Champions Trim can retain title

SHC PREVIEW Ratoath and Kildalkey are probably best of the rest

The waiting game. Trim and Ratoath certainly had to play it for a long time as they waited and waited and waited to contest the 2020 SHC final.

As it turned out the long hang back was well worth it, at least for spectators, as both sides conjured up a little classic; a gem, a game for the ages.

The contest was, of course, won in the end by Trim, not that they have had long to bask in the glory.

After waiting so long to sort out the 2020 final they meet each other again in the first round of the 2021 SHC.

The old adage about waiting on a bus for ages when suddenly two arrive comes to mind.

As two of the best teams in the county they are in top-tier, Group A, in this year's SHC, along with Kildalkey, Longwood, Na Fianna and Kiltale.

Not only that, they will take on each other in the opening series of games that take place this weekend.

This is a chance for Ratoath to exact revenge, for Trim to put down a marker and say “we are the top team in Meath hurling and we intend to stay kings of the castle.”

Before claiming the 2020 title they hadn't won the Jubilee Cup since 2001, but Trim are a club who have invested a great deal of time and effort on developing young players, they are a club on the rise.

The vagaries of championship fare, the capricious nature of games, ensure forecasters can be made to look foolish but with hand on heart we peer into the crystal ball, hoping for some inspiration and conclude that Trim are the team to beat in 2021.

The championship structure dictates that four teams will come out of Group A while two will make it out of Group B, the second tier of senior hurling, which consists of Clann na nGael, Dunboyne, Killyon, Kilmessan, Blackhall Gaels and newly promoted Wolfe Tones.

Considering the quality of the players they have, their obvious high standard of fitness, their hunger for success, Trim and Ratoath are surely strong contenders to emerge from Group A, as winners and runners-up, ensuring them automatic places in the semi-finals.

Last year's beaten semi-finalists Kildalkey also look odds on candidates for the knock-out stages.

They looked destined to defeat Trim in last year's semi-final but collapsed in a dramatic closing few minutes, conceding a last-gasp goal.

Attempting to make up for that heartbreak is surely a strong source of motivation.

Kiltale will also surely go through to the quarter-finals. The third and fourth-placed teams in Group A take on the top two teams from Group B. The battle to avoid demotion to Group B will, the crystal ball tells us, will be between Na Fianna and Longwood.

Who will be the two teams to make it out of Group B?

That, as Hamlet himself might say, is the question.

Dunboyne look good to make it into the quarter-finals. They achieved notable victory in the Brendan Davis Cup a few weeks ago shocking Kildalkey, 1-19 to 2-14. Dunboyne dropped down to the second tier of senior hurling for 2020 but they were unable to bounce back up last year.

Kilmessan will also harbour hopes of making an impact but they are still a team in transition and instead the second team to get out of the Group B could be Killyon, who you would expect to be doing better than they have been doing in recent years.

Clann na nGael, Blackhall Gaels and Wolfe Tones look destined to be caught up in the battle to avoid relegation.

Now that they have re-found their championship mojo. Now they have re-discovered the taste for glory Trim look, from this perspective at least, the most likely team to win the 2021 SHC crown.

SHC FIRST ROUND PREDICTIONS

GROUP A

Ratoath v Trim: It would be surely too much to ask for the two teams to serve up the same effervescent, all-action, encounter they conjured in the 2020 final last week.

Ratoath rely a great deal on the brilliant Padraic O'Hanrahan to get a sizeable portion of their scores - Cian Rogers too.

Five Ratoath players scored in the final while 13 Trim players got on the scoresheet.

That suggests Neil Cole's team have a diverse source of firepower. Verdict - Trim.

Kildalkey v Longwood - With players like Nicky Potterton and Mark Healy around Kildalkey have the talent and the firepower to rack up a victory over Longwood who will certainly make it difficult for the Village side. One of the highlights for Longwood last year was a battling win over Killyon. Kildalkey, however, are a different proposition.

Verdict - Kildalkey.

Na Fianna v Kiltale - It's not long since Kiltale completed a SHC five-in-row. They are undergoing a rebuilding phase and were involved last year in a play-off with Killyon to decide who should drop down to Group B. This is very much a time of transition.

However, with players such as Jack Regan and James Kelly in their ranks they still should have too much for Na Fianna who may have to look to other fixtures to pick up a win.

Verdict - Kiltale.

GROUP B

Clann na nGael v Dunboyne - Clann na nGael won the IHC in 2019 and in their first year back in the senior ranks they achieved some notable results including a win over Blackhall Gaels in a cracking contest.

Dunboyne dropped down for 2020 but they couldn't make it back up last year - yet they should have too much for Clann an nGael in this opener.

Verdict - Dunboyne.

Killyon v Kilmessan - Painful loses to Trim and Longwood in their group last year cost Killyon dearly, as did the Group A play-off defeat to Kiltale.

It's not all that easy to get out of second tier but Killyon have enough to win this contest against a club still in the rebuilding mode.

Verdict - Killyon.

Blackhall Gaels v Wolfe Tones - The Tones have made it back to the senior ranks and their recent victory over Boardsmill in the 2020 IHC showdown will fill them with confidence.

Blackhall Gaels were threatened with relegation last year, but a victory over Navan O'Mahonys, hewn out of rock, gave them the breathing space they needed. Shane Whitty and Stephen Morris are embodiments of the kind of individual talent the Gaels have.

Verdict - Blackhall Gaels.