Premier Intermediate
Now that the dust has settled after last Weekend’s manic set of fixtures and We have had time to draw breath and gather our thoughts, We deliver our verdict
11 Clubs on the move since the previous Power Rankings Edition.
Check out the latest Senior and Intermediate Power Rankings also.
16.-Moyne/Templetuohy – Down 1.
We are really worried about Moyne, Couldn’t beat a 12 man Cashel in round 1 and they having 2 extra men, got badly mauled by Mary’s in the postponed round 3 fixture this week, Tossy Hamill being brought in at full forward smacks of desperation, and now facing into the quagmire of a relegation semifinal with the 3rd worst defence and the 3rd lowest scoring attack out of the 16 teams in this grade, Gearoid O’Connor despite having played in 2 of the 3 games has scored 0-23 or 45% of their total scores.
15.-Portroe – Up 1.
3 losses in a row but showed signs of life in the last round, scoring 2-17 v Lorrha. Relegation takes on a life of it’s own but don’t bet against them surviving it, especially as it now appears both AJ Willis and Ruadhan Mulrooney got full transfers to go hurling in the States which has ruled them out for the Year. A Monumental balls up if the rumours are to be believed.
A massive 4-70 conceded has their defending the worst in the grade, the news in the forwards isn’t much better, Only 8 scorers in total including a Goal from Diarmuid Boyle their Keeper who was pressed into outfield service in Round 3,John Sheedy is their top scoring contributor, 1-26 in total,1-19 from placed balls and 0-07,Their chief scorer from play is Mark Gennery with 1-05.
14.-Sean Treacy’s – Down 1
Relegation battle confirmed with a lacklustre display against Thurles B. A late goal put respectability on the scoreline. Will they survive another year?.
12 scorers in total, the worry for them is that none of them are scoring enough, they have the joint worst attack in the division in terms of scoring, their defence is 10th best however, Patrick Carey with 2-22 to his name already remains key to their survival hopes, he has also put in a tally of 2-02 from play, Patrick Deegan next best from play with 1-04.
13.-Newport – Down 2.
Don’t dare utter the name of Jason Forde around Newport this weather or you might have to deal with the Consequences, Tommy Floyd had them safe on the stroke of full time with a green flag in their six pointer with the ‘Mines and yet Forde found a way to save his crowd and condemn Newport in added time to a relegation Semifinal slot.
Their Defence is solid enough but like the Treacy’s their attack is a huge issue, joint worst. They are showing form though and we fancy them to survive, Just about .
12.-Silvermines – Up 2.
Leapfrogged Newport after last minute heroics from Jason Forde (Who Else). Avoided the relegation conundrum for this Year but will need their good young players to stand up next year if they are to avoid it in 2024.
The very definition of a one man scoring attack with the aforementioned Forde hitting 1-30,0-25 frees,0-01 65 and 2 points from sidelines,52% of their total scores.
11.-Eire Og Annacarty – Down 1
A disappointing end to a disappointing campaign for the West side who were relegated from Senior last year. Were tipped to be in the mix and to bounce back up but their only win came against fellow West strugglers Treacy’s. A year to forget
10.-Ballina – Up 2.
Despite losing Ballina gain two spots. Have played decently in all 3 games. Could have ended up 2nd in the group and a prelim v Gortnahoe, But Mary’s emphatically knocked that cold beating Moyne in their postponed Round 3 game in the group.
4th best Attack,2nd worst defence should tell the lakeside lads what they need to address in 2024.
9.-St.Marys – Down 1.
The midweek win v a Moyne side struggling for form has guaranteed them 2nd place in Group 1 and a preliminary Quarter Final v Gortnahoe in a repeat of last years game where the Mid Men came out on top. Liam Ryan is a loss having gone foreign, but Mary’s have recovered well from their defeat to Cashel and are only 0-01 behind them in 4th in the best attack table.
Enda Dunphy the Second highest scoring Goalie in the grade with 0-05 all from frees,9 players have scored from play, with the likes of Ruairi Leahy with 1-12 from play (1-08 from play v Moyne in Round 3),Ross Peters 0-07 from play and Peter McGarry with 1-04 from play and 0-01 from a sideline all contributing handsomely, Sean Kennedy steady on the placed balls too with a total of 0-21,0-18 frees and 0-01 65.
8.-Gortnahoe/Glengoole – Down 3.
Gort lose 3 places despite not losing. We think they will bounce back up but at the moment they need their Prelim get out of jail card. Their next game v Mary’s has all the potential of a cracker and whoever wins this has the potential to rocket up our power rankings, given the possibility of a favorable quarter final draw also.
Gorthnahoe are mid table in both our attack and defence charts, We feel there is a bit more headroom in them yet, given that they were narrowly beaten by Roscrea in last years Premier Intermediate Final and Roscrea are now in a Senior Quarter Final this year. Memo to Mary’s don’t give away Frees anywhere and we mean anywhere, Keane Hayes is in lethal form,0-32 from frees and 0-06 from play ,Darragh Maher with 0-08 is their highest from play scorer.
7.-Thurles Sarsfields B – Up 2.
Thurles had a good win over relegation bound Treacy’s. Have found their form after a poor mid campaign. We think they have not lost anyone bar James Armstrong to the Senior Set Up.
Will be a handful for anyone in the Quarters as second seeds, they have the 4th highest number of scores conceded which might have an orange light blinking for their management set up. They have 11 players who have scored from play which is a fair testament to the total forward depth Sars have as a club.
6.-Clonakenny – No Change.
2nd in Group 3 to Burgess and a mid title to boot is already a very good 2023 return for Clonakenny.10 scorers from play and most of them scoring consistently across the 3 group games is something we like to see as a form line when we are putting together the rankings.
Bobby Bergin with 0-06,Nicky Ryan 0-04 all from play plus the contributions of John Joe Ryan with 2-01 from play and 0-19 from frees and Cian O’Dwyer with 1-01 from play also and another 0-06 from frees are all helping the cause.
5.-Carrick Swan – Up 2.
Swan were emphatic in their win over Eire Óg. Never looked in doubt and have a star in the making in Gavin O’Halloran with 0-28 scored already including 0-03 from sidelines.
Have greatly improved since their opening day draw in Group 1 v the Treacy’s. Second Best defence in the competition. Dark horses
4.-Killenaule – No Change.
Came from behind to get a draw in the battle of their neighbours, Gortnahoe despite them having a numerical advantage in Round 3. Will need to do better but nobody will fancy them in a Quarter especially as they are second seeds.
They are an oufit we are split on, as some see them as the O’Riain winners given the stats (Top scorers in the grade,5th best defence….)but others have been burnt before with their inconsistency in previous campaigns being a nagging doubt.15 scorers so far,14 from play and then if Bubbles returns……,to be feared.
3.-Burgess – No change.
Burgess made it 3 wins from 3 in Group 3. They are going about their business nice and quietly since their North Final defeat to Lorrha.
Ronan Tucker the go to Goalkeeper if you want a penalty nailed with 2-00 of them so far, The 2 Stephens in fine scoring fettle, Kirwan with 0-10 from play so far and Murray with a tally of 1-25 and 1-03 from play in the first 2 rounds but injured for round 3,getting him back will be vital to their further progress.
2.-Cashel – No Change.
Cashel are in the Quarters on the back of 3 straight wins in the group stages. A tight affair with Ballina saw them win by 3 and cement our ranking of them at 2.
With Devon Ryan to return from injury they will be a force in the knockouts.4-64 scored so far has them the third best attack and they probably would have been top of this table, if they had managed to keep the full compliment on the field in Round 1 v Moyne.
A spread of 14 scorers means they have options everywhere and with the likes of Ger Browne coming into form with 1-03 (1-07 in total) from play v Ballina the last day, they will have alarm bells ringing in all their potential Quarter Final opponents.
They have 2 consistent high scoring free takers which is a rarity at the Premier Intermediate grade. Anthony Walsh with a total of 1-15 and then Eoghan Connolly with 0-10 all from placed balls including 0-1 from a sideline and you add the from play scorers such as Cathal Quinn 1-06,Ronan Connolly 0-09 and James Cummins with 0-06,Ominous.
1.-Lorrha/Dorrha – Up 1.
Remain unbeaten in Championship this year and struggled over a poor Portroe team without Christopher Fogarty and Eoin McIntyre and also conceded 2-17.Which backs up our point all along about a paper thin Squad but something else has now emerged which will be giving Ken Hogan sleepless nights, they have the fourth worst defence in the the division ahead of only Moyne, Ballina and Portroe, granted they were in against Killenaule and Gortnahoe in Group 4 but the Gortnahoe defence is 10 points better at this stage and Killenaules is 11.
They have no issues going forward, second in attack and only 0-01 behind the Killenaule total, the form of Colm Fogarty is bound to catch the eye of Cahill,1-27 scored so far with 1-08 from play ,Niall McIntyre with 0-10 is next up in their from play charts and the Bonner has also chipped in 2-02,Doubts persist though.
Tipperary Premier Intermediate Championship.
Group winners: Cashel, Burgess, Carrick Swan, Lorrha
Runners-up: Winners of St Mary’s v Gortnahoe/Glengoole, Clonakenny, Thurles Sarsfields, Killenaule.
Preliminary quarter final: Gortnahoe v St.Mary’s, Templetuouhy, Sunday 10/09 2pm Throw in.
Be sure and listen to this Weeks Podcast
Where we preview EVERY one of the Senior, Prem and Intermediate Round 3 Games
We give Nenagh a turn on the spit
and Ask
is West Hurling in Trouble ?
Click below to listen