Ballinacourty and The Nire fancied to retain winning ways in Senior Football Quarter Finals

They, whoever they are, often say if something is not broken, then don’t try and fix it.

This weekend, the Waterford G.A.A. County Board have pencilled in the two semi finals of this year’s JJ Kavanagh and Sons County Senior Football Championship, with the two games set to take place at Fraher Field on Saturday and Sunday evening.

This year the same four teams have qualified for the semi finals this year as last year. No real surprise there as they were the top and second seeded teams in the two groups in the league section of the competition.

In the past five years three of the teams in action this weekend have qualified for the semi finals four times, the odd man out – The Nire who lost in the quarter finals to Stradbally in 2010.

For what its worth, here is a question for you. Is the Waterford Senior Football Championship broken? Some may take offence to the word broken, I don’t know why, but for me, when I use it, I am wondering is there a better way we can run the championship.

For me, the answer is yes, and while this piece is to do with football and this weekend’s semi final’s the same very much so could apply to hurling.

The first question to be asked is do we have 12 senior football (and hurling) teams in Waterford. For what it is worth, I don’t think we have. Having said this, I am wondering if clubs will vote to cut the numbers playing in the championship. The answer could be summed up by saying Turkey’s don’t vote for Christmas each year.

So if clubs are not going to vote to cut the numbers playing championship (in my view), then how can we improve the way we run out championship.

Having a county senior football league and a league style championship to me does not really work. Maybe we should be thinking about making the championship a knockout one.

Maybe we could think about putting the twelve teams playing senior into one group in a league, which would guarantee each club eleven games. That is one more game that clubs are currently guaranteed in the current County Leagues and League style championship.

We could well have league semi finals and a final, but the biggest prize on offer to the top four teams in the league would be a bye to the quarter finals of a knockout championship.

For the teams that finish from fifth to twelfth, there is two available ways of conducting the first round draw for the championship, the first and possibly the one that clubs would go for given such an option would be that the fifth placed team would play the twelfth, the sixth play the eleventh and so on. The second option would be that the names of the teams that finish from fifth to twelfth would all go into a hat and they would be randomly drawn out.

For the quarter finals, the top four teams in the league would be seeded and could not meet each other. The names of these clubs would go into one hat or bowl, the four first round championship winners into another hat or bowl with one team drawn out from bowl one and play a team from bowl two. The semi finals would be an open draw.

However, we cannot really talk about what could be for now and have to put up with what we have.

The first semi final this weekend on Saturday evening see’s last years champions Ballinacourty take on Stradbally their near neighbours and the side they recorded a much easier win over in last years final than most had anticipated.

Ballinacourty have qualified for this year’s final with a 100% win record, while Stradbally qualified having lost just one of their games, that against group two winners The Nire.

Ballinacourty in the quarter finals had a very easy win over Saint Saviours in Fraher Field. That came after a number of week’s void of any championship games. While they won last weekend, they would no doubt have preferred to have a much tougher battle as they always knew that they faced a much tougher battle this weekend, and could possibly have done with a sterner test.

Ballinacourty at this stage are a very experienced outfit. They are set to be without John Hurney who is a big loss from any team. However, they have a big pick to choose from and will have plenty of options open to them to fill in.

Stephen Enright is one of the best goal keepers in the business, not just in the county and will start once again between the posts for Ballinacourty.

In front of them, the Ballinacourty selectors will have the option of playing different players in different positions. Conor Moloney, Sean O’Hare, Shane Briggs, Richie Foley, Brian Looby, David Collins, Ronan Sheehan and Gary Breen are all options available to them in defence.

In attack, Sean O’Hare, Gary Hurney, Shane O’Donovan and Jason O’Mahony are amongst the management teams options while in attack, Ballinacourty are at their most dangerous been able to call on the likes of Gary Hurney, Patrick Hurney, Mark Ferncombe, Jason O’Brien, Michael O’Halloran, Mark Fives and Mark Gorman are all options and all know only too well where the posts are and are able to put the ball over and under the crossbar.

What Stradbally have achieved since the turn of the Millennium is remarkable. Eight county finals out of fourteen is an excellent return. For a while people spoke of the players that had won five, six or seven medals. May of these players have retired from the game, but there is still some who were around in the early days of the sides great run of success still about.

Stradbally may not have set the underage scene alight in the past two decades or so, but they have a great knack of bringing players through to the senior team which is what should be happening. And in the last couple of years, they have managed to bring some new exciting prospects through.

This year they are without one of their finest servants in the past decade or so – Tony Grey who picked up a serious injury earlier this year. Tony is a player that is undervalued by some at times. In the modern era, where wing backs and even corner backs break into the other half of the field and kick some important scores, Tony is one of the best at it.

Up to now, he is hardly missed from the side as apart from the defeat to The Nire, Stradbally have had things relatively easy up to now.

However it is from here on in that all remaining sides will want all of their best players out on the field where experience could well prove to be vital around some of the younger players on view.

Stradbally will possibly go into the game against Ballinacourty fielding a team that will be similar to that which beat Kilrossanty in the quarter finals.

Eoin Cunningham will be between the posts. Jack Mullaney, Kevin Coffey and Andy Doyle could form the full back line with Shane Lannon, Michael Walsh and Luke Casey playing in the half back line.

Paddy Kiely will start in the middle of the field where he will be joined by one of Robert or Shane Ahern.

Ger Power, John Coffey and Tommy Connors could well be the half forward three-o, with Robert or Shane Ahern operating on the edge of the square with Michael Sweeney and David Grey on either side of him.

The second semi final this weekend on Sunday evening will see the two sides beaten in last years semi final do battle against each other.

Over the past few years, An Rinn has shown great promise, but they have yet to make the breakthrough their efforts deserve.

The Gaeltacht club in the past four years have made the quarter finals, making them possibly the most consistent of sides outside of the sides considered to be the top three within the county.

This is the second year in a row that they have reached the semi finals. The last time they had a finish to match it was almost a century ago. Last year they hosted the Comortus Peil competition, reaching the final of it loosing out to Ghaoth Dobhair from Donegal. An Rinn made the Donegal side fight very hard to record that win which again shows the progress they are making.

For this weekend’s game with The Nire, An Rinn could well field along the lines of their quarter final win over De La Salle.

Tomás Ó Cadhla will be between the posts. In defence, Cillian Ó Murchadha, Ray Ó Ceallaigh, Shane Ó Cuirrin, Jamie de Barúin, Tadhg Ó hUallachain and Noel Ó Murchadha will fight it out for the six defensive positions.

In the middle of the field Ferdia Ó hAodha and Cathal Ó Cuirrin could well again prove to be their partnership and in attack Lorcan Ó Corraoin, Ferghal Ó Ceallaigh, Billí, Donie and Christy Breathnach, Ferghal Ó Cuirrin, and Liam Ó Lonáin will be fighting it out for place for places.

The Nire will go into this weekend’s semi finals as one of two teams with a 100% win record.

They are without a competitive game now in a number of weeks. Their quarter final win over Rathgormack was played a few weeks back now. No doubt they have played a challenge game or two since, just to keep ticking over, but as good as these games can be at times, nothing beats competitive games on a regular basis.

They will possibly line out along familiar lines meaning Tom Wall will be between the posts, with Justin Walsh, Jack Guiry, Thomas and Maurice O’Gorman, Tommy Cooney, Diarmuid and Brian Wall as well as Seamus Lawlor in front of him.

The middle of the field paring could well be between Michael O’Gorman, Craig Guiry and Shane Walsh, with the one loosing out winning a place in attack along side the lines of Dermot Ryan, Jamie Barron, Conor Gleeson, Shane Ryan, Keith Guiry, Stephen Ryan and Liam Lawlor.

Both semi finals could well go down to the wire. There is a possibility that winners in one or both games will not be decided inside the sixty allotted minutes.

To say with confidence that one team over the other will come though from the two games is not easy. However, with two of the teams going into the game with a 100% win record, both Ballinacourty and The Nire have to regarded as favourites but the chances of An Rinn and Stradbally cannot and should not be written off too quickly.