St Rynagh’s grabbed themselves a lifeline when they defeated Lusmagh in the final group game to force a play off with Ballyskenach, who had been defeated by Seir Kieran earlier in the day.
That victory for Seir Kieran puts them directly into the semi-finals where they join reigning champions, Birr. They will be on opposite sides of the draw from here on in.
Seir Kieran defeated Ballyskenach by 4-10 to 1-9 and that meant that Lusmagh and St Rynagh’s had it all to play for when they met in the afternoon in Birr. Victory for Lusmagh would have put them straight through to the quarter finals while Rynagh’s knew that their championship hopes were still alive and that a victory would earn them a play off with Ballyskenach.
Despite losing Martin Hanamy, who was sent off for a second bookable offence in the first quarter, St Rynagh’s took command of the game early on and built up a nine point lead at half time. That advantage was sufficient to hold off a second half rally by Lusmagh, whose championship hopes were left shattered by this defeat.
The controversial point against Kilcormac/Killoughey in an earlier game now has even more significance. Had Lusmagh won that game instead of drawing, they would also have ended up four points and in fact there would have been a four way play off with four teams tied together on four points.
As it stands now, Birr and Seir Kieran are through to the semi-finals, and Kilcormac/Killoughey have claimed one of the quarter final places from Group 1. Shinrone and Drumcullen occupy the two quarter final places from Group 2.
That just leaves the play off between Ballyskenach and St Rynagh’s to decide who will complete the quarter final line up. When the sides met earlier in the championship Ballyskenach scored a good win and they will be looking for a repeat. The game is also a repeat of last year’s county semi-final but on that occasion St Rynagh’s came out on top and they will be looking for a similar result this year.
That play off looks set to go ahead the weekend after next and with quarter finals and semi-finals, plus Birr’s involvement in the Leinster club championship, still to be sorted out, it looks like the County Final will have a December date.