Noel Horgan
The Corkman

Blackrock will be seeking to bridge a gap of 72 years when they embark on the trail of a third consecutive permanent tsb county senior hurling championship title in 2003.

And, in view of their impressive march to the top at the expense of Douglas, St. Finbarr's, Muskerry, Sarsfields and Newtownshandrum last year, they are bound to start as fairly warm favourites to go all the way for the fourth time in five seasons.

True, the Barrs and Sars, both of whom finished just three points adrift of the champions, made Blackrock battle hard for the laurels while Newtown ran them to five points in the county final. But nobody would deny that the Rockies were merited victors in those three games, not least in the decider against Newtown.

And the team's commendable record of consistency since 1998 means that they will hardly be lacking in confidence as they attempt to surmount all the obstacles again.

Beaten by Imokilly in the decider that year, the Rockies bounced back to claim their 30th. crown, and their first since 1985, 12 months later, and the only blemish on their record in the interim came when they made an early exit at the hands of unrated Midleton in 2000.

The memory of that defeat will serve as a warning to Blackrock that nothing should be taken for granted in the campaign ahead. And it can be safely said that team coach Timmy Murphy will have his charges perfectly primed and fully focused when they face up to last year's intermediate kingpins Delanys in the first round.

Delanys would obviously have preferred an easier opening assignment in the top flight, but, assuming that they won't upset the odds against the champions, the experience could stand to them when they strive to progress beyond the second round.

Most likely, Delanys opponents at that stage will be Douglas, who should find Erin's Own a bit too hot to handle in the only preliminary round fixture, and likewise Na Piarsaigh in the first round proper.

And it's hardly beyond the bounds of possibility that Delanys will gain their first ever win in senior ranks at the expense of a Douglas side that failed dismally to measure up in three of their four championship outings last year.

Well beaten by Midleton in a preliminary round game, Douglas managed to shade the issue in a mediocre encounter with St. Catherine’s after that, but they were later on the receiving end of a couple of real drubbings from Blackrock and Avondhu.

Needless to say, St. Catherine's are one of the least fancied sides in the 2003 championship, and, taking last year's form as a yardstick, it's almost equally hard to make any sort of a case for other club sides such as Castlelyons and Midleton.

Of the three, Catherine's were the most harshly treated when the championship draws were made last month as they are due to take on last season's semi-finalists Sars in the first round, and, if they lose that, they will then be pitted against North-Cork divisional side Avondhu, who also advanced to the last four in 2002.

Castlelyons, for their part, will face up to Glen Rovers, who wouldn't be regarded as serious contenders for ultimate honours either, although they weren't exactly disgraced last year when, having fashioned a single point win over Ballyhea in the first round, they went under narrowly to Muskerry after a replay.

Contrasted with Castlelyons' substandard displays when succumbing to both Erin's Own and Avondhu, the Glen's form in 2002 suggests that they will quietly confident of coping with the challenge from the East-Cork side.

Awaiting the losers of that match will be either Cloyne or Ballyhea, two teams that would also have to be rated someway down the pecking order on the evidence of their displays over the past few seasons.

For what it's worth, however, I have a slight fancy for the Glen and Cloyne to advance to the third round at the first attempt, and I'm taking Ballyhea to progress through the backdoor at the expense of Castlelyons.

Midleton, soundly thrashed by Newtown in the third round last year, are unlikely to turn the tables when they renew rivalry with the North-Cork side, but they should be good enough to account for lowly CIT after that.

Killeagh, after going under by the minimum to Cloyne in the first round, enjoyed a good run in their debut season in the top flight last year, clocking up victories over Carrigdhoun and UCC, in a replay, to earn place in the last eight.

But they had their limitations glaringly exposed by Sars in the quarter-final, and one strongly suspects they will have their work cut out to make a similar impact this year.

Due to face the Barrs in the first round, it will be a surprise if Killeagh manage to deliver the goods in that game, and, if they do come a cropper, it's a fair bet that they will find it difficult to lower the colours of unpredictable UCC for the second year in a row next time out.

There are three all-divisional clashes in the second round, involving Carbery and Seandun, Imokilly and Carrigdhoun and Muskerry and Duhallow, and, no doubt, Carbery, Imokilly and Muskerry will be the teams fancied to progress in those games.

But, providing they put in the required preparation, Carrigdhoun, backboned by players from intermediate clubs Ballymartle, Courcey Rovers and Ballinhassig, would be quite capable of pulling off a surprise in my book against the men from the East-Cork barony, who are nowhere near as formidable a force as they were when they put two titles back-to-back in ’97 and ’98.

So, the sixteen teams that I predict will still be involved when the draw for the third round is made are Blackrock, Erin's Own, Sars, Cloyne, Ballyhea, Glen Rovers, the Barrs, Midleton, Newtownshandrum, Delanys, Na Piarsaigh, UCC, Avondhu, Carbery, Muskerry and Carrigdhoun.

Despite their disappointing display in last season's showpiece, 2000 champions Newtown should be there-or-thereabouts again.

And youthful Erin's Own, boosted by their county u-21 triumph in 2002, and an equally tender-aged Sars side, in light of their encouraging form last year, are also entitled to feel that they are in with a realistic chance of scaling the summit. But my guess is that the biggest threat to Blackrock's three-in-a-row ambitions will come from the Barrs, ironically the last club to complete the treble back in 1982.

They weren't too far off the pace last year, and, strengthened by the recruitment of Brian O'Driscoll of Killavullen, who won a county senior medal with Avondhu and an All-Ireland u-21 medal with Cork in ’96 and ’97 respectively, the Barrs' bid for a first title since 1993 is surely worthy of the utmost respect.