{"id":673825,"date":"2026-09-05T11:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/673825\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T11:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:38:14","slug":"senior-a-hurling-permutations-three-through-but-lots-to-play-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/673825\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior A hurling permutations: Three through but lots to play for"},"content":{"rendered":"

The beauty of the championship system employed in the Cork county championships is that there is always something to play for in the final round of group games, even when it seems like there is not.<\/p>\n

That is proven by the state of play in Group 1 of the Co-op SuperStores Senior A Hurling Championship, which concludes with six games taking place on Saturday evening, all with a throw-in time of 5.30pm.<\/p>\n

On the face of it, things are cut and dried: Blarney and Watergrasshill have both beaten Ballyhea and Castlelyons, meaning that the two qualification spots are sorted. However, the order of first and second is all-important \u2013 victory in Grenagh will yield a direct passage to the semi-finals whereas defeat would set up a tricky quarter-final tie.<\/p>\n

Blarney, the beaten finalists of 2023 and 2024, have a six-point scoring-difference advantage and so would take top spot if they draw with the Hill, who have built on last year\u2019s good showing in the wake of winning county, Munster and All-Ireland intermediate honours.<\/p>\n

The other game in the group also has something riding on it, even if neither Ballyhea nor Castlelyons can now reach the knockout stages.<\/p>\n

Castlelyons serve as an example of narrow the margins are in terms of chasing success. In last year\u2019s final replay, they led Bride Rovers by six points with ten minutes left before being reeled in; then, in this year\u2019s opener, it looked like they had secured victory over Blarney before Mark Coleman\u2019s late goal from a free turned things around.<\/p>\n

\"NaNa Piarsaigh’s Kelvin Forde wins possession ahead of Erin’s Own’s Cormac Dooley – the Caherlag side are through while Piarsaigh face Killeagh in what is essentially a knockout tie. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

Defeat to Watergrasshill a fortnight ago ended hopes of advancing but they must still avoid defeat in Mallow on Saturday evening to ensure that the spectre of the relegation play-off is extinguished.<\/p>\n

In Group 2, Erin\u2019s Own \u2013 relegated from premier senior last year \u2013 have the luxury of knowing that first place is theirs regardless of what happens against Fermoy in Rathcormac; however, they will be keen to make it three wins from three to take an automatic last-four place. Fermoy need at least a draw to avoid the relegation play-off.<\/p>\n

The other game, between Killeagh and Na Piarsaigh in Midleton, is to all intents and purposes a preliminary quarter-final. Both have lost to Erin\u2019s Own and beaten Fermoy, leaving them on two points each, though Na Piarsaigh have fared better on the scoring-difference front and so a draw would give them the runners-up spot behind the Caherlag outfit.<\/p>\n

Group 3 is finely poised, the only one where all four sides still retain the chance of qualification for the latter stages.<\/p>\n

\"TadhgTadhg O’Sullivan of Courcey Rovers gets ahead of Ballinhassig’s Darragh O’Sullivan – the two neighbouring clubs and the other sides in their group, Carrigaline and Inniscarra, still hold qualification hopes. Picture: Martin Walsh<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s premier intermediate champions Ballinhassig top the table on three points, having followed a draw against Courcey Rovers with a win against Inniscarra. They take on Carrigtwohill in P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Rinn, knowing that a win or a draw will be enough to secure first place; there is even a chance that defeat would not torpedo their hopes.<\/p>\n

If that were to happen, they would need Courceys to beat Inniscarra in Carrigaline, but with a slender enough margin that would not overtake the Blues.<\/p>\n

An Inniscarra win would definitely send them through \u2013 and in first place if Carrig were to beat Ballinhassig, as the Muskerry outfit would have head-to-head advantage.<\/p>\n

\n SATURDAY (all 5.30pm)\n <\/p>\n

\n Co-op SuperStores SAHC \u2013 Group 1: Blarney v Watergrasshill, Grenagh; Ballyhea v Castlelyons, Mallow; Group 2: Erin\u2019s Own v Fermoy, Rathcormac; Killeagh v Na Piarsaigh, Midleton; Group 3: Ballinhassig v Carrigtwohill, P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Rinn; Courcey Rovers v Inniscarra, Carrigaline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The beauty of the championship system employed in the Cork county championships is that there is always something…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,24,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-673825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cork-gaa","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117218241445537359","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}