Threat of trapdoor play-off should ensure some competitive fixtures

A final round of senior football championship fixtures where three of the matches have little or nothing at stake illustrates the weakness in a championship structure that gets a lot right, but still offers plenty of room for improvement. The decision to play all local rivalries in the final week will probably ensure that the Walsh Island vs Gracefield and Rhode vs Edenderry ties are keenly contested, while Clara and St Rynagh's at least have the carrot of avoiding a likely battle with Rhode when they meet tomorrow evening in Ferbane. However last Saturday's feeble hurling contest between Birr and Coolderry illustrated perfectly the danger of games where little or nothing is to be gained from winning, and it's a lesson that should be heeded when structures are next on the county board's agenda. Indeed the battle between Rhode and Edenderry in Croghan would be particularly engaging if there was anything at stake this week, since Edenderry were the one club who put their hand up in the previous round and made a legitimate claim to be considered contenders for this year's championship. The Reds still have a lot to learn and undoubtedly Rhode will be keen to teach them a few lessons this weekend, however the mobility of their midfield pairing of Derek Kelly and Richie Dalton was very impressive and their battle with Mark Dunne and Alan McNamee should be intriguing. Edenderry's backs haven't yet faced anything remotely close to the onslaught that they are likely to have to withstand this week, but if they resist the temptation to push too far forward and leave a lot of space for Rhode to counter-attack, they will at least ask questions of the reigning champions. Supporters can only hope that both sides treat this game is if it were a championship encounter because if they do, it has the potential to be both entertaining and hugely enlightening. Arguably the games of most relevance this week are the two relegation battles involving four of the five teams still in danger of making the drop. Tubber's battle with Tullamore should draw a large crowd to O'Connor Park as town supporters are beginning to realise that relegation is a real threat this year and they only have two chances left to save their season. A win may not even be enough for Tullamore here as they could conceivably win the game and still finish bottom if Erin Rovers beat Ferbane, however even if that were the case, the Blues need to get some form under their belts before going into a relegation final. The news that Kevin Williamson has decided to transfer to Dublin is yet another blow to Tullamore's prospects and while they have some fine footballers and still could theoretically salvage a place in the quarter finals, they need to dig deep and muster up a big performance against Tubber, who can consider themselves a little unlucky to be where they are in the table after narrowly missing out on a few positive results. After starting the season with a great performance against Ferbane, Tubber could easily have taken points against both Edenderry and Erin Rovers, but for a poor finish in those games. They were competitive if very much second best against Rhode and their fate remains in their own hands due to their head-to-head record against Ferbane. Their two county stars however are carrying far too much of their scoring load and in the last three games, players other than Ciarán McManus and Bernard Allen have shot 1-7 between them. That's simply not good enough and could see them run into trouble this week if they don't find more scoring from somewhere. The group two relegation showdown is another local derby between Shamrocks and Ballycumber, and while Ballycumber should have more than enough in the tank to take this match on current form, they will be well aware of how they let slip a championship quarter-final against these opponents last year. Ballycumber's league success is hard to square with what has been a disappointing championship season, epitomised by their most recent outing against Clara. After conceding an early goal in that fixture they rallied to trail by a mere two points at half time, 1-6 to 0-7, but could only muster a solitary Ger Hackett goal in the second half hour while Clara doubled their tally to 2-12. They had Gracefield at their mercy and let that slip in the previous round, so they have to be careful not to let another opportunity escape them on Sunday in Shannonbridge. Shamrocks have been a shadow of their former selves this season and they look to be on the fast track to intermediate football. Nobody in Offaly is taking any satisfaction out of the difficulties being experienced by a club that reached a senior semi-final and a junior final in 2010, but Shamrocks must dig deep and find an hour of good football to save themselves, either this week or in the relegation final. They played well in patches in their last outing against Gracefield and also had moments of supremacy against Walsh Island, however moments are no longer good enough and they might not get a better chance than against Ballycumber, who have struggled to close out victories in recent years. Clara's tie against St Rynagh's is of little more than academic interest, with the main prize being a guarantee of avoiding Rhode in the quarter final, however that's unlikely to be enough to bring a big crowd into Ferbane. There are no such worries however for the West Offaly derby between Ferbane and Erin Rovers however. Unless Edenderry pull off a shock win over Rhode, Rovers are certain to finish in second place in group one regardless of their result in this fixture. Nonetheless Ferbane's record against their West Offaly neighbours in recent years has been appalling (they've lost their most recent championship battle against each of St Rynagh's, Erin Rovers, Doon, Shannonbridge and Ballycumber) and Erin Rovers won't want to be the team to break that trend. Ferbane need to do better than Tubber to give themselves a chance at knockout football, while a seven-point defeat or worse could yet leave them in the relegation battle if Tullamore were to win by a sufficiently large margin. It's been a topsy-turvy year for Ferbane football and while two wins out of five isn't the stuff that dreams are made of, securing senior status and ending their local derby hoodoo would be something tangible to show for the 2011 campaign. It won't come easy, and in a week when the championship structure has thrown up so many dead games, this one could yet be the most relevant of them all.