The county championships are heating up all over the country.
County senior champions have already been crowned in Waterford, Carlow and Kerry where the hurling is ran off before the football even begins.
The majority of championships are in and around their semi-final stages now, and here are the ten biggest clubs who have already been knocked out.
Ballyea (Clare hurling)
Drawn in the 'group of death,' Ballyea were third best after losses to Clonlara and Éire Óg, ending their interest in the championship.
It's the second year in a row they've been knocked out in the group stages, having won four titles since 2016.
Kiladangan (Tipperary hurling)
The reigning champs were favourites to lift Dan Breen again after topping their group but they were stopped on Sunday, with Moycarkey Borris coming from eight points down to beat them in the quarter final.
Max Hackett's injury time goal left Kiladangan heartbroken with their back-to-back dream in tatters.
🚨SCENES IN SEMPLE STADIUM 🚨
An injury time goal from Max Hackett has dumped reigning county champions Kiladangan out of the competition🤯@MoycarkeyBorris proceed to the semi-final🔴🟡
Watch the full game back on https://t.co/yMkMTpFmTc 📺 pic.twitter.com/Z6EpRP26x1
— Clubber (@clubber) September 14, 2024
St Finbarrs (Cork hurling)
The Barrs' hurlers never got going and, like Ballyea, were knocked out after finishing third in their group. Losses against Blackrock and Fr. O'Neills cost the '22 champs.
James Stephens (Kilkenny hurling)
Finalists in '17, '19 and '22, the Village are now fighting to retain their status as a senior club after losing out to Ballyhale Shamrocks in the relegation semi-final/championship first round.
Managed by Brian Cody, the city club endured a torrid League championship campaign winning just one out of their five games. That win came against Glenmore who they will face in the relegation decider in a fortnight's time.
Rhode (Offaly football)
Rhode lost out to Ferbane in the Offaly senior football quarter final at the weekend, bringing their run of 27 consecutive semi-final appearances to an end.
St Joseph's (Laois)
Portlaoise have been scoring freely this year and they avenged last year's county final loss, defeating St Joseph's by 5-15 to 0-15 in Saturday's quarter final.
A brace of goals from Kieran Lillis helped the town over the line and they're now through to the semi-finals, with Portarlington on the opposite side of the draw.
Blessington (Wicklow)
It's been a poor campaign for the champions from '21 and '23.
Blessington lost three and drew two in the group stages, falling into a relegation decider against Barndarrig at the weekend.
They retained their status with a 1-8 to 1-5 victory, picking up the Keating Trophy for their troubles. We're not sure if a trophy is rewarded for every relegation final, but it's fair to say it isn't the trophy they'd coveted at the beginning of the year.
It's been a year full of shocks in Wicklow, with St Pat's also knocked out in the group stages before kingpins Rathnew went at the quarter final stages.
Congratulations to Blessington winners of the Keating Trophy 2024.#officialwicklowgaa#wicklowgaa #bphire#supportyourclub pic.twitter.com/3wSkcsOxuI
— Official Wicklow GAA (@wicklowgaa) September 13, 2024
Cuala (Dublin)
The two-in-a-row All-Ireland club champions from '17 and '18 had a poor year, with a relegation semi-final to come against St Jude's shortly.
They lost out to the favourites Na Fianna and Kilmacud Crokes in the 'group of death,' with an eighteen point victory over St Brigid's not enough to stave off relegation fears.
Dromore (Tyrone)
There is no championship quite like Tyrone where it's straight knock-out, with no second chances, and the 2021 champs fell foul to the ruthless system losing 0-11 0-10 to Carrickmore.
One of their most famous sons Ryan McMenamin was in charge this year as joint-manager but his side experienced a first round exit.
Kingscourt Stars (Cavan)
The beaten finalists from 2020 and 2023 will have to wait another year to get their hands on the Oliver Plunkett Cup after elimination at the hands of Ballyhaise.
Their immediate concern will be avoiding relegation with a clash against Laragh United next weekend in the relegation semi-final.
