Offaly Intermediate Football Championship is wide open
Offaly Intermediate Football Championship preview
THE Tullamore Court Hotel Offaly Intermediate Football Championship is in its usual state – wide open with no clear favourites and plenty of swings and round-abouts certain to emerge.
Gracefield were relegated from senior “B” last year and they really should be warm favourites but that is a classification, we have to steer clear of at the moment – their chances are as good any anyone else but you couldn't say with any certainty that Gracefield will make an instant return to senior B.
Gracefield's descent, however, is worthy of examination by Offaly GAA and it is a big problem for Offaly football. They are one of the county's great footballing clubs. They have won four Senior Football Championships and the first Leinster Club Senior Football Championship back in 1971 but that only touches on the surface of their contribution.
They have provided some absolutely brilliant Offaly footballers, dating back from the time of the legendary Tom “The Chonk” McEvoy from the 1930s. Donie Hanlon was the captain of the first Offaly team to win the Leinster Senior Football Championship in 1960, John Smith a brilliant defender on the 1971/1972 All-Ireland champions and the 1982 All-Ireland may not have been won without the powerful contribution of Mick and Pat Fitzgerald and Padraig Dunne.
They added great heart and character to Offaly teams and Offaly football needs a strong Gracefield. The reasons for their decline are complex and varied. On the surface, it is hard to explain as anyone driving in the Tullamore road into Portarlington can see the volume of houses in their hinterland but they have received very little benefits from this – they also have a large rural area, if somewhat sparsely populated, and whatever the reasons, it is just a tragedy to see Gracefield back in Offaly's third tier.
It is also crucial to be fair to the current people running the club and playing. It is no fun for them to be going backwards and they deserve huge credit for keeping their shoulder to the wheel and trying to drive them forward. The other clubs in intermediate won't be facilitating this but it is in everyone's interest to see a strong Gracefield return up the Offaly football ladder.
There may also be different issues at play in the area and there has been suggestions that some young players are drifting across the border to play illegally in Laois – this has been taken on by Gracefield in recent months and there is also issues with a club within their own county borders. Gracefield are absolutely right to shut down their borders and Offaly GAA have to take a proactive role in this, give them full support and not leave it all to Gracefield, who just can't be left isolated to take on the complexities of all this, the inevitable pressure it brings on officers from a variety of sources in a variety of ways – any club involved in playing illegal players also have a moral duty to enforce GAA rules.
All of that, however, is for another day and the concentration is now on the Intermediate Football Championship where Gracefield's prospects are as good as anyone else.
They are drawn in group 1 with Ferbane, Edenderry, St Rynagh's and Kilcormac/Killoughey. Group 2 consists of St Brigid's, Raheen, Rhode and Walsh Island.
The top team in each group goes into the semi-finals with second and third criss-crossing in two quarter-finals.
Beaten by Tullamore in last year's final, St Brigid's are the slight favourites to win out and have been knocking on the door in recent years but they are in a tough group.
St Rynagh's look to be turning a corner and they could emerge as very strong contenders while you would imagine that Kilcormac-Killoughey just won't play enough football to win this grade – they have won football titles with limited preparation back in the 1990s and 2000s but with fitness levels having improved dramatically, it is much harder to do that now. K-K will be fit but their opponents will also be in good shape and football will decide the big games then.
With Dylan Hyland having got back into action for Offaly towards the end of the league, Raheen have a chance and you would imagine that Edenderry's and Ferbane's second team will be decent. Rhode won junior last year and they are in the same category – it would not be a big surprise if either of these clubs got a real run going.
It is impossible to call at this stage and we go with St Brigid's on the basis that they have been seriously competitive in recent years and were beaten in the final last year.
Verdict – St Brigid's.
First round games (first named at home)
Group 1
Saturday, July 4
St Rynagh's v Kilcormac-Killoughey 2pm
Verdict – St Rynagh's.
Sunday, July 5
Edenderry v Ferbane 12 noon
Verdict – Ferbane.
Note:
Group 2 doesn't start until July 17 as it is a four team group. First round fixtures are: St Brigid's v Walsh Island; Raheen v Rhode.