Fascinating fight for Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship in store

AN absolutely fascinating, captivating fight for the Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship should emerge.

With no clearcut favourites, you have a handful of teams at a similar level with a great chance of winning it, a couple who could get on a successful run and a couple of rank outsiders.

The Senior “B” Football Championship has been one of the best in Offaly for years. With so many teams with prospects of winning, it has made for compelling viewing and this year will be no different.

Tubber, Clonbullogue, Ballycommon and Cappincur look to have a great chance of winning it, though Cappincur's inclusion here comes with a note of caution and they are on the verge of the second category of teams who could get on a run but are not the favourites.

This category comprises of Ballycumber and Gracefield at the moment while Walsh Island and St Rynagh's are the two rank outsiders. While every club will be dreaming, their big aim is to avoid the drop and the relegated team could be one of them. It may seem harsh to place Walsh Island in this category as they reached the semi-final last year and a 3-11 to 0-12 defeat by parish neighbours and eventual champions, Bracknagh was no disgrace even if it was a comprehensive beating.

Walsh Island, however, have a handful of players in their thirties. Some of these are closer to 40 than 30 and while they are fiercely committed, very capable footballers, it is impossible to escape the impression that Walsh Island have punched above their weight. As you will see from the team profiles, St Rynagh's are in a real state of flux. They are down a lot of players this year for a variety of reasons, including Lusmagh fielding their own junior “B” team – their players have played with the Cloghan club in recent years – and will do well to survive.

For most observers, the relegation battle is a periphery issue and it is all about who gets to the knockout stages and who wins the championship.

There is an imbalance in the groups this year and this is important in relation to what may happen. Group 2 of Clonbullogue, Tubber, Gracefield and Ballycommon looks to be considerably stronger than group 1 where you have Cappincur, Walsh Island, Ballycumber and St Rynagh's.

That is not to say that the winners won't come out of group 1. They could and the fact that Cappincur and Ballycumber should be able to get to the knockout stages with less stress than the group 1 teams makes them dangerous.

The top team in each group qualifies for the semi-finals with the next two criss-crossing in two quarter-finals.

In group 1, the first round games will have a huge bearing on what will happen with Cappincur playing Ballycumber and Walsh Island taking on St Rynagh's. There could of course be twists in the tail, in fact there almost certainly will be, but at the moment, you would fancy the winner of Cappincur and Ballycumber to make the semi-finals and the loser of St Rynagh's and Walsh Island to be in the relegation play off. Either way, it will be a big surprise if Cappincur or Ballycumber bow out in the group stages and expect both to qualify.

It is hard to know about Cappincur. They were relegated out of senior last year and normally the relegated team are serious contenders. With Eoin Carroll due home from Australia during the summer and Bill Carroll back from a USA playing sanction later in the season, they could get very strong in the knockout stages but we will have to wait and see. Cappincur's history has shown great periods of plenty, followed by a barren period and then another run. With a few of their long serving players very much at th tailend of their careers, a barren spell could be imminent but they can't be ruled out.

Group 2 promises a real dogfight. Clonbullogue were beaten in last year's final, Tubber have been knocking on the door for a few years and Ballycommon's momentum from winning intermediate last year could propel them a long way.

There will be a lot of interest in Ballycommon and how they fare. They have a lot of very good players – some of those play rugby with Tullamore but will be fully committed to Ballycommon for the season and anything is possible for them. They could win back to back championships while it is not impossible that they end up in the relegation play off. Getting out of the group is the first aim for them and see where that brings them.

Gracefield are similar to Cappincur in that we really don't know what they will be like. Jamie Evans has transferred back from Clare and that is a big help and they have a hardcore of really good players. They may not have enough and are capable of producing very bad displays, such as last year's quarter-final defeat by Tubber. Their initial priority is to avoid the relegation battle and if they do that, you never know where the road will take them.

If you had to pick two favourites, it is Clonbullogue and Tubber. Clonbullogue have a lot of very good players, a tough backbone but star forward Keith O'Neill continues to battle injury and without him being able to fire on all cylinders, they would do very well to win a championship.

Tubber are interesting. They won the Division 2 Football League and look to be motoring very nicely. They have been close in the past but have displayed an unfortunate ability to contribute to their own downfall in big games. As a result, you would be very wary about putting any decent money on them – there is no doubt that they are capable of winning it but equally, they are capable of going up in smoke.

Tubber should be able to get out of the group but their first round game against Ballycommon shows how tough it is. Anything could happen in this group and in a funny way, it would be only a small surprise if the winners came from the other group. At the same time, things could click some time for Tubber and this could be their year.

Verdict – Tubber.

First round games

Group 1

Ballycumber v Cappincur: Saturday, July 15 in O'Connor Park 3pm; Verdict – Cappincur.

Walsh Island v St Rynagh's: Saturday, July 15 in Clara 3pm; Verdict – Walsh Island.

Group 2

Tubber v Ballycommon: Friday, July 14 in Daingean 7.30pm; Verdict – Tubber.

Clonbullogue v Gracefield: Saturday, July 15 in Bracknagh 3pm; Verdict – Clonbullogue.