Mouthwatering battles up ahead in the IFC

IT’S often said that the Intermediate football championship in Wicklow is the hardest won and the most entertaining and while I’m sure every Senior team will contest the hardest won argument there’s few who would doubt the claim that it’s the most entertaining.

In Senior it’s looking like a three-horse race, possibly four, while in the Darcy Sands Intermediate there are anything up to seven contenders for the crown should all the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place for the one lucky outfit who eventually claim the crown.

The opening day victories for Tinahely, Coolkenno, Dunlavin and Ballymanus suggest that they are the top dogs at this moment in time. The drawn game between Donard-The Glen and Carnew Emmets, while lacking in quality, had plenty of passion and potential and both those teams could take big scalps before this cham- pionship runs its course. Throw in new kids on the block Laragh and you have seven sides who cannot be discounted as contenders, with recovery possible for Ashford, Stratford-Grangecon, Rathnew and Ballinacor after opening day defeats.

Last year’s Senior relegation pair Tinahely and Coolkenno made major statements with their victories over Kilmac and Ballinacor respectively. Alan Costello’s men remain unbeaten while Damien McMahon’s side showed all the qualities you expect from Coolkenno in their dismantling of Ballinacor with Conor Walker bagging 3-2 and their younger players really stepping up to the mark.

Dunlavin were very impressive against Stratford-Grangecon who are themselves much improved on last year with Paddy Walsh, Jason Bolger and Ross Coogan really impressing at times. But Jonathan Daniels’ side are looking young, fit and very capable with Shane Carty, Cian O’Sullivan, the Murtagh brothers and Gary Allen looking very impressive and all the better for their competitive Division 1A league campaign.

Things will be abundantly clearer in terms of leading contenders after the next round of fixtures. There are a few mouthwatering clashes in store with the meeting of Tinahely and Dunlavin the pick of the Group 2 fixtures while Kilmac and Coolkenno won’t be found wanting in terms of drama and entertainment.

Carnew’s collision with Ballymanus will be one worth watching. The loss of Brendan McCrea is a big blow for James Hickey’s side while Cillian Gilligan’s absence is also keenly felt in front of the posts, but Carnew are nothing if not capable and ambitious and they would only love to get revenge on Ballymanus after Paddy Molloy’s side ended their championship hopes last season. Throw in the meeting of DonardThe Glen and Laragh and you have the makings of some really excellent games of competitive championship football.