With three rounds of our club football championships now complete, and Round 4 approaching this weekend, a look through the standings in the various grades throws up the following thoughts:
- After Castletown’s shock defeat to Naomh Eanna in the first round, they’ve been all guns blazing, beating St Martin’s by 3-24 to 1-3 and then Sarsfields by 2-18 to 0-5. Conversely, Naomh Éanna have suffered two defeats since and face a battle to qualify. Just goes to show that Round 1 results don’t necessarily set the tone for the rest of the championship!
- The result of last weekend must surely be the two point win for St. Mogue’s Fethard over Shelmaliers. Fethard earned themselves an eleven-point lead shortly after half time. Shelmaliers with the wind gradually clawed it back to one, but Fethard held on for an important win. Shels have Gusserane O’Rahilly’s and Glynn-Barntown to play, which means qualification is far from guaranteed.
- Crossabeg/Ballymurn and HWH Bunclody are both struggling in Senior Football but both are ticking along nicely in Intermediate hurling, where the former have a 100% record and the latter impressed with the manner of their victory in Round 4 hurling. They’ll have to transfer some of their hurling form to football to qualify for the knockout stages.
- I mentioned after Round 2 about 100% starts in Intermediate for Starlights, St.Anne’s and Horeswood. They all now have three wins from three.
- In Intermediate ‘A’, there are also three 100% records including Bannow-Ballymitty (who lost last year’s final to Cloughbawn), Duffry Rovers (lost semi-final to Cloughbawn on penalties) and St. Mary’s Rosslare (relegated from Intermediate just two years ago). Is it between the three of them, or might somebody else emerge from the pack?
- St. Brigid’s Blackwater are flying in Junior. Played 3, won 3, score difference +54. Can anyone put a halt in their gallop? It is a bit of a surprise to me that they are still in this grade, as I believe they are more than capable of competing in a higher grade.
- At the other end of Junior, there must be major concerns about football in the town of New Ross, as New Ross Geraldine O’Hanrahans are seriously struggling. They have played 3, lost 3, with a score difference -62. Last year they suffered heavy defeates in a couple of games before pulling out of Intermediate ‘A’ and being automatically relegated. They could end up facing relegation again.
- In Junior ‘A’, last year’s beaten finalists, St. Joseph’s, are flying along. Played 3, won 3, score difference +53. It’s good to see green shoots in a club that suffered three relegations in five years, starting with the drop from Intermediate in 2019. They have put a big effort into developing their underage structures over the last 15 years and are also putting a big effort into facilities at Whiterock Hill, so things are looking up for them.
Finally, the struggle of the promoted hurling teams has been highlighted a lot over the last few weeks. Across the first four rounds, promoted teams have played 20 games, with 2 draws and 18 losses.
To compare that to the football:
- St. Martin’s (in Senior – last year’s Intermediate champions): won 1, lost 2
- Cloughbawn (in Intermediate – last year’s Intermediate ‘A’ champions): won 1, drew 2, lost 0.
- Buffers Alley (in Intermediate ‘A’ – last year’s Junior champions): won 1, lost 2
- Davidstown-Courtnacuddy (in Junior – last year’s Junior ‘A’ champions): won 2, lost 1
- Castletown (in Junior ‘A’ – last year’s Junior ‘B’ champions): won 1, lost 2
So from the 15 games played so far, promoted football teams have 6 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses.
Anybody with a theory on why the football teams are doing better in this regard is welcome to share it!
– By Peter Mernagh
