Tipperary Senior Hurling Power Rankings: The Champions Are Gone and the Championship Has Changed
There are moments in every championship when the argument changes.
The preliminary quarter-final weekend was one of them.
Until Saturday evening, Loughmore-Castleiney were still the defending champions. Their group-stage form had been ordinary, their numbers were troubling and their place in these rankings had collapsed from No.1 after Round 1 to No.9 after Round 3, but one enormous caveat remained.
They were Loughmore.
They were still alive.
That argument no longer exists.
Holycross/Ballycahill did not simply knock the back-to-back champions out of the Dan Breen Cup. They hit them for 4-25, the biggest attacking return by any team in a single game of this championship, and did it in the first genuine knockout examination of their own credentials.
Loughmore scored four goals themselves.
They still lost by seven.
A day later, Nenagh Éire Óg survived a completely different examination, edging Clonoulty/Rossmore 2-11 to 1-12 in difficult conditions. Ben West struck twice in the opening quarter, Clonoulty fought back to lead, and Nenagh eventually produced the late scoring burst required to escape.
So now we know more.
Four teams have played an additional championship match.
Two survived.
Two disappeared from the Dan Breen race.
And the evidence base is becoming substantial.
Cashel King Cormacs remain the championship’s most prolific attacking team, having amassed 97 point-equivalents in only three matches, an extraordinary average of 32.33 per game.
JK Brackens remain statistically the most balanced of the unbeaten group winners: 90 scored, 70 conceded, +20, with seven goals scored and just one conceded.
Moycarkey-Borris still possess the best defence in the championship. They have conceded only 60 point-equivalents, exactly 20 per game, while beating three divisional champions.
Thurles Sarsfields remain unbeaten, increasingly convincing and remarkably balanced at 85 for, 68 against, +17.
But Holycross have changed the conversation.
They have now scored 115 point-equivalents in four games, an average of 28.75, and their last two matches alone have produced 5-53, or 68 point-equivalents.
Individually, the numbers have shifted too.
John McGrath exits the championship at the top of the overall scoring chart with 3-34, 43 point-equivalents.
Eddie Ryan is one behind on 1-39.
Darragh Woods is right behind him on 2-35.
Stephen Ferncombe finishes on 3-30.
And the open-play table has a new leader.
Robbie Ryan.
3-11 from play.
Twenty point-equivalents created without a free.
John McGrath finishes on 3-10 from play.
Ben West has 5-03.
Darragh Woods has 2-12.
Jamie Ormond has 2-10.
The further we go into this championship, the more important those numbers become.
This is no longer about potential.
It is no longer about pre-championship reputation.
And increasingly, it is no longer about what happened last year.
We now have actual evidence.
Four championship games for some.
Three for others.
Knockout evidence for four.
Elimination evidence for eight.
So where does everybody stand now?
As always, we start at 16.
And work all the way to No.1.
16. Upperchurch-Drombane
Previous ranking: 16 | No movement
Three rounds have passed since Upperchurch first landed at the bottom of these rankings.
They finish there.
Record: 0 wins, 3 defeats. Scored 64. Conceded 82. Difference -18. Average scored 21.33. Average conceded 27.33.
The raw numbers are unforgiving.
Only Toomevara scored fewer.
Nobody finished with a worse scoring differential.
Upperchurch’s frustrating reality is that there were periods when they looked far better than the eventual numbers.
They scored three goals against Thurles Sarsfields in Round 1.
They pushed Kilruane MacDonaghs to a single point in Round 2.
They led Holycross/Ballycahill 0-14 to 0-11 at half-time in Round 3 and had played some of their best hurling of the championship.
But this is precisely why their season became a relegation fight.
The good spells never lasted long enough.
Against Holycross, a three-point half-time advantage became an eleven-point defeat.
Holycross scored 1-17 in the second half.
Upperchurch managed 0-06.
The championship punishes teams unable to stop momentum once it begins running against them.
There were individual positives.
Philip O’Dwyer finished with 1-08 from play, an excellent return in a side that struggled collectively.
Pat Ryan accumulated 0-17 overall.
Aaron Ryan and Paddy Phelan had strong periods.
But ultimately this was a team that scored 21.33 per game while conceding 27.33.
That gap is too large.
The Dan Breen conversation is over.
Everything now is about survival.
The ranking: 16th, and no argument with it.
15. CJK Mullinahone
Previous ranking: 15 | No movement
Mullinahone’s championship can be reduced to two numbers.
One goal scored.
Eighty-six point-equivalents conceded.
Their corrected three-round record is 69 scored, 86 conceded, -17, with an attacking average of 23.00 and a defensive average of 28.67.
That is not a sustainable senior championship profile.
Mullinahone were competitive for significant stretches.
They should probably have beaten Toomevara in Round 1, when a late lead disappeared and the game finished 0-20 apiece.
Their Round 3 display against JK Brackens was arguably their best. They scored 0-26, led by six at one stage and repeatedly threatened an upset before JK’s quality eventually told.
But the lack of goals followed them everywhere.
One green flag across three games placed enormous pressure on their point-scoring.
Micheál Dunne did almost everything possible from placed balls.
He finishes on 0-34, 34 point-equivalents, second only to the very highest individual scorers.
Yet only 0-09 of Dunne’s total came from play.
That is not a criticism of Dunne. It is an illustration of the burden being placed on him.
Martin Kehoe produced 1-07 from play, Sam Rowan contributed 0-08 from play and Enda Keane showed signs in Round 3, but the collective goal threat simply never arrived.
At the other end, 86 conceded was too much.
Mullinahone remain fifteenth because nothing that happened in the preliminary round alters their position.
Their next chapter is about preserving senior status.
14. Clonoulty/Rossmore
Previous ranking: 14 | No movement
There may not be a stranger championship story than Clonoulty/Rossmore’s.
West champions.
County preliminary quarter-finalists.
Now out of the Dan Breen Cup.
And back into the relegation battle.
Their four-game numbers are far better than fourteenth might suggest.
Played 4. Won 1. Lost 3. Scored 92. Conceded 97. Difference -5. Average scored 23.00. Average conceded 24.25. Eight goals scored. Nine conceded.
There are eliminated teams above them with worse differentials.
So why 14?
Because power rankings are also about trajectory and outcome.
Clonoulty have now lost three consecutive county championship games.
Round 1 feels a long time ago.
That night they beat Borris-Ileigh 3-20 to 2-21 and again showed the resilience that has defined this team for years.
Against Moycarkey-Borris they came back repeatedly before two late frees beat them.
Against Loughmore they conceded 2-5 before they had scored and then spent the remaining fifty-plus minutes dragging themselves back into the game.
And against Nenagh, the pattern repeated.
They were hit early.
Ben West scored two first-quarter goals.
Clonoulty recovered.
They led 1-08 to 2-04 at half-time and maintained their advantage deep into the contest.
Then Nenagh hit six unanswered points and stole the game away.
That is the cruelty of knockout hurling.
Clonoulty spent much of the match doing the difficult part.
They absorbed the early damage.
They recovered.
They got themselves into a winning position.
They still lost.
Stephen Ferncombe’s campaign deserves enormous recognition.
He finishes with 3-30 overall, worth 39 point-equivalents.
And 3-06 of that came from play, 15 point-equivalents.
Jack Ryan produced 2-07 from play, 13.
Cathal Bourke contributed 1-06 from play across the four matches.
Michael Ryan scored seven points from play.
There was enough attacking talent to go further.
The issue was at the other end.
Nine goals conceded in four games.
That is the statistic that keeps jumping off the page.
Clonoulty could score goals.
They simply conceded more.
And now the West champions find themselves facing an entirely different kind of pressure.
The county title is gone.
Senior survival is not yet secure.
13. Roscrea
Previous ranking: 13 | No movement
Roscrea remain one of the most deceptive 0-3 teams in the championship.
Scored 76. Conceded 88. Difference -12. Average scored 25.33. Average conceded 29.33.
The defensive number killed them.
Not the attack.
Roscrea scored more across their three games than Moycarkey-Borris, Loughmore-Castleiney, Mullinahone, Kilruane, Upperchurch and Toomevara had after their respective group campaigns.
Their 25.33 attacking average is respectable.
But they conceded nearly 30 per game.
That meant every match became a chase.
Against Kiladangan, they were twelve point-equivalents behind at half-time and mounted a major recovery.
Against Drom & Inch, they were in front late and somehow lost by one.
Against Cashel, they produced 3-21, thirty point-equivalents, and still lost because Cashel hit 1-30.
That is the Roscrea championship in miniature.
Enough attacking quality.
Too much required.
Shane Fletcher finishes with 2-16 overall, including 2-04 from play.
Leigh Loughnane contributed 0-09 from play and was excellent in Round 3.
Luke Cashin accumulated 1-10 overall, almost entirely through placed balls.
There is scoring talent there.
But 88 conceded from three games is impossible to ignore.
Roscrea remain thirteenth because their championship body of work was more competitive than the standings suggest, but their immediate concern is no longer climbing power rankings.
It is remaining senior.
12. Toomevara
Previous ranking: 12 | No movement
For a club of Toomevara’s tradition, this championship will feel deeply unsatisfactory.
Played 3. Won 0. Drew 1. Lost 2. Scored 59. Conceded 74. Difference -15.
The defensive return was not disastrous.
The attacking return was.
19.67 point-equivalents per game.
Lowest in the competition.
Round 1 against Mullinahone should have been the platform.
Instead, Toome needed a late rally to salvage a 0-20 draw.
Round 2 against JK Brackens was far better.
The game was level repeatedly.
Toome were still alive late.
Then JK scored seven of the final eight points and ripped the result away.
Round 3 was the real disappointment.
Nenagh Éire Óg arrived in Cloughjordan with the same qualification pressure.
Toomevara never produced the performance the occasion demanded.
They lost 3-17 to 1-14.
Darragh McCarthy fought largely alone and scored 0-11 on the day, but the open-play support was not there.
Across the championship McCarthy finished on 0-17 overall, with only 0-02 from play.
Adam Hall was Toomevara’s strongest open-play attacker with 1-08 from play, 11 point-equivalents.
Kevin McCarthy provided another five from play.
Austin Duff scored a goal.
Jack Delaney contributed four points.
But the collective number remains 59.
That is the story.
Toomevara were not routinely destroyed.
They simply did not score enough to give themselves a chance of building momentum.
Their championship is over.
Twelfth remains right.
11. Kilruane MacDonaghs
Previous ranking: 11 | No movement
Kilruane’s championship began with a one-point loss.
It ended with a nine-point loss.
The direction of travel tells the story.
Record: 1-2. Scored 71. Conceded 80. Difference -9. Average scored 23.67. Average conceded 26.67.
The opening game against Holycross offered plenty.
Kilruane scored 2-18.
They were within one.
Their experienced players looked capable of driving another serious campaign.
Round 2 should have built on that.
Instead, winless Upperchurch took them to injury time before Kilruane escaped 1-20 to 1-19.
It kept the season alive.
It did not inspire huge confidence.
Thurles Sarsfields then exposed them in Round 3.
Kilruane needed victory.
Thurles looked like the team playing with greater purpose.
The direct route towards the Kilruane inside line never generated enough.
Denis Maher controlled the central defensive space.
Conor Stakelum dictated further out.
At the other end, the Sarsfields movement caused serious problems.
The final score was 2-27 to 2-18.
Willie Cleary exits with 1-28 overall, 31 point-equivalents, and 1-06 from play, nine.
Niall O’Meara’s 1-08 from play was an excellent return.
Thomas Cleary finished with two goals from play.
Kian O’Kelly scored seven from play.
There were individual contributions.
But Kilruane never became more than the sum of them.
The final performance had the feel of a team that needs another injection of pace and youth if it is to re-enter the top group of contenders.
Eleventh.
Season over.
10. Drom & Inch
Previous ranking: 10 | No movement
Drom & Inch are the best example of how dangerous it can be to judge an attack without looking at what is happening behind it.
They scored 80 point-equivalents in three matches.
That is 26.67 per game.
A strong number.
They still went 1-2 and were eliminated.
Why?
Eighty-six conceded.
28.67 per game.
Against Cashel they scored 0-28.
Lost.
Against Roscrea they scored 1-23.
Won by one.
Against Kiladangan they scored 1-23.
Lost.
Every afternoon required another huge attacking performance simply to stay alive.
Séamus Callanan finishes with 1-28 overall, 31 point-equivalents.
Cormac Fitzpatrick produced an excellent 0-11 from play.
John Campion hit 0-10 from play.
Maidhc Fitzpatrick contributed six from play.
Tony Cahill’s 1-04 from play included the Round 2 goal that effectively rescued Drom’s campaign for another fortnight.
That is good offensive production.
Yet they could never create the separation between attack and defence required to become a serious championship threat.
Round 3 against Kiladangan was the perfect example.
Drom were three ahead in the second half.
Qualification was within reach.
Then two high deliveries produced two Dara O’Dwyer goals.
The game flipped.
Drom never recovered.
Tenth may look generous for an eliminated team, but the attacking body of work earns it.
The problem is that you cannot concede almost 29 per game and expect to survive senior championship hurling.
9. Loughmore-Castleiney
Previous ranking: 9 | No movement
And now, finally, the caveat is gone.
For weeks, every conversation about Loughmore came with the same warning.
Yes, the form was poor.
Yes, the numbers were poor.
Yes, they had lost games.
But they were the champions.
They knew knockout hurling.
They had escaped worse situations before.
They were Loughmore.
Holycross ended all of that.
The final four-game numbers are startling.
Played 4. Won 1. Lost 3. Scored 99. Conceded 113. Difference -14. Average scored 24.75. Average conceded 28.25. Seven goals scored. Ten conceded.
The defending champions conceded ten goals in four championship matches.
That, more than anything, explains why their reign is over.
Their attack actually improved as the championship progressed.
Round 1 produced only 0-15 against Moycarkey-Borris.
Round 2 brought 1-24 against Borris-Ileigh.
Round 3 produced 2-21 against Clonoulty.
Then in the preliminary quarter-final they scored 4-18.
Thirty point-equivalents.
Four goals.
Still beaten by seven.
That is extraordinary.
John McGrath leaves the championship as its leading overall scorer.
3-34.
Forty-three point-equivalents.
His preliminary-quarter-final contribution was enormous: 2-08, including 2-02 from play.
His final open-play total is 3-10, 19 point-equivalents, second in the competition.
Liam McGrath produced 2-10 overall, with 2-06 from play.
Ciaran McCormack contributed 1-04 overall.
The attack had begun to resemble Loughmore again.
But Holycross simply overwhelmed them at the other end.
The preliminary quarter-final finished Holycross 4-25, Loughmore 4-18. It was 2-11 to 2-10 at half-time before Holycross pulled clear as the second half developed.
For a championship built on Loughmore’s extraordinary ability to survive, it ended in a game where even four goals were insufficient.
Their fall across these rankings tells the story.
Round 1: No.1.
Round 2: No.9.
Round 3: No.9.
Now: No.9 and eliminated.
The team nobody wanted to write off has finally run out of road.
For the first time in three seasons, somebody else will lift the Dan Breen Cup.
That alone changes the entire championship.
8. Nenagh Éire Óg
Previous ranking: 6 | Down 2
This is the ranking most likely to provoke an argument.
Nenagh won.
They advanced.
Their four-game defensive numbers are excellent.
And they drop two places.
So let us explain it.
First, the corrected numbers.
Nenagh have scored 99 point-equivalents, not 100.
The old one-point discrepancy from their Round 2 game had carried into one version of the cumulative team sheet.
Their correct four-game profile is:
Played 4. Won 3. Lost 1. Scored 99. Conceded 85. Difference +14. Average scored 24.75. Average conceded 21.25. Eight goals scored. Seven conceded.
That defensive average is outstanding.
Only Moycarkey-Borris have conceded fewer per game.
Nenagh’s drop is therefore not a statement that they are weaker than they were after Round 3.
They are not.
It is a consequence of the championship moving around them, particularly Holycross producing the weekend’s defining performance.
The gap from sixth to eighth is tiny.
Nenagh’s trajectory since Round 1 remains impressive.
They began with a damaging 4-18 to 0-22 defeat against JK Brackens.
Their structure was exposed.
Their build-up was attacked.
The four goals conceded raised serious questions.
Since then?
Three wins.
Against Mullinahone, Toomevara and now Clonoulty.
And the biggest attacking development has been Ben West.
His exact championship return is extraordinary:
5-03 overall.
5-03 from play.
Eighteen point-equivalents without a placed ball.
Five goals.
No player remaining in the championship has scored more goals from open play.
Two of them arrived against Clonoulty in the opening quarter of the preliminary quarter-final.
That should have given Nenagh control.
It did not.
Clonoulty responded strongly and actually led at the break.
That is where Nenagh’s performance became more revealing.
They had to find another way.
The game became attritional.
Scores became precious.
Clonoulty maintained their advantage.
Then Nenagh produced six unanswered points late to turn the result.
That is important evidence.
Round 2 had shown Nenagh could overwhelm an opponent.
Round 3 showed they could control one.
The preliminary quarter-final showed they could survive one.
Mikey Heffernan is now on 0-18 overall, with seven from play.
Sam O’Farrell has 0-17, five from play.
Jake Morris remains a major finishing threat after his two-goal return against Toomevara.
Barry Heffernan has become one of the championship’s dominant centre-backs.
Nenagh are deeper and more resilient than they looked in July.
So why eighth?
Because Kiladangan’s attacking ceiling remains enormous, Borris-Ileigh have already navigated the most unforgiving group in the competition into a direct quarter-final place, and the margins are extremely tight.
But eighth should not be read as a dismissal.
Nenagh are alive.
They are defending at 21.25 per game.
Ben West has five goals from play.
And a team that looked vulnerable after Round 1 has now won three championship matches in succession.
That is dangerous.
7. Borris-Ileigh
Previous ranking: 8 | Up 1
No new game.
One-place rise.
That sounds contradictory until you remember that power rankings are relative.
Borris-Ileigh’s own evidence has not changed.
The landscape has.
Their three-game record remains unusual:
One win. Two defeats. 78 scored. 80 conceded. Difference -2. Average scored 26.00. Average conceded 26.67.
Those are not top-seven numbers on their own.
Context matters.
The group was savage.
Moycarkey-Borris finished unbeaten.
Borris, Loughmore and Clonoulty all finished on two points.
When their mini-table was calculated, the margins were microscopic.
Borris +1.
Loughmore 0.
Clonoulty -1.
One point separated second from fourth.
Borris got the quarter-final place.
And one man has dominated their attacking story.
Eddie Ryan: 1-39.
Forty-two point-equivalents.
One behind John McGrath at the top of the overall scoring chart, but McGrath is finished.
Ryan therefore enters the quarter-finals as the leading scorer still standing.
His exact open-play contribution is 0-07.
That tells you how enormous his placed-ball influence has been.
And that should not be treated as a weakness.
Every foul against Borris has become a scoring opportunity.
In tight knockout hurling, that is a serious weapon.
His Round 2 performance against Loughmore remains one of the individual displays of the championship.
1-16.
Player of the Match.
The penalty.
The long-range frees.
The 65s.
Relentless punishment.
But if Borris are going to go further, the supporting cast has to reduce the burden.
Paddy McCormack has 2-04 from play.
James Devaney has 1-06 from play.
Jack Bevans has 1-02 from play.
Conor Kenny has four points from play.
There are weapons.
Borris now need to use more of them.
The defensive number of 80 conceded also needs improvement.
Seven is not a declaration that Borris are suddenly one of the dominant teams.
It is recognition that they survived the hardest arithmetic in the group stage, possess the leading scorer left in the championship and are still standing.
Now we find out how much that is worth.
6. Kiladangan
Previous ranking: 7 | Up 1
Kiladangan remain one of the most frightening attacking teams in this championship.
Their three-round profile is:
Played 3. Won 2. Lost 1. Scored 89. Conceded 79. Difference +10. Average scored 29.67. Average conceded 26.33. Seven goals scored.
Only Cashel and JK Brackens have produced more total point-equivalents among the teams that played three group games.
And Kiladangan have multiple ways to hurt an opponent.
Billy Seymour’s correct total is 1-25 overall, 28 point-equivalents.
His exact from-play return is 1-10, 13.
That is elite.
Paul Flynn has accumulated 1-11 overall despite missing Round 1.
His open-play total is 1-10, also 13.
Sean Hayes has 2-06 from play, 12.
Bryan McLoughney has 1-05 from play, eight.
Dara O’Dwyer has 2-01 from play, seven, including the two goals in approximately two minutes that changed the Drom & Inch game.
That is an extraordinary spread of genuine open-play scoring.
Take Seymour out of the game and Flynn remains.
Control Flynn and Hayes can damage you.
Protect against Hayes and there is McLoughney.
Then O’Dwyer appears.
This is why Kiladangan remain extremely high on the contender list.
Their one defeat remains difficult to comprehend.
They led Cashel King Cormacs by seven with approximately five minutes of normal time remaining.
They lost 3-23 to 3-22.
That failure to close still hangs over them.
But Round 3 was important because they were put in another pressure situation and responded.
Drom went three clear.
Kiladangan did not panic.
O’Dwyer goal.
O’Dwyer goal.
Johnny Horan off the bench.
Paul Flynn finishing the job.
Willie Connors producing the late block when Séamus Callanan searched for one final goal.
That was a better finish.
The defence remains the question.
Seventy-nine conceded is not disastrous.
It is not championship-leading either.
Kiladangan’s route to the Dan Breen Cup probably involves accepting that they may need to win games in the high twenties.
Fortunately for them, there may not be another team in the competition with as many proven open-play scoring options.
Sixth.
Very much alive.
And capable of beating anybody above them.
5. JK Brackens
Previous ranking: 4 | Down 1
JK Brackens did nothing wrong.
That needs to be stated immediately.
They drop because Holycross just added the biggest knockout win of the championship while JK had earned the right not to play.
Their own three-round numbers remain outstanding.
Played 3. Won 3. Lost 0. Scored 90. Conceded 70. Difference +20. Average scored 30.00. Average conceded 23.33. Seven goals scored. One conceded.
One goal.
Three senior championship games.
That is remarkable.
No other defence has protected the net anywhere near as effectively.
And while Moycarkey have conceded fewer point-equivalents overall, JK possess the best scoring differential in the competition at +20.
Round 1 remains the statement performance.
Nenagh Éire Óg were dismantled 4-18 to 0-22.
Four goals.
Sixteen wides.
An enormous shot volume.
JK could have scored more.
Round 2 showed the other side of them.
No goal.
No Lyndon Fairbrother.
No problem.
They scored 0-28 against Toomevara and, when the game was level late, produced seven of the final eight points.
Round 3 brought another test.
Mullinahone led.
At one stage the gap was six.
Jamie Ormond’s goals dragged JK back.
Eanna McBride added another.
Mullinahone got within one again late.
JK responded with six of the final seven points.
There is a pattern.
When games hit the decisive final phase, JK have been excellent.
Jamie Ormond remains at the centre of everything.
2-19 overall.
2-10 from play.
Sixteen point-equivalents from open play.
Andrew Ormond has 1-11, every score from play.
Eanna McBride has 2-05, every score from play.
Shane Doyle has 1-07 from play within his 1-07 plus placed-ball contribution? His exact open-play ledger gives nine point-equivalents.
Paddy Cadell has been excellent defensively.
Conor Cadell gives the midfield shape.
Cathal Scully anchors a full-back line that has conceded one goal.
The most impressive detail may still be how easily the attack adapted when Fairbrother went out after scoring 0-10 in Round 1.
JK did not become less dangerous.
Other players simply took responsibility.
So fifth is almost an artificial drop.
Nothing about their championship case has weakened.
Indeed, there is a statistical argument for putting them considerably higher.
The top five are now separated less by obvious weaknesses than by different strengths.
JK’s?
Balance.
Goals.
Defence.
Closing ability.
And three wins from three.
4. Holycross/Ballycahill
Previous ranking: 5 | Up 1
Now we know.
For the last two seasons, every discussion about Holycross/Ballycahill has eventually arrived at the same question.
The talent is obvious.
The youth is obvious.
The athleticism is obvious.
But when the serious knockout game arrives against a team that has lived in that environment for years, can they do it?
They just answered.
Holycross/Ballycahill 4-25. Loughmore-Castleiney 4-18.
The back-to-back champions are gone.
And Holycross are responsible.
The cumulative profile now reads:
Played 4. Won 3. Lost 1. Scored 115. Conceded 98. Difference +17. Average scored 28.75. Average conceded 24.50. Eight goals scored. Eight conceded.
The attack has gone to another level.
Across their last two games, Holycross have scored:
1-28 against Upperchurch-Drombane.
4-25 against Loughmore-Castleiney.
That is 5-53.
Sixty-eight point-equivalents in two championship games.
Thirty-four per game.
And it is not one player.
Darragh Woods is having an enormous championship.
2-35 overall.
Forty-one point-equivalents.
Only John McGrath and Eddie Ryan sit above him in overall scoring, and McGrath is now eliminated.
More significant for Holycross’s ceiling is that Woods has 2-12 from play, 18 point-equivalents.
He is not simply a free-taker compiling a huge total.
He is hurting teams from play as well.
Then there is Robbie Ryan.
He now leads the entire scores-from-play chart.
3-11 from play.
Twenty point-equivalents.
Nobody has more.
His overall return is 3-13.
Joe Caesar’s return for the Loughmore game was another huge development.
He scored 1-04 in the preliminary quarter-final and now has 2-04 from play across his championship.
Eoin Craddock has eight points from play.
Tiarnán Ryan has nine.
Bryan O’Mara scored two against Loughmore and continues to provide leadership further back.
And Cathal Barrett did something defenders are not supposed to do very often in knockout championship hurling.
He scored a goal.
Holycross’s preliminary performance had colour everywhere.
Loughmore themselves scored four goals.
John McGrath hit 2-08.
Liam McGrath got two goals.
The old Holycross might have begun to wonder whether this was happening again.
This version kept scoring.
That is the difference.
They led only 2-11 to 2-10 at half-time.
The game was still there for Loughmore.
Holycross then pulled away.
That matters almost as much as the final score.
It was not a freak opening burst they clung to.
It was a knockout game they increasingly controlled.
Their only county championship defeat remains the two-point loss to Thurles Sarsfields.
And even then, they got the game level late before Sars finished better.
There are still defensive concerns.
Eight goals conceded in four games is too many.
Loughmore scoring 4-18 means the defensive side cannot be ignored amid the celebration.
But Holycross have now proven that their attack can survive that kind of game.
Fourth is their highest ranking since Round 2.
And for the first time, the conversation has changed from:
Could Holycross win the Dan Breen Cup?
to:
Who is going to stop them if they keep scoring like this?
3. Moycarkey-Borris
Previous ranking: 3 | No movement
Moycarkey-Borris remain the statistical contradiction at the top of the championship.
They have scored only 72 point-equivalents.
That is less than every other team in the top eight.
It is less than several eliminated teams.
And they remain No.3.
Because nobody has defended like them.
Played 3. Won 3. Lost 0. Scored 72. Conceded 60. Difference +12. Average scored 24.00. Average conceded 20.00.
Twenty conceded per game.
Best in the championship.
Comfortably.
The opponents make that statistic considerably more impressive.
Loughmore-Castleiney, Mid champions.
Clonoulty/Rossmore, West champions.
Borris-Ileigh, North champions.
Three divisional champions.
Three victories.
Loughmore managed only 0-15.
Clonoulty scored 2-18 but still lost.
Borris-Ileigh got 1-18.
Moycarkey have built a championship case on denying opponents enough scoring volume to win.
That may be the most transferable quality of all when knockout hurling tightens.
Their attacking figures are modest only in comparison with the explosive teams around them.
The scores they do create are distributed efficiently.
David Costigan has been one of the championship’s breakout stars.
3-04 overall.
3-04 from play.
Thirteen point-equivalents.
Every single one created in open play.
The goals against Loughmore and Clonoulty were huge.
Against Borris he switched from goal threat to point scorer and hit 0-03.
Kieran Morris has 1-13 overall, with six point-equivalents from play.
Killian Cantwell has 0-10 overall.
Max Hackett has five from play.
Stephen Walsh has four from wing-back.
Rhys Shelly has become a significant weapon from goalkeeper, both through his puckout and the scoreboard.
That is what Moycarkey are.
Connected.
They do not appear dependent on one overwhelming individual.
They win through structure.
Their three victories have all looked slightly different.
Against Loughmore, they physically suffocated the champions.
Against Clonoulty, they had to survive a chaotic goal-heavy game and win it late.
Against Borris, they built a lead and then resisted the comeback.
There is no knockout evidence yet because they were good enough not to need the preliminary route.
That should not count against them.
If anything, it is the reward for being 3-0.
The question now is whether 24 points of attacking output per game is enough when they run into one of the elite scoring teams.
Perhaps it does not need to be.
If the defence continues conceding twenty, 1-18 wins an awful lot of championship matches.
Moycarkey remain third because their identity is now unmistakable.
They may not overwhelm you.
They simply make it incredibly hard for you to beat them.
2. Thurles Sarsfields
Previous ranking: 2 | No movement
Three rounds.
Three wins.
And increasingly, no obvious weakness.
Thurles Sarsfields remain second with perhaps the most conventionally balanced championship profile.
Scored 85. Conceded 68. Difference +17. Average scored 28.33. Average conceded 22.67.
Only Moycarkey have conceded fewer point-equivalents per match among the three-game teams.
Only Cashel, JK and Kiladangan have scored more.
That is what balance looks like.
Round 1 was good without being flawless.
Upperchurch scored three goals.
Sars responded with 0-28 and won by six.
Round 2 was the game that changed perception.
Holycross/Ballycahill arrived with enormous expectation.
Sarsfields beat them.
And did it despite hitting fourteen first-half wides.
Holycross eventually dragged the game level late.
That was supposed to be the moment the younger team swept through.
Instead, Thurles scored the decisive final points.
Round 3 was their most complete performance.
Kilruane had to win.
Sarsfields made them look like the team under less pressure.
2-27 to 2-18.
Thirty-three point-equivalents.
Darragh Stakelum exploded for 1-06 from play.
Cian Stakelum was Player of the Match from wing-back.
Euan Murray controlled and created through midfield.
Conor Stakelum again commanded centre-back.
Denis Maher controlled the square.
It looked mature.
That word matters.
For years Thurles have possessed talent.
This version looks organised around it.
Darragh Stakelum’s exact championship return is 1-13 overall, with 1-10 from play.
Aidan McCormack has 1-22 overall, giving Sars a reliable placed-ball anchor even when the attack stalls.
Eoin Purcell has 1-05 from play.
Paddy Creedon has 1-05 from play.
Euan Murray has 0-04 from play.
Aidan Stakelum has five.
Cian Stakelum has three.
The scoring is distributed.
And then we return to the most extraordinary contextual point.
They have built this 3-0 campaign without Ronan Maher.
Conor Stakelum has been so good at centre-back that the absence has not destabilised the team.
That is perhaps the biggest compliment possible.
Sarsfields are not No.2 because they lack a championship case.
They have an excellent one.
Indeed, their +17 differential is more than twice Cashel’s.
They have conceded 21 fewer point-equivalents than Cashel.
Their defence is clearly superior statistically.
The only reason they remain behind Cashel is that Cashel’s attacking ceiling has so far been so extreme, and their ability to survive chaos so compelling, that we are not yet prepared to move them.
But the gap is tiny.
If somebody wanted to rank Thurles first today, there is a strong evidence-based argument.
They are unbeaten.
They are balanced.
They are deep.
And every round has made them look more convincing.
1. Cashel King Cormacs
Previous ranking: 1 | No movement
Still No.1.
But the gap has disappeared.
Cashel King Cormacs remain at the summit because nothing has yet disproved the central fact on which their ranking is built.
Nobody in this championship scores like Cashel.
Played 3. Won 3. Lost 0. Scored 97. Conceded 89. Difference +8. Average scored 32.33. Average conceded 29.67.
Read those averages together.
Cashel score more than 32 per game.
They concede almost 30.
It is absurd.
It is reckless.
It is exhilarating.
And so far, it is undefeated.
Round 1 set the tone.
0-32 against Drom & Inch.
Thirty-two points.
No goals required.
Drom scored 0-28 themselves and lost.
Round 2 pushed the madness further.
Kiladangan scored 3-22.
Cashel hit eighteen wides.
Kiladangan led by seven with five minutes remaining.
Cashel won.
David McGrath goal.
Pressure.
Scores.
Aaron Browne save.
Then deep in injury time, Cathal Quinn somehow got the decisive touch.
3-23 to 3-22.
Round 3 was supposed to be a dead rubber.
Roscrea had nothing to lose.
Cashel had already secured first place.
The result?
Another 33 point-equivalents.
Cashel 1-30, Roscrea 3-21.
Their three attacking totals have therefore been:
32.
32.
33.
That consistency is astonishing.
It is not a one-off explosion.
It is their baseline.
Devon Ryan has 0-26 overall.
Ger Browne has 1-10, every score from play.
Oisín O’Donoghue has 0-11 overall, with 0-10 from play.
Conor O’Dwyer has seven from play.
David McGrath has 2-02 from play.
Cathal Quinn has 1-05 from play.
Ross Bonnar contributes.
Shane Neville contributes.
Eoghan Connolly can hurt teams from distance and placed balls.
The central feature of the attack is not one superstar.
It is the number of different problems.
There is no single tactical lever an opposition manager can pull and say: stop him and Cashel stop.
They do not.
Someone else appears.
That is why 97 has happened.
But now comes the warning.
It is becoming louder.
Eighty-nine conceded.
Worst defensive total in the championship after three group games.
Twenty-nine-point-six-seven per match.
Drom got 28.
Kiladangan got 31.
Roscrea got 30.
Every opponent has produced a score that would win most Senior Championship games.
Cashel have simply produced more.
Can that continue indefinitely?
Probably not.
At some point there will be a game where 0-32 becomes 0-24.
At some point an opponent will not give them eighteen wides and another opportunity.
At some point conceding three goals will become fatal.
That is why Thurles are breathing down their necks.
Why Moycarkey’s defence creates such an intriguing contrast.
Why JK’s balance matters.
Why Holycross’s 4-25 suddenly changes the championship equation.
Cashel are still No.1 because they remain undefeated and their attacking output is unprecedented within this year’s field.
But this is no longer a ranking with daylight at the top.
It is a ranking with pressure.
Cashel have spent three games asking every opponent the same question:
Can you score enough to live with us?
So far, the answer has been no.
The quarter-finals are where we discover whether that answer finally changes.
For now, Cashel King Cormacs retain the throne.
Barely.
The Premier View Podcast Senior Hurling Power Rankings
| Rank | Club | Previous | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cashel King Cormacs | 1 | = |
| 2 | Thurles Sarsfields | 2 | = |
| 3 | Moycarkey-Borris | 3 | = |
| 4 | Holycross/Ballycahill | 5 | ▲ 1 |
| 5 | JK Brackens | 4 | ▼ 1 |
| 6 | Kiladangan | 7 | ▲ 1 |
| 7 | Borris-Ileigh | 8 | ▲ 1 |
| 8 | Nenagh Éire Óg | 6 | ▼ 2 |
| 9 | Loughmore-Castleiney | 9 | = |
| 10 | Drom & Inch | 10 | = |
| 11 | Kilruane MacDonaghs | 11 | = |
| 12 | Toomevara | 12 | = |
| 13 | Roscrea | 13 | = |
| 14 | Clonoulty/Rossmore | 14 | = |
| 15 | CJK Mullinahone | 15 | = |
| 16 | Upperchurch-Drombane | 16 | = |
What changed?
The headline is Holycross.
There is no debate.
Plenty of teams have produced big numbers in this championship.
Holycross just produced theirs when there was no tomorrow.
4-25 against the back-to-back champions.
Thirty-seven point-equivalents.
The biggest single attacking return of the Senior Championship.
That is different evidence.
They move from five to four and could easily go higher with another performance of that level.
JK Brackens fall one through no fault of their own.
That distinction matters.
They remain unbeaten, still have the best scoring differential and have still conceded only one goal.
The rankings simply had to create room for what Holycross did.
Kiladangan and Borris-Ileigh each climb one as the order underneath the top five shifts.
Nenagh fall two despite winning.
That sounds harsh because it is harsh.
Their numbers are strong enough to make a case for sixth.
The difference between six, seven and eight is extremely small.
What matters more is that Nenagh are now 3-1, have the second-best defensive average among the remaining contenders and possess the championship’s leading goalscorer from play in Ben West.
Nobody should interpret eighth as weakness.
And then there is Loughmore.
No movement.
But everything changed.
Previously they were ninth with an asterisk.
The defending champions.
The team you still feared regardless of form.
Now they are ninth and finished.
The asterisk is gone.
The numbers that define the championship now
Cashel remain the scoring kings at 32.33 per game.
JK Brackens are next among the original group-stage teams at 30.00.
Kiladangan are at 29.67.
Holycross, now across four matches, are at 28.75.
Thurles Sarsfields are at 28.33.
At the opposite end, Moycarkey-Borris continue to concede only 20.00 per game.
Nenagh’s corrected four-match defensive average is 21.25.
Thurles are at 22.67.
JK Brackens are at 23.33.
That is the argument in miniature.
Some teams are surviving through enormous attack.
Others through defensive control.
The most dangerous teams may be the ones capable of doing both.
And the individual numbers are becoming just as revealing.
The overall scoring race currently reads:
John McGrath 3-34, 43 point-equivalents, championship finished.
Eddie Ryan 1-39, 42, still alive.
Darragh Woods 2-35, 41, still alive.
Stephen Ferncombe 3-30, 39, championship finished.
Then come Micheál Dunne 0-34, Willie Cleary 1-28, Séamus Callanan 1-28, Billy Seymour 1-25, Devon Ryan 0-26, Jamie Ormond 2-19 and Aidan McCormack 1-22.
But perhaps the more important table from here is scores from play.
Robbie Ryan: 3-11, 20.
John McGrath: 3-10, 19.
Ben West: 5-03, 18.
Darragh Woods: 2-12, 18.
Jamie Ormond: 2-10, 16.
Stephen Ferncombe: 3-06, 15.
Andrew Ormond: 1-11, 14.
Then a remarkable collection on 13 point-equivalents:
Billy Seymour 1-10.
Paul Flynn 1-10.
Jack Ryan 2-07.
Darragh Stakelum 1-10.
David Costigan 3-04.
Ger Browne 1-10.
Those are championship numbers.
Those are players creating scores when nothing is being handed to them.
And that becomes increasingly important from this point forward.
The championship has reached the point where reputation stops mattering
Loughmore have proved it.
Past performance buys respect.
It cannot buy another sixty minutes.
The defending champions are gone.
Holycross have crossed one of the biggest psychological barriers in their development.
Nenagh have survived an ugly knockout test.
The four group winners are finally about to re-enter the championship.
And there is no obvious favourite that is without a serious flaw.
Cashel have the best attack and the worst defensive number.
Thurles may be the most balanced.
Moycarkey possess the best defence but the lowest attacking output among the elite teams.
JK Brackens possess exceptional numbers everywhere but have not played since August.
Holycross have just produced the performance of the knockout stage but have conceded eight goals in four games.
Kiladangan have frightening attacking depth but already threw away one game they appeared certain to win.
Borris possess the leading scorer left in the competition but remain heavily reliant on his placed-ball contribution.
Nenagh’s defensive numbers are excellent, but Round 1 remains evidence of what can happen when their structure is broken.
That is why this championship is compelling.
There is no complete team.
There are eight different arguments.
The group stage told us who could accumulate points.
The preliminary quarter-finals told us who could survive.
Now comes the stage that strips everything else away.
One game.
One performance.
One bad quarter.
One brilliant forward.
One goalkeeper.
One goal.
One decision.
And you are either still chasing the Dan Breen Cup or you are watching somebody else do it.
After the preliminary quarter-finals, Cashel King Cormacs remain No.1.
But for the first time since they reached the summit, the pack behind them feels close enough to touch them.
The champions are gone.
The safety nets are gone.
And now the real championship begins.