Lusmagh advance as Tullamore and Clara prepare for action
By Kevin Egan
While Drumcullen and Kilcormac-Killoughey failed to build on their half-time leads and eventually succumbed to respectable defeats, Lusmagh produced a very competent and impressive all-round performance to account for Ballyfin of Laois in Birr last Saturday.
They will be the clear outsiders of four out of the teams still standing in the Leinster IHC, but they’ve another ‘home’ tie in St. Brendan’s Park to look forward to, this time against Meath SHC champions Ratoath.
This will be a significant step up in quality as regards opposition but getting the first game outside your own county championship over and done will focus their attention. The lead up to next Saturday week should make for exciting times in the 'small parish'.
Like Lusmagh, Tullamore and Clara are also slight outsiders for their quarter-final ties this weekend, but like Lusmagh, both of the town sides will feel that they will go into their respective games with plenty to be positive about.
Starting with the senior game at TEG Cusack Park on Sunday (1.30pm), both Tullamore and The Downs are teams that should look at this Leinster championship as a wide open competition where a place in Croke Park is there for the taking. Both teams are laden with county players and while Tullamore don’t have quite the same inside threat as that posed by Luke Loughlin, they have good match-ups for a lot of the big battles and have weapons that the Downs might struggle to match.
Declan Hogan is a natural match-up for Loughlin, the battle between Cillian Bourke and Jonathan Lynam at midfield will be critical, while it would be no surprise to see Cormac Egan and Westmeath senior player Kevin O’Sullivan paired up on the half-forward line.
If Tullamore can break even on those – no small ask, admittedly - then that leaves John Furlong in a good position to try and take control of this game and guide Tullamore through. If ever there was a game that is almost certain to be up for grabs with five minutes to play, this is it, but there is good reason to believe that the Blues might just have the composure to come through that type of battle.
Historically, Dublin clubs have struggled at intermediate level but Round Towers of Lusk might be the exception. They won’t come to Tullamore tomorrow (Saturday, 1.30) with a raft of big names but if they were in Offaly, attackers like Cormac Howley and Luke Bohan would have commanded a lot of attention. The duo scored 0-15 from play between them in the Dublin final for a side that won each of their knockout games by eight points or more, so containing that freeflowing attack will be crucial for John Rouse and his players.
Home advantage and a fair amount of Leinster experience will stand to Clara here, but on paper at least, they might have a couple of points of improvement to find if they are to extend their year and a defeat by three or four points is probably the most likely outcome.