Offaly teams set to begin Leinster club campaigns

By Kevin Egan

Given the prevailing weather at the moment, it’s entirely possible that some or all of the Offaly clubs that are about to embark on their provincial championship campaigns may yet be told to hang tight for a week or two until pitches clear up. But at the time of writing, there are several clubs heading into knockout battles, with mixed prognoses across the board.

First up, at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday), is a very testing clash for Daingean away to Glyde Rangers of Louth. Offaly teams have generally been quite competitive at this level – four of the last six Leinster JFC finals have had an Offaly club involved - and there’s every reason to believe that Daingean are one of the county’s better prospects this winter.

That being said, this is a Glyde Rovers team that has gathered momentum after a very slow start to the season, and their win over Naomh Fionnbarra was deemed to be an upset, it was also their ninth final (including replays) since their relegation to junior in 2016. This is a grizzled, mature Glyde team, built around key men like Niall Sharkey at centre back and Ciarán Sheridan, who alternates between centre and full forward.

While it wouldn’t make for a great supporter experience, Daingean would probably be happy to see this game get moved from Stabannon to Darver, where the better playing surface would play into their hands.

At the same time, fellow parishioners Naomh Molaoise face a very testing Leinster LGFA IFC quarter-final trip to Suncroft in Kildare, and it’s very hard to be too optimistic for the prospects of the Paul Jordan Cup holders here. This is a fiendishly tough draw up against the champions of a county that is very much on the up, with a couple of established stars in Trina Duggan and Ellen Dowling who will be very hard to stop.

Naomh Molaoise are making incredible forward strides at underage level, catching the eye at U-14 and U-16 level in particular this year, but this looks like a learning experience, rather than a game where a win is realistic.

Finally, in yet another huge occasion for the parish – begging the question as to why something couldn’t have been done in terms of a possible double header – Ballycommon travel to Dundalk (2pm) to take on Roche Emmets in the first round of the Leinster IFC.

On paper, the teams that leap off the page in this championship are Meath champions Rathkenny, and whoever emerges from Sunday’s Kildare final between Allenwood and Castledermot. Ballycommon would have a lot of work to do against competition of that standard, but taking something out of Dundalk isn’t beyond them.

Unlike Daingean, winter conditions might suit Ballycommon here. Roche Emmets made history last December with a first ever Louth U-21 'A' title and roughly half that team played in their county final win of O’Raghallaighs. It’s not that Ballycommon lack pace, but they have a few very strong footballers who will be able to keep the tempo of the game up, even in energy-sapping underfoot conditions.

A week’s break is not ideal but momentum in the club will be huge after their historic win in the Senior B final against Clonbullogue last Saturday, so they’ll travel with no small amount of hope.

Senior champions both at home

Regardless of whether you go to Ferbane to take in Naomh Ciarán’s clash with Kildare side Eadestown, or whether you wander into Glenisk O’Connor Park to see Tullamore take on Summerhill, form would suggest you’re likely to get a game that will go right down to the wire.

Starting with Naomh Ciarán, Leinster is the next world that’s left to conquer for this group of west Offaly women, and by any measure, this is a battle between two clubs that have their eyes on a big prize. One of the heavyweight contenders will exit the race this Sunday with champions Kilmacud Crokes taking on Dunshaughlin Royal Gaels, and along with Portlaoise, who have been kindly treated on the other side of the draw with only Milltown likely to cause them problems, these look like the best teams in the race.

For Naomh Ciarán, the window of opportunity is beginning to close a little bit. They aren’t at a level where they are set to lose a raft of players, but the quality of those coming up is unlikely to match the standard of the proven county stars that may or may not extend their careers for more than another year or two after this. That being said, their form this year is as good as ever, and while the very same could be said of Eadestown, they’ll have known from a while back that in the absence of a strong rival inside the county, this fixture will be a real measure of where they’re at.

Meanwhile, it's notable that there has been something of a market move for Summerhill in the betting world, but there’s no obvious reason to see why that would be the case in their game away to Tullamore (2pm).

Rhode’s narrow defeat to Ratoath last year is a reasonable marker that at the top level, there’s not a lot to call between the leading club sides in Meath and Offaly, but with home advantage and an edge in terms of Leinster experience, Tullamore should see this is a very winnable fixture.

Whether the Blues have enough to go really deep into this competition is another matter. Whoever comes through the Dublin final between Kilmacud Crokes and Ballyboden St Enda’s will be very strong, and if there’s a team to beat them, Naas and St. Loman’s look like the only two clubs with an outside chance of doing so. But with the Dublin champions on the other side of the draw, Tullamore should have their sights set on a trip to Croke Park on the first weekend of December, and they can keep that dream alive for another fortnight at least.