Ferbane's clash with Shamrocks the pick of senior quarter-finals
By Kevin Egan
It’s hard to get as excited by this weekend’s senior football quarter-finals, particularly tomorrow’s contest between Rhode and Bracknagh in Tullamore (4.30).
The 2024 meeting between the sides was competitive and that will give Bracknagh some cause for hope against the Village, but it was a group game that was a long way from do-or-die. In a straight knockout tie, Rhode’s balance and all-round threat should trump a Bracknagh side where players like Eoghan Geoghegan and Fionn Dempsey are performing well, but they’ll need to outscore Rhode by at least two goals to stay close on the overall tally.
Ferbane’s meeting with Shamrocks (Sunday, 4pm) has a lot more potential to entertain as there is a bit more to Shamrocks than they’ve shown in some of their recent games against top tier opposition. There will be more than a little disappointment in the club at their failure to build on a strong half-time position in their intermediate hurling semi-final against Birr, and it was a similar story in football last year when these sides met in the last four, with Shamrocks exploding out of the traps only for Ferbane to turn up the heat and squeeze the life out of them from there.
Holding their own on the kickout battle against Kyle Higgins and Conor Grennan would be a huge first step as there aren’t too many inside forward lines with the firepower offered by Nigel Dunne, Darragh Bryant and Jack Bryant.
Ferbane have become incredibly consistent in recent years and they will deliver a seven or eight out of ten performance at the least – the uncertainty about whether or not Shamrocks will do the same is the reason they will be second favourites for this one.
*Around the county
The Senior B championship is beginning to take shape, and if form holds then Clara, Daingean and Ballinagar will all be expected to pick up wins this week. Clara’s home tie against Tubber (Saturday, 2pm) looks like one that could be worth watching as the visitors will come in with confidence following a solid attacking display against Ballycumber. But it’s looking more and more like the Tubber versus Daingean game in the final round of fixtures is the one that will determine who takes up the last spot in the semi-finals.
At full strength, Raheen would be a great match for Tullamore in an intermediate championship semi-final but without Dylan Hyland, it’s impossible to look past the Blues for this one. It’s been a disjointed, disrupted championship for last year’s finalists and Tullamore are just too solid to be knocked off course by any team at this level that isn’t operating at their very best.
At junior level, the prospect of a Lemanaghan parish derby between Erin Rovers and Doon in the final is an appealing one but while it would be a surprise if Rovers don’t overcome Rhode to get there, Clodiagh Gaels might just edge out Doon in the first leg of Saturday’s double header at Glenisk O’Connor Park.