St Rynagh's to battle back for a draw (Seir Kieran 4-6, St Rynagh's 2-12). Fore-warned was fore-armed in the replay on 12 July, when the Banagher men won by 4-13 to 2-3. The Clareen side were still alive in the 1970 championship, but were eliminated by Coolderry in the next round. There was only one bite of the cherry in 1971, when Seir Kieran were dismissed by Ballyskenagh. While they won their opening round match against Rahan in 1972, Kinnitty proved too strong for the black and amber when the next round was finally played off in October. In both 1973 and 1974, something of a back door system operated in the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship. Therefore, Seir Kieran's 2-12 to 1-8 loss to Birr in June 1973 set them on the road to the Loser's Group Final against Na Piarsaigh (Killoughey and Kilcormac combined). It took a trilogy of matches to decide this Final. The first two installments, played at Birr on successive Sundays in September, ended in deadlock. It was a different story in the second replay, for which the venue was switched to Tullamore. Seir Kieran did not play well, and Na Piarsaigh ran out winners by 1-13 to 1-4. The Offaly GAA Convention for 1974 passed a motion that the Fixtures Committee be mindful of the ongoing Oil Crisis when selecting venues. Measurements on the playing field were also changing – 70 yard frees were replaced by 65 metre frees. New rules decreed the painting of large and small rectangles. A player could not be in the square before the ball, only three defenders could line the goals in the event of a penalty, and charging a player not in possession was banned. Like many other hurling panels, Seir Kieran would have considerable trouble adapting to the new rules. They opened their 1974 Senior campaign with a narrow loss to Kinnitty. A bigger defeat followed at the hands of Drumcullen in the next round, but Seir Kieran had another chance in the Senior Hurling 'B' Championship. Seir Kieran defeated St Carthage's (Rahan) to advance to the 'B' Final, played in Birr on 24 November 1974. In a mean-spirited game, Lusmagh took an early lead which they still held when the game was abandoned in the second half. At a County Board Disciplinary Committee hearing on the Wednesday before Christmas, both clubs were fined £20; while two