Hungry Rhode keen to make mark as they begin Leinster Club Championship campaign

STILL glowing in the aftermath of their fantastic Offaly Senior Football Championship triumph, Rhode will be eager to prolong their season as they enter Leinster club action this weekend.

The Offaly kingpins travel to Navan on Sunday to face Meath champions Ratoath in the Leinster Club Senior Football Championship quarter-final and they will be confident of giving a very good account of themselves.

They have had a few weeks to get the celebrations out of the way and to recharge the batteries in the wake of their stunning Offaly final win over favourites, Tullamore. They have been able to get some quality work in under their belt and they are in the perfect position going into this campaign.

Apart from their own internal standards, Rhode won't have much expectation surrounding them for this campaign. They were very close to winning the provincial crown during the 2000s in particular. They suffered some agonising final defeats and their 2008 loss to Dublin's Kilmacud Crokes remains a particular source of regret. That Rhode team was good enough to win a provincial title and a golden opportunity slipped from their grasp on that day.

Rhode also lost finals in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2016 but 2008 was the closest they came to winning. Rhode have never won a Leinster title – only Gracefield, Walsh Island and Ferbane have won from Offaly and it is something Offaly football's most successful side would love to remedy.

It does look like that ship has sailed for Rhode. They may take umbrage at suggestions that they have an ageing side and are not the same potent force that they were just a short few years ago but a few of Rhode's greatest performers are in the Winter of their careers. They are still capable of producing something special but some of the Rhode players are now in bonus territory.

Yet, no one will be writing off their prospects of producing a sensatational swansong. They were written off for the Offaly final against Tullamore but produced a classic snatch and grab raid, playing to their strengths and recording a fully deserved win.

There is no real pressure on them for this campaign. If they lose on Sunday, the year will still have been a tremendous success for them and they have achieved their primary ambition.

Yet there is a great window of opportunity for them. The draw has been kind to them with Kilmacud Crokes, Portarlington and Naas all in the other half. The winners of Ratoath and Rhode will play the Downs of Westmeath or St Mary's, Ardee in the semi-final in Croke Park.

There is a great chance for all teams in this half to progress to the final and Rhode are the most experienced of them by a distance. They are far more used to playing Leinster club fare than any of those three and they have a vastly experienced team.

Rhode are underdogs for Sunday's game but only slight ones and they have a real chance of progressing. They will have done their research on Ratoath and they certainly won't fear them.

Ratoath have made remarkable progress in recent years. They were junior a decade ago, winning the Meath Junior Football Championship in 2012 and following up with an intermediate title three years later.

Having won the Meath Junior championship in 2012, it only took them three years before they tasted Intermediate success. They would go on to win the Leinster intermediate club championship before being beating by Kerry’s St Marys Cahersiveen who at the time were managed Maurice Fitzgerald and had Bryan Sheehan starring in midfield.

Ratoath were beaten at the quarter final stage in their first two years at senior before Davy Byrne led them to their first ever Meath senior title in 2019 by defeating Summehill. Two weeks later, under controversial circumstances, Davy Byrne was sacked by the club which led to a split in the camp and some players deciding not to play for the club the following year over the decision.

Despite the controversy the previous year, in 2020 former Meath stalwart Brian Farrell took over as manager of the club and led them back to the senior final. A very late injury time goal scored by star forward Joey Wallace secured a second senior title for them in as many years. Wallace would also claim his second senior final man of the match award.

In 2021 Ratoath lost out to Wolf Tones in the semi final but came back this year with a vengeance. Mayo legend David Brady has led the club to their third senior title. They defeated Summerhill by a single point in a cagey intense final. Deserving winners on the day Daithi McGowan, Eamon Wallace and Jack Flynn all played star roles.

There is five obvious danger men that Rhode will have to be aware of. County players Eamon Wallace, Bryan McMahon, Conor McGill, Dathi McGowan and Jack Flynn.

Wallace has a huge engine and covers an extraordinary amount of ground, McMahon is a sharpshooter in the full forward line, McGill is a rock at full back, McGowan, the free taker, is hugely influential in midfield and Flynn is a massive presence on the half forward line with strength in abundance.

Rhode will be fully aware of the threat they pose but will be concentrating on their own game. Once again, you can expect Rhode to set up defensively, pulling players back and then breaking forward at lightening pace. They have outstanding forwards in Niall McNamee, Anton Sullivan, Ruari McNamee and Aaron Kellaghan and they will be feeding them with quality ball.

Those forwards give Rhode a chance and while they are underdogs, it won't be a big surprise if they earn a semi-final tilt in Croke Park.