Andersonstown Social Club
Intermediate Hurling Championship – Quarter-Final
Carey Faughs vs Glen Rovers
Date: August 30
Venue: Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel
Throw In: 6.45pm
Referee: Darren McKeown (St Galls)
The Intermediate hurling championship resumes on Friday evening with a mouth-watering derby. Glenrovers Armoy and Carey Faughs make the short journey to Fr Healy Park in a contest there’s no doubting both sets of fans will be relishing.
Though playing in Division Two, these two finished in differing sections after the split. The Glenrovers men with just one win in the first round of games and that against Cloughmills in mid-July. They needed a win against Glenariffe on the last round of league fixtures and that they managed to do with seven points to spare and staved off the threat of automatic relegation. They are in the middle of a two-legged play off with St Paul’s and hold a two point lead going into that match next Wednesday and perhaps the championship will come as a welcome break for the men from Páirc Cromach.
The Faughs have had a roller coaster season where they recorded five wins in their first eight matches with some notable performances against Cloughmills, Cloney Gaels and Glenariffe but their form in the latter half of the season will be reason for concern for those in Ballyvoy. No win since the middle of June in a run that includes five straight defeats and a couple of major losses against Naomh Éanna and Creggan tells us the Faughs aren’t exactly brimming with confidence coming into the derby showdown.
When these two met in May, Carey recorded a 5-13 to 1-14 win in Armoy’s back yard and while that result won’t mean much come Friday night, it may give us an indication on who will progress to the last four. League form usually goes out the window on derby days and both sides will hope that trend continues but I think Carey will edge their neighbours on this one.
Intermediate Hurling Championship – Quarter-Final
Kickhams Creggan vs Naomh Éanna
Date: August 30
Venue: Whitehill, Randalstown
Throw In: 6.45pm
Referee: Mark O’Neill (Armoy)
Last year’s beaten finalists against the side who have swept all before them during the 2019 league campaign. That equations makes for the tie of the round in Tír na nÓg on Friday evening with Naomh Éanna making their way down the M2 to face Creggan.
Such is the calibre of these sides, with the right draw this could easily have been tantalising final. As it is, Creggan will come into this quarter-final as slight underdogs. Naomh Éanna have had a near flawless 2019 campaign and underlined their credentials as favourites for the Intermediate championship with their demolition of Cloney Gaels in the preliminary round. The Ahoghill men were missing the attacking prowess of James O’Connell but Naomh Éanna were brilliant on the day and Creggan will have their work cut out for them at Whitehill.
The Kickhams men started their campaign unbeaten in their first seven matches. An opening day draw against Dungannon preceded a run of six wins as they kept in the running for a Division One berth with their early season form. Since the split in the league however, one win in their last four matches six if you count the two matches before the split, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in thoughts of a Creggan victory in Randalstown.
Friday night will be the third meeting between these sides in 2019 and while Naomh Éanna have won both, only two points separated the sides at the end of the 60 minutes when they played at Páirc Cicheam on July 21.
Naomh Éanna have leaders all over the pitch with John McGoldrick, Killian Jennings, Cormac Ross, Mark Donaghy and Joe Maskey the players who will look to shine. Creggan have county captain Conor McCann in their ranks and when he’s on form he’s a handful for any defence in the county. With the right supply of ball into him, McCann can do damage while Tomás McCann, Kevin Rice, Conor and Kevin Small can all be influential and have major says on the outcome of this tie.
This one should be a cracker and when it comes to looking for form to give an idea on who may win you can throw the league out the window. Creggan’s erratic league form can be put down to the fact they have so many dual players within their ranks. If I was going to place a bet, I’d put a small wager on Naomh Éanna but don’t be surprised if the men from the Staffordstown Road find their championship form once again.
Intermediate Hurling Championship Quarter-Final
Tír na nÓg vs Sarsfields
Date: August 31
Venue: Páirc Cicheam
Throw In: 2.30pm
Referee: Colm McDonald (St Galls)
Sarsfields were pushed to the pin of their collar against Cushendun in the preliminary round but had enough in the tank to deserve their victory. They were expected to account for the 2018 Junior champions but they had to withstand a late comeback although their performance in the 50 minutes that preceded the late Emmet’s rally will cast as a warning to the rest of the teams in the Intermediate grade. When the Paddies get it right, they are a great team to watch and extremely hard to stop. Niall McKenna with an astonishing performance and a tally of 1-13 but with Kevin McKernan, Jack Daniels and Niall McAlea all starring, the Paddies will come into this one full of confidence.
The form of early substitute, Mark Rea against the Emmet’s may well give the Sarsfields management a headache. After a close opening, Rea’s introduction to the inside forward line swung momentum in favour of the men from the Bear Pitt along with the fine performance of minor prospect Caolan McKernan.
Tír na nÓg come into this one on the back of a tough season in Division Two. Two wins in their opening five league games would have raised hopes of a top half finish but in their remaining eight games, they managed to pick up points against Armoy. One win and a draw which was effectively enough to keep them free from the relegation and play-off places.
League form for a dual but predominantly football club like Tír na nÓg is always difficult to assess and the Randalstown men will be hoping for a better turn in fortunes from last year’s championship. They were second best to Naomh Éanna in a ten-point defeat but they’ve shown in the recent past they can be a match for anyone and capable of causing an upset.
Sarsfields flirted with the senior championship last year after taking the Intermediate crown in 2017. That experience and their form throughout the year brings them into Saturday’s quarter-final as favourites and I’d expect them to progress to the last four once again.
Intermediate Hurling Championship Quarter-Final
St Brigids, Cloughmills vs Oisins, Glenraiffe
Date: September 1
Venue: Fr Healy Park, Loughgiel
Throw In: 7pm
Referee: Colum Cunning (Dunloy)
When you take the league form of these two team this season everything points to an Oisins win. Both teams were in the bottom half of the table after the split but Cloughmills were eventually relegated with just four points while Glenariffe finished ten points above them on 14. In their two meetings in the league the Oisins dominated, winning by 5-18 to 0-8 in Waterfoot early in the season and while it was closer when they met again in Cloughmills the Glensmen still had eleven points to spare as they ran out winners by 4-17 to 1-15.
However we all know Cloughmills have the players to do much better than this. The likes of the Laverty brothers, Mickey Devlin, Aaron Smiley, Liam Ciarns and James Doherty are good enough to play in any team in this division and Glenariffe are well aware of that. They will be on their toes on Sunday evening and if they get away to a decent start then they should could go through but this game might not be the forgone conclusion everyone thinks. Discipline will be vital as both teams have free takers who can punish the opposition. Glenariffe gets the nod, but remember this is championship and strange things can happen in these one-off games.