Rathnew hit the road to try shake the Blues
ONE heavyweight of club football will go up against another on Sunday when the most successful club in Wicklow football, Rathnew, travel to Drogheda to face Newtown Blues, the most successful club team in Louth.
Newtown Blues won their 21st title on the same day as Rathnew defeated Blessington when they beat Dundalk Gaels by 2-10 to five points. Both county finals had similarities in the lead up to the match, in Wicklow it was the powerhouse against a team that hadn’t contested a final in 29 years and hadn’t won it since 1983, in Louth in was the power- houses against a team that hadn’t contested a final in 25 years and hadn’t won it since 1952.
Rathnew and Newtown Blues have faced each other before in the first round of the Leinster club championship in 2001, the year Rathnew went on to win the provincial crown. Newtown Blues have never won the Leinster championship, they reached the final on one occasion in 1970.
However, had the Leinster championship been around before that they might have been more successful, they won eight titles from 1961 to 1970.
Unlike Rathnew who have a few names still around from their 2001 odyssey, Newtown Blues are a very young team with only six starters surviving from their last county title in 2013. Leading the attack for Newtown Blues will be Ross Nally who was man of the match in the county final with a haul of 1-05. Nally scored 1-03 for Louth earlier this year when the Wee county overcame Wicklow in the under-21 championship.
He lined out at full-forward in the county final but the Rathnew full-back line will also have to contend with Ciaran Downey, another member of the under-21 team who scored three points in the county final. In the other corner, Conor Moore scored the second goal and between them the Newtown Blues full-forward line accounted for 2-08 of their 2-10 total. Over to you Messrs Merrigan, Power and Snell in the Rathnew full-back line.
In midfield it will be a battle of the veterans as James Stafford stands toe to toe with Andy McDonnell, a man who has been around the Louth team for the best part of the last decade.
Beside him John Kermode caused lots of trouble with his powerful running in the Louth final and Theo Smith will probably have to follow him.
Rathnew have proven time and time again that they won’t always create lots of chances but will take them when presented. They will need to do so on Sunday against a Newtown Blues defence that only conceded two points from play in the county final, the first of those points in the 48th minute. Dundalk Gaels were guilty of missing their chances alright, they kicked five wides in the opening 15 minutes, but all reports would suggest that Newtown Blues have a mean defence.
Leighton Glynn will be the main focal point of Rathnew’s attack once again and he might be joined for company by Kevin Carr, a starter for the Senior and under-21 Louth teams this year. If Carr doesn’t fancy the task the Newtown Blues full-back line of Paul Moore, Fergal Donoghue and Emmet Carolan were all given high praise following their win.
Of course Glynn isn’t the only Rathnew forward but most good things go through him. They can’t afford to go another 33 minutes without a score like they did in the county final and a standout performance from one of their other forwards could swing things for the Village.
It could be a highly tactical affair and the local match reports suggested the Louth final was a very poor affair, giving Rathnew a good chance though trying to predict Leinster club matches are always difficult.
The winners will welcome the winners of the Dublin club final between St Vincent’s and Ballymun Kickhams.