Plenty of intrigue as Senior ‘B' title race heats up

By Kevin Egan

It’s hard to describe the final round of games in the Offaly SFC as anything other than underwhelming, given the lack of relevance of any of the four games.

In Group Two, Tullamore against Clonbullogue is a challenge game dressed up as championship, meanwhile Shamrocks against Bracknagh is ostensibly a battle for second place and an easier quarter-final, but it’s not obvious that playing Rhode as opposed to Ferbane or vice versa (the two likely quarter-finalists from Group One) will be significantly advantageous to whoever wins that game in Geashill.

Logically speaking, both Edenderry and Rhode have every reason to go all out for victory in their two group one matches, but with Ballycommon and Durrow both done for the season regardless of what happens, they will both cruise to victory on Saturday evening and neither Richie Dalton nor Paschal Kellaghan will learn much from their outings.

Avoiding injuries and suspensions and perhaps getting a little bit more game time into some of their players is likely to be the main priority for the two former county players.

It’s a very different story when it comes to the Senior B fixtures, as each of the three games makes their own appeal for different reasons.

On form so far, the game in Ballycommon between Clara and Cappincur is a battle between two sides that right now, are the front runners to reach the county final. The late drama that unfolded in last year’s semi-final clash between these two sides just adds to the intrigue as does the fact that, mathematically, neither team is safe yet.

Were Clara to win this, there is the possibility that Cappincur’s final day showdown with Gracefield could have the last semi-final place at stake and while Clara have one extra more safety net, if their confidence was to be rattled, they’d get nothing soft against either Tubber or Ballinagar. Overall, this looks like one of those games where for each club, the opponent losing could be every bit as valuable as their own win.

Ballycumber have struggled so far and avoiding relegation is all that’s left, but the sight of Tubber coming down the tracks is the ideal opportunity to put a dismal showing against Ballinagar behind them.

The local derby element will add to the Ballinagar versus Daingean game as well, a contest that already will be meaningful as both of these teams still need to put more points on the board to force their way into the final four. In Ballinagar in particular, there is a sense that every week they go out, they continue to find improvement, grow in confidence and to feel more and more at home in this company. A win here would cement the idea that they are championship contenders.

Raheen need to arrest collapse

From a scenario 11 months ago where they were favourites going into a county final, things have unraveled spectacularly for Raheen this summer. They started the year with an impressive 0-19 to 1-11 win over Ferbane but since then they stumbled over the line against Edenderry and were miles off the pace against St Brigid’s last time out.

Injuries have hit the club hard and they now face a treacherous IFC quarter-final tie against St Rynagh’s.

It’s not that the Cloghan club have looked resurgent so far; their heavy defeat to Tullamore in O’Brien Park was a fair indication of how far they are away from getting to the point where winning a county final would be plausible.

But the end of the road for the St Rynagh’s senior hurlers will allow a handful of dual players to give a lot more focus to football from now on, while there’s no doubt that Kevin Meehan will have picked up the phone to one or two others who have only hurled up to now, offering them the chance to come in and bolster the ranks.

The longer they can survive, the better they’ll get, and with Dylan Hyland clearly nowhere close to fit and a handful of other key Raheen players absent, this is a golden opportunity for them.

On paper, Ferbane should have a slight edge in the other quarter-final, now fixed for Ballinamere at 1.30pm on Sunday. Brian Flynn has got largely the same panel as he had at the start of the summer, there is plenty of energy and sharpness in a group where nine of the side that started last time out against Edenderry have played senior football. That might just be enough against a Walsh Island side that still relies heavily on a couple of stalwarts that have put a lot of hard miles on the clock for their club.