Senior Football Championship to get under way this weekend

The JJ Kavanagh & Sons County Senior Football Championship gets underway this coming weekend.

Stradbally were last year’s winners and are once again one of the favourites to lift the Conway Cup this year. Over the coming weeks and months we will see who if any does manage to wrestle the trophy from the grasp of the Cove Men.

Games are down to take place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Fraher Field, Stradbally and Walsh Park, but sadly all six games this weekend are stand alone fixtures.

It is hard to see supporters go to more than one game this weekend unless they bought one of the Season Ticket which the County Board had on sale over the past few months. With the County Board under financial pressure, and every cent and euro making a difference, it would appear to most that having double headers would allow you to collect extra income would make sense, but not been privy to how the County Board decide when and where games take place, I am sure there is a very good explanation as to why there is six stand along fixtures.

Gaultier V Stradbally:

Stradbally last year began poor, loosing to Clashmore in their opening fixture but as the year went on they got better and better, playing good football at times and deserved to win the title. They went on to represent Waterford in the Munster Championship and were given no chance of winning against Cork Champions Castlehaven and nearly pulled off a famous win.

The current Stradbally team is one that is beginning to age. A number of the players that won a county final twelve years ago are still key to the team and while many of that team are no longer in the frame when it comes to getting selected and new faces have been brought in, the numbers that they surly would like to bring in have not been as great as they would surly have liked.

However despite been an aging teams they have time and time again deprived those making such claims, and many could well be around for a while yet as they attempt to close in and then pass the record amount of titles which Dungarvan have won.

Gaultier are a side that that most expected to do much better than they actually did last time. They needed to win their last game in the league section of the competition against Saint Saviours to secure their place in their place in this years championship.

They have began 2013 well beating Rathgormack in the senior football league which doubles this year as the Phelan Cup but then followed it up with a defeat to The Nire.

The Barony Men have always produced some good footballers and still have some fine footballers in the likes of Paul Murphy, Gary Molloy, Mark Wyse as well as JJ and Wayne Hutchinson who on the day can inspire their side to be a match for anyone.

It is hard to see Gaultier getting anything from this game going on last years forum. But then again if Gaultier are near their best and Stradbally were to have one of those days they have every so often, you never know what could happen.

Clashmore V Ardmore:

This could well be the game of the weekend and draw a good crowd to Fraher Field for a battle between two neighbouring sides.

Ardmore with the last few years have been regarded as a side that could challenge to break the dominance of the big three and while they have made the knockout stages of the competition over the last few years, they have found it hard to get past the last eight of the competition.

Ardmore a few years back appeared in the county final and looked early in the game as if they were going to win easily but had to settle for second best at the end of sixty minutes of football. They have in recent years began show signs that they are beginning to slip back a little and this could well be the year that they do not make the last eight, but should be safe of any relegation fears.

Clashmore on the other hand are moving in the opposite direction. They were relegated in 2009 but came back up at the end of 2010 from the intermediate ranks and last year they reached the county semi finals where they could have beaten the Nire.

Games between local sides could go either way and this one is no different. There is nothing at times like local bragging rights. Most would expect Clashmore to come out on top in this game.

Kilrossanty V Saint Saviours:

If we are to go on last years form there can only be one winner of this game in Walsh Park.

Unlucky last year not to have beaten The Nire in the quarter Finals of the Championship, Kilrossanty went on to win the League Final and would be expected to make an even greater impact than they did last year in the championship.

They had a slow start to the championship last year but as it progressed they recorded some good results and will be looking to do this from the off this year.

They have some very good players in Stephen and Tommy Prendergast, Niall Walsh, James Coade, Joey Veale as well as Paul Whyte who would find a place on most teams.

He however picked up an injury playing with the county recently. He played no part in last weeks National League game against Carlow and it remains to be seen what part if any he will play in this game.

Saint Saviours in the secondary competitions have recorded some good results in the last few years. They have however struggled in the championship and have been involved in a number of relegation battles. They have saved their best championship performances for games against Ballinameela and Dungarvan. To leave the same to happen again this year could well prove dangerous.

Few expect the Ballybeg outfit to challenge for the Conway Cup, but if they could transfer their form in the secondary competition into the championships they could well be a match for most sides. To have a chance of survival this year they will need to record a win or two in their opening two or three games.

Saint Saviours have some good players in the likes of Paul Holohan, Nicky and John Paul Jacob, Adam Brophy as well as Peter and Dean Crowley etc. its hard to see them get anything from this game.

Ballinacourty V An Rinn:

When these two sides clashed last year, Ballinacourty won by three points and this years clash between the two is expected to be equally as tight.

Neither side will want to loose this game. The first round losers will know that they are playing catch up on the rest and could find it very hard to get back into contention.

An Rinn have threatened to make a big breakthrough in the last few years, but up to now have found it hard to get past the quarter final stages of the championship.

They suffered a major blow in recent weeks with the sad passing of Diarmuid Maher and just like all other clubs they have suffered player loss to emigration. Reports coming out of the Ring Club suggests that Ferdia Ó hAodha has gone to Australia. However, they could well have more of the An Gaeltacht county minor winning team from two years ago in contention for a place in the team this year and the news that Mike Tobin is back training with the team is welcome news.

Ballinacourty are in the top three with the last few years within the county. They have when given the chance represented the county with distension in Munster and have come close to winning a first ever Munster Club Championship for Waterford.

In the Hurney brothers, Mark Ferncombe, Shane Briggs, Sean O’Hare, and Stephen Enright etc. they have some fine players and have worked hard to bring forward talent from the underage scene and will be around for some time to come.

This game could be close with Ballinacourty getting the nod to win, but just about.

Rathgormack V Ballinameela;

Rathgormack are going into this game on a high following their recent county final success against Ballinacourty.

In the 1990’s Rathgormack were always knocking on the door when it came to the championship but have slipped back somewhat in recent years. However, in the last few years a great deal of time and energy has been put into the underage scene and it is starting to reap the rewards of those who have given of their time and energy as success has been achieved at under 16, minor and under 21 level in the last few years. The question to be answered now is can this success be transferred to the adult scene.

With players like Ronan Cahill, Edmond Hogan, Padraig Drohan, Nigel Skehan as well as Gavin Nugent to pick from, its hard not to see Rathgormack challenging this year and going into the future.

Ballinameela are back in the senior ranks this year. They came up in 2009 and in 2010 reached the semi finals of the championship where they came within seconds of beating Stradbally.

In their second year back in senior after playing down the grades for a number of years, they put a lot of their eggs in the hurling basket. Football suffered somewhat and at the end of the year, they were relegated back to the Intermediate ranks, but came back up at the end of 2012 proving too strong for the intermediate ranks.

They have some excellent footballers in the likes of the Phelan brothers, the Curran brothers, Aidan Ahearne and Eamon Walsh and will be a match for most this year.

This is another game that could go either way, but Rathgormack get a tentative nod to collect the points on offer in this game.

Nire V Brickeys

Last year the Nire looked as if they were going to win capture the Conway Cup for much of the campaign, playing some very good football, but had to settle for second best in the decider, as Stradbally once again wrestled the trophy from their grasp when the Nire had one hand on it.

They go into the championship this year again as one of the favourites as they have been every year since they first won it twenty years ago now.

They have an experienced side with the lines of Shane Walsh, Liam Lawlor, Jamie Barron, Brian Wall, Darren Guiry, Tom Wall, Connie Power and the O’Gorman brothers to call upon, but it remains to be seen what part if any Thomas O’Gorman will play for now as he continues to recover from an Injury picked up last year.

Brickeys will be calling upon the likes of Conor McGrath, Laurence Hurney, Carthach Shalloe, Conor Phelan etc. for guidance throughout the campaign.

It could also be interesting to see if former Nire player David Ryan will play any part in this game having transferred to the Brickeys from the Nire earlier this year.

Brickeys have struggled somewhat over the past few years, and it is hard to see anything but the same happen again this year. There is some that are suggesting that the outcome of their local derby game against Ballinameela will decide who will stay up and who has to play the dreaded relegation play off where anything is possible.

It’s hard to see the Nire to loose here, but in a two horse race anything is possible.

 

Fixture Details

Gaultier V Stradbally in Walsh Park on Saturday at 7pm

Clashmore V Ardmore in Fraher Field on Saturday at 7pm

Kilrossanty V Saint Saviours in Walsh Park on Sunday at 3-30pm

Ballinacourty V An Rinn in Fraher Field on Friday at 8pm

Rathgormack V Ballinameela in Stradbally on Saturday at 7pm

Brickeys V Nire in Fraher Field on Sunday at 7pm