www.uibhfhaili.com

I agree in that I don't think the Offaly vs Kilkenny thing will really be a factor here, Birr are a completely different entity certainly and fear will not be the problem with them.

I do think hurling might. That's not to knock Birr, but if Kilkenny people are to be believed (and even allowing for a little bit of hype here) this is the greatest club side to come out of Catland since, well, Ballyhale back around the late seventies and early eighties. And Birr have not exactly demonstrated that they're back to their best getting this far either. I don't doubt that the Coolderry games will be good for them, but an All Ireland standard team would have crossed that hurdle a lot easier - ditto they made life hard for themselves against Craobh last Sunday, a team with very small representation on the Dublin senior hurling panel.

I think Offaly hurling is somewhat similar to Offaly football at the moment in that we're not hugely endowed with players who love high ball in on top of their heads. This is where I fear for Birr in particular. Lads like Kevin Brady and Niall Claffey have looked like great ball winners in Offaly club games because they're not competing with much - well here Birr will be competing with a lot more aerial ability than they have so far, and I think it'll hurt them. They're used to their half back line dominating, even in close games, and in the absence of that they might struggle.

Regarding throwing in the towel, I don't expect anything like that. I do expect them to compete up to the last minute, but you can compete all you like, when you're up against a better team there's often nowhere to go.

I found these on Kilkennycats.com. I presume the football equivalent are on the www somewhere. Someone might reproduce them here. They're not on the Leinster GAA site. Of course GAA fixtures are only a rough guide. Don't believe anything until ye see the fixture in the paper the Wednesday before the match.

Have Kilkenny and Laois a home/away arrangement? Looks like lone Shark will be reacquainting himself with the Portlaoise nightlife!


LEINSTER SHC 2007
May 27: Offaly v Laois, O'Connor Park, Tullamore.
June 9: Dublin v Wexford, Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.
June 10: Kilkenny v Laois/Offaly, O'Moore Park, Portlaoise.
July 1: Final, Croke Park.

If that was the case, I dont think playing the two semis on different days would right thing to. A double header in Carlow would the best solution and get a great crowd on the day. Cant imagining there being a huge crowd at the provincial semi-final between Dublin and Wexford in Kilkenny, or even ourselves and Kilkenny in Portlaoise.

The Offaly/Carlow football qtr final is fixed for Portlaoise the same day....this may not be a good oman cos if my memory serves me right the last time we had the privelage of watching both or teams play a double header it was when our footballers played Carlow!

if we beat laois in the first round we are definately in line for a double header for the hurling and football in portlaoise. seen the official fixture list that was presented last week at a county board meeting

The Munster SHC fixtures are up. Looks like they're running a week behind Leinster, unlike previous years, so Offaly (if they beat Laois) will have a two week gap between the Kilkenny match and the first qualifier. Tipperary hurl Limerick on the same day Offaly (or Laois) face Kilkenny.

Quarter Final 27/05/2007 Cork v Clare
Semi-Final 10/06/2007 Tipperary v Limerick
Semi-Final 17/06/2007 Waterford v Cork or Clare
Final 08/07/2007

A comprehensive fixture list for 2006 appears in today’s (Wednesday) Independent.

I was curious as to the schedule for the senior hurling qualifiers. The three rounds are fixed for Saturday 30th June and 7th and 14th July.

The provincial programme for 2007 is as follows:-
27th May- Munster and Leinster quarter finals.
9th/10th June- 2 Leinster semis; first Munster semi.
17th June- second Munster semi.

For 2007, we’ve seen the change where the Leinster championship is hurled a week earlier than its Munster equivalent. Now, in each of the last two years, the beaten Leinster semifinalists had to hurl their first round qualifiers the weekend following their provincial defeat. It’s interesting to note that of the defeated Munster semi-finalists one will have the benefit of a two week break while the other will have a three week break before facing their first qualifier.

Previously I have blamed the Leinster fixture-makers for an apparent shortcoming in their scheduling. But now, when you put the 2007 scheduling alongside the effective seeding of the Munster counties in 2006 (2 Munster; 2 Leinster in each group) and 2007 (pre-determined draw) leads me to believe there is a policy to ensure the safe passage of the three Munster teams and Galway to the quarter finals.