2.00pm
The numbers say number one.
There is no point pretending otherwise.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have been the statistically dominant team through the opening two rounds.
They have scored 70 points-equivalent, eight more than Arravale Rovers and nine more than Shannon Rovers.
They are averaging 35 per match.
They have conceded only 18 per game.
Their plus-34 differential is nine better than anybody else in the grade.
And unlike Round 1, when they destroyed a depleted Clonoulty/Rossmore team, Round 2 came against the North champions.
Portroe were not weak opposition.
Kilsheelan made them look weak.
The South side led from start to finish and scored 4-20.
Mark Kehoe was outstanding, hitting 2-04 in Round 2. His championship total is now 3-08, all from play.
That makes him the leading scorer from play in the grade after two rounds.
Bobby Bergin is next on 2-10 from play.
Barry Kehoe sits third with 1-12 entirely from play.
That means Kilsheelan/Kilcash have two of the top three open-play scorers in the championship.
Martin Gibbs has added 0-14 overall, while Senan Butler and Jamie Roche both found the net against Portroe.
The attacking balance is frightening.
Mark Kehoe has three goals.
Barry Kehoe has 1-12 without needing a free.
Gibbs provides the placed-ball reliability.
Butler, Roche, Mikey Maguire and Paul Maher have all contributed goals across the championship.
There is no obvious scoring source for an opponent simply to remove.
And the defence has quietly been just as impressive.
Kilsheelan conceded 0-16 in Round 1 and 2-14 against Portroe.
That gives them the joint-best defensive average in the competition.
If these rankings were produced from an algorithm, Kilsheelan/Kilcash would sit comfortably on top.
So why second?
Because power rankings also value the full body of evidence.
Arravale Rovers have already won the West Championship and have now beaten the Mid champions and Shannon Rovers in the county series. Their path has demanded repeated high-pressure results.
The gap is tiny.
Round 3 could change it.
Kickhams are fighting for their championship lives. Last year’s finalists need a major performance in New Inn and should provide the toughest emotional test Kilsheelan have faced.
Come through that impressively and it may become impossible to keep them at number two.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash are no longer a team to keep an eye on. They are one of the teams to beat.
1. Arravale Rovers
Previous ranking: 1st
Championship record: 2-0
Points-equivalent: 62 scored, 51 conceded
Average: 31.0 scored, 25.5 conceded
Round 3: Carrick Davins, Clonmel Sportsfield, Saturday at 5.00pm
Arravale Rovers stay at number one.
But for the first time, there is a serious statistical argument for moving them off it.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have a better attack.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have a far better defensive record.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash have a much stronger scoring differential.
What Arravale have is a body of work.
The West champions have carried their divisional form into the county series and beaten two substantial opponents.
First came Mid champions Clonakenny, 3-26 to 2-20.
Then came Shannon Rovers.
The second win may have told us more.
Arravale were not at their cleanest. They accumulated a huge number of wides and Shannon Rovers produced a brilliant second-half surge.
A comfortable lead disappeared.
Shannon Rovers went in front.
Austin Tierney threatened the goal, Emmett Moran hit the crossbar and Conal Moran kept punishing Arravale from both play and placed balls.
This was the moment when Arravale could have lost control of the game.
They did not.
Jaye Cilvinas levelled. Orrin Jones kept the scoreboard moving. Then, in injury time, Conal Donovan produced the decisive goal.
Arravale won 2-21 to 1-22.
That is what number-one teams do.
They survive the game in which the performance is less convincing than the result.
Jones has now accumulated 0-26 in the county championship, 0-18 from placed balls and 0-08 from play.
Seán O’Mahony has scored 2-08, every score from play.
Jaye Cilvinas has contributed 1-02, Adam Ryan 1-01 and Donovan’s late Round 2 goal has already become one of the defining scores of Arravale’s campaign.
The attacking numbers are excellent.
The defensive numbers are not.
Arravale have conceded 51 points-equivalent, more than any of the other four teams in the top five.
Clonakenny scored 2-20.
Shannon Rovers scored 1-22.
That is the area that prevents them from separating from Kilsheelan/Kilcash at the top.
Arravale are not the only unbeaten team, there are four sides sitting on maximum points.
What gives them the number-one position is the combination of West Championship form, quality county victories, scoring power and an increasingly valuable ability to find a way through difficult games.
They are also already confirmed as Group 2 winners.
Round 3 against Carrick Davins should be the least complicated game they have faced in the county series.
Anything other than a convincing victory would raise questions.
Right now, though, the rankings stay as they are.
Arravale Rovers remain number one.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash are breathing directly down their necks.
What the numbers tell us after two rounds
The championship has developed three very different statistical leaders.
Kilsheelan/Kilcash own the raw numbers.
Their 70 points-equivalent scored is the highest total in the championship. Their 36 conceded is joint-best. Their plus-34 scoring difference is comfortably number one.
Shannon Rovers are the statistical anomaly.
They are only third in their group and 11th in these power rankings, yet they have scored 61 and conceded 36. Their plus-25 differential is second-best in the championship.
The Carrick Davins result inflates that figure, but their two-point loss to Arravale Rovers showed there is real substance underneath it.
Arravale Rovers have the results.
They have beaten Clonakenny and Shannon Rovers, won the West Championship before entering the county series and already secured top spot in Group 2.
Their defensive average of 25.5 is the major warning sign.
Then there are Ballingarry and Borrisokane.
Both have scored 48.
Both have conceded 37.
Both are 2-0.
Both have secured their groups.
They have arrived at the same numerical destination through different routes, Ballingarry through defensive resilience and a major win with 14 men, Borrisokane through control, balance and a statement victory over Newport.
At the other end, the numbers are becoming unforgiving.
Carrick Davins have a minus-39 differential.
Clonoulty/Rossmore are minus-29.
Ballybacon/Grange are minus-14 but trending upwards.
Holycross/Ballycahill are minus-11 but produced the largest attacking improvement from Round 1 to Round 2.
This championship is beginning to split.
But only beginning.
The scoring-from-play race
The individual numbers underline why Kilsheelan/Kilcash have become so difficult to defend.
Mark Kehoe leads the championship with 3-08 from play, worth 17 scoring points.
Bobby Bergin is second with 2-10 from play, worth 16.
Barry Kehoe is third with 1-12 from play, worth 15.
Seán O’Mahony has 2-08 from play, worth 14.
That is an extraordinary top four.
Two Kilsheelan/Kilcash players.
The main Clonakenny goal threat.
And the forward spearheading Arravale Rovers’ rise.
Then there is another category of scorer.
Orrin Jones has 0-26 overall.
Oisín Larkin has a points-equivalent total of 21.
Cian O’Dwyer and Paul Cummins have both supplied enormous proportions of their teams’ output.
Conal Moran’s 0-13 against Arravale Rovers has pushed him to 0-19.
Dara McCarthy also has 0-19 for Cappawhite.
The distinction between those players is important.
Some are creating virtually everything from play.
Others are combining open-play contributions with elite placed-ball accuracy.
The best attacks have both.
Round 3: where the championship breaks
There are eight Intermediate Championship games left in the group stage, and very few of them are meaningless.
In Group 1, Kilsheelan/Kilcash v Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams is the headline act.
Kilsheelan are two from two but are not completely mathematically secure if a three-way tie develops. Kickhams know defeat could end their direct qualification hopes.
At the same time, Portroe face Clonoulty/Rossmore knowing a victory should put them in a very strong position.
Group 2 is more straightforward.
Arravale Rovers have secured top spot.
The real game is Clonakenny v Shannon Rovers in Toomevara.
The winner goes through directly. Shannon Rovers also enter with the stronger current position should the teams finish level.
Group 3 produces the most intriguing permutations.
Ballingarry are through as group winners.
Cappawhite have two points.
Skeheenarinky and Holycross/Ballycahill have one each.
Cappawhite v Skeheenarinky in Lattin is effectively a knockout game, while Holycross/Ballycahill need to shock Ballingarry and hope the other result opens a route for them.
Group 4 has already crowned Borrisokane.
That leaves Moyle Rovers v Newport.
Both have two points.
Newport currently hold the stronger scoring difference, but the cleanest route for either club is simple, win the game.
That is the beauty of this grade.
After two rounds we know considerably more than we did in July.
And yet, beneath the four group leaders, almost everything is still capable of changing.
Intermediate Power Rankings after Round 2
1. Arravale Rovers
2. Kilsheelan/Kilcash
3. Ballingarry
4. Borrisokane
5. Clonakenny
6. Portroe
7. Newport
8. Cappawhite
9. Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams
10. Moyle Rovers
11. Shannon Rovers
12. Skeheenarinky
13. Holycross/Ballycahill
14. Ballybacon/Grange
15. Clonoulty/Rossmore
16. Carrick Davins
The raw numbers would put Kilsheelan/Kilcash at number one.
The results and body of form keep Arravale Rovers there for now.
Round 3 gets the final say before knockout hurling begins.