St Rynagh's make surprise early exit from Offaly SHC

St Rynagh’s are the big early casualties in the Offaly SHC after they were put to the sword by three-in-a-row chasing Kilcormac/Killoughey in Birr on Saturday evening.

After losing their first two group matches to Shinrone and Belmont, the 20-time champions needed to win to stay in the Sean Robbins Cup race, but were overwhelmed by K/K who ran out emphatic 1-31 to 1-18 winners. Adam Screeney heralded his return from injury with a haul of 1-13, while James Gorman and Alex Kavanagh hit 0-7 and 0-4 respectively from play for the holders who registered their first win after scraping a draw with Belmont in their only previous outing.

In the other Group 2 game at the weekend, Belmont booked their place in the quarter-finals when they scored 1-1 in injury-time to edge out Kinnitty on a 1-13 to 0-14 scoreline. The win moved them onto five points, one ahead of Shinrone, who had a bye.

In Group 1, Birr made it two wins from two with a 2-18 to 1-14 victory over Coolderry, while Tullamore registered their first win, 0-18 to 1-13, at Seir Kieran’s expense. Last year’s runners-up Ballinamere had the weekend off.