Four into two won’t go - who will make it to the final?

TODAY’S double-header in Laois Hire O’Moore Park will end with two teams making it to the Senior Hurling Championship while for the other two it will mark the end of their year.

The opening game will see the Bob O’Keeefe Cup holders, Clough/Ballacolla take on this year’s surprise packages, Ballinakill. The second game again pairs two of hurling’s great, none other than Camross and Rathdowney/Errill.

The reigning champions could hardly have had a better start to their championship campaign. They started with the ten-point demolition of Castletown. They followed that by getting the better of old rivals, Borris/Kilcotton with five points to spare, but they were looking overly impressive at the same time.

Their campaign went pear-shaped when they lost two games on the trot. First it was Camross who beat them 2-19 to 0-18, followed by Rathdowney/Errill 1-20 to 1-15.

They became the first team in Group A to secure their passage to the knockout stages with a two-point victory over neighbours The Harps, that featured red cards, penalties and a host of yellow.

Ballinakill were back playing senior by a twist of fate, and they have made the best of their time. They lost last year’s Premier IHC final to Borris/Kilcotton but were as a result of the restructuring of the competition.

They didn’t start well this year losing to Borris/Kilcotton in the opening round. They suffered the same fate at the hands of Rathdowney/Errill in the next round, albeit both were narrow losses.

Cha Dwyer’s second half performance was the difference as Ballinakill got a got back to winning ways against The Harps with a two-point win. But this was followed by a 13-point hammering from Camross.

They got the better of Castletown in Round 5 to qualify for the quarter-final where they beat Rosenallis by just three points.

While Ballinakill have been the talk of the senior championship, it will be a major surprise if they advance to the final at the expense of Clough/Ballacolla.

In the second game of the double-header Rathdowney/Errill and Camross face up to each in other in what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter Rathdowney/Errill topped Group B with four wins from five and went straight into the semi-finals.

They demolished Rosenallis (5-18 to 2-12) to get their campaign off to the perfect start. They followed with the six-point defeat of Ballinakill.

They suffered their only defeat in the third round when Abbeyleix won their first game on a 2-23 to 2-19 scoreline.

But they finished the league section strongly with wins over Clough/Ballacolla (1-20 to 1-15) and Portlaoise (1-27 to 3-11).

Camross failed to win either of their first two games but won the next.

They opened with a draw against Portlaoise in that game where the final score had to be amended. They then lost to Rosenallis in Round 2 Things changed in the third round when they defeated Clough/Ballacolla with seven points to spare. That moral booster was to continue for the remaining two games when they got the better of Ballinakill and Abbeyleix.

This qualified for a quarter-final place where Borris/Kilcotton provided the opposition. In a cracking game Mossy Keyes and Mark Dowling did the damage up front once again as they prevailed by a single point to win their semi-final berth.

There is little or nothing to choose between these sides but I feel we might see Rathdowney/Errill back in another final.