Clodiagh Gaels and Doon hunt junior football honours

CLODIAGH Gaels and Doon will serve up an appetising curtain raiser in O'Connor Park on Saturday next when they clash in the Offaly Junior Football Championship final.

It should be a good game between two clubs who have performed well and are hungry for success. It is great to see Doon showing signs of recovery, even if it is in the fourth tier.

They were a breath of fresh air to Offaly football for a few years in the 1990s when they competed very well at senior, running big guns close and having some great wins. That was a great era for them with Vinny Claffey flying and several other really good players in their ranks but they have slipped back in the past decade.

Clodiagh Gaels is primarily a hurling club but there is a powerful, long football tradition in the whole Killeigh area. They may be at a much higher level in hurling but football is important to them and they would love to win this grade again.

The junior grades in Offaly have been less than exemplary this year with too many walkovers conceded. It is not good for any of the clubs involved, especially junior only clubs who really need to be providing games for their players.

Clodiagh Gaels and Doon, however, have been very focused the whole year, turning up and performing and they are hungry for football.

Clodiagh Gaels qualified out of group two with six points from their three games while Doon won two and lost one in group one.

Doon's defeat came against neighbours Shannonbridge while they had good wins over Kilclonfert and Shamrocks to qualify.

Clodiagh Gaels got a walkover from Durrow and beat Clara and Erin Rovers to qualify. The two semi-finals show-cased all that is good about junior football: real honest, hard football between clubs determined to win.

Doon had a good 1-11 to 0-9 win over Shannonbridge while Clodiagh Gaels got away for a 1-15 to 1-10 win over Erin Rovers.

Doon have been boosted by the emergence of some good young players. A couple have featured on Offaly underage teams and goalkeeper Jack Ryan, a hero for Offaly minor footballers in their Leinster title triumph in 2025, will be out of minor ranks next year. They look to be a club on the rise and that is great for this corner of Offaly.

It will not be easy to win this final. Clodiagh Gaels are strong and well able to play football. They may be marginal favourites but this is 50-50 and it will be very interesting to watch it all unfold.