Séan Moran previews this weekend's crucial Club Championship fixtures.
ALL-IRELAND SH QUARTER-FINAL - Sean Treacy's (Britain) v Athenry (Connacht), Ruislip, 1.45 - Quite what the likes of, say, Mount Sion make of the Galway champions' annual route to the All-Ireland semi-finals isn't hard to imagine. But that's the system and Athenry will duly exploit it. So, until February.
Although they survived the lull, the Louth side looked vulnerable when Tullamore strung a few moves together and exerted a bit of pressure. Moorefield have more plausible credentials, coming from Kildare and having defeated Sarsfields but they were sluggish against Garrycastle and nearly suffered a fatal loss of initiative before staging a strong recovery in the second half. The Kildare champions have a bit of a tendency to start slowly whereas Mattock Rangers get out of the traps quickly. Providing Moorefield curb this habit they can reach the final.
LEINSTER SF SEMI-FINAL - Mattock Rangers (Louth) v Moorefield (Kildare), Navan, 2.30 - In what has been a fairly predictable autumn, Mattock Rangers have provided the club championships with a little frisson of surprise. A mobile, well-drilled outfit, the Collon club have had three outings to date and their performances have improved each time. It has to be acknowledged Tullamore wouldn't have been regarded as the strongest of Offaly champions but they were impressively dispatched. Mattock managed this without attacking prodigy David Reid who couldn't start because of illness.
Although they survived the lull, the Louth side looked vulnerable when Tullamore strung a few moves together and exerted a bit of pressure. Moorefield have more plausible credentials, coming from Kidare and having defeated Sarsfields but they were sluggish aginast Garrycastle and nearly suffered a fatal loss of initiative before staging a strong recovery in the second half. The Kildare champions have a bit of a tendency to start slowly whereas Mattock Rangers get out of the traps quickly. Providing Moorefield curb this habit they can reach the final.
LEINSTER SF QUARTER-FINAL - Rathnew (Wicklow) v UCD (Dublin), Aughrim, 2.30 - A match in late November in Fortress Aughrim against inexperienced Dublin representatives. What more could the Leinster champions want (apart, of course, from wanting to play within 24 hours of the Dublin final)? Rathnew's epic march through Leinster took them up until Christmas last year and a similarly full December beckons if there's any further delay in Leinster. To date the Wicklow side haven't been exhibiting the sort of form that won them the province 12 months ago and their only outing to date against Ballymahon wasn't impressive. They struggled to supply their blue chip forwards, were relieved to survive and have made widespread alterations to tomorrow's starting line-up. UCD have also ridden their luck, particularly, as they would acknowledge, against Kilmacud but the county final win over St Vincent's was routine. At the back the O hAnnaidhs should be fairly wound up as they arrive in their own county as part of the invasion force. Rathnew proved themselves equal to each succeeding challenge last year and the scene is set for similar resistance but UCD won't be intimidated by the venue and have the all-round strength to mount a coup.
MUNSTER SF SEMI-FINALS - Monaleen (Limerick) v Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary), Gaelic Grounds, 2.00 - A good win got Monaleen this far but they're up against a useful looking Clonmel side. The match brings together Benny Walsh - now fully recovered from a shoulder injury - and Monaleen's Mark Cummins, now a teacher in Limerick, who were team-mates in Tipperary's 1995 Munster minor win. After a poor divisional championship Clonmel came good in the county and have the physical strength and clout up front to take that resurgence a step further.
O'Rahilly's (Kerry) v Nemo Rangers (Cork), Fitzgerald Stadium, 2.00 - Nemo have never lost to a Kerry side in the Munster championship. That daunting statistic, however, obscures current realities. Now in pursuit of a third provincial title, the Cork side have suffered the unaccustomed heartbreak of back-to-back All-Ireland defeats over the past two years. Any team would be bound to be feeling the wear and tear of that continual campaigning. On the one hand O'Rahilly's are ideal opponents, inexperienced at this level and just after a long-awaited county success. On the other hand they are a team with burgeoning self-confidence and established momentum.
They have good balance with a solid defence, a formidable centrefield of basketballer Micheal Quirke and Timmy O'Sullivan, and scoring forwards. Nemo, in contrast, sometimes look laboured up front with forwards too dedicated to servicing Colin Corkery rather than threatening their own scores. And yet their consistency has been remarkable; only the ultimate All-Ireland winners have beaten them on their recent travels. They may be practised enough to survive.
ULSTER SF SEMI-FINAL - Ballinderry (Derry) v Errigal Ciarán (Tyrone), Clones, 2.00 - Twiddling their thumbs for a couple of weeks, the All-Ireland champions might originally have welcomed the sight of Errigal emerging to meet them. But the threat has evolved over the course of three matches with former All-Ireland overlords Crossmaglen. Predictably, Peter Canavan has been central to their titanic battle to get to this enticing semi-final. Match practice helps even up what would have looked like a fixture decisively tilted towards the holders. Perhaps not surprisingly, given the county commitments of seven of them, Cross looked mentally tired at various stages of the three matches.
The quarter-final trilogy may have brought on the Tyrone champions but it has also helped put Eoin Gormley out of action, as his hamstring deteriorated to the extent that he is expected to play no part today. The break in the schedule has also allowed Ballinderry a decent rest - an important consideration for defending champions in November. The Derry team look to have an edge here.
