An anxious week in store for Ferns and Cloughbawn

ALOT of local club teams fell by the wayside in the two weeks I spent on holidays, and more are set to follow when we get to the crunch stage of the various hurling championships this coming weekend.

Looking at matters from a neutral viewpoint, two fixtures on Saturday jump off the page for me, and for entirely different reasons.

First up is the Pettitt’s Senior relegation final between Cloughbawn and Ferns St. Aidan’s in Bellefield at 2.30 p.m., and then there’s the quarter-final meeting of Oylegate-Glenbrien and Naomh Eanna in Innovate Wexford Park at 5 p.m.

It’s going to be a very anxious week for supporters of those two clubs battling for survival, and whatever happens we will be adjusting to the reality of seeing another strong force demoted to the Intermediate grade for 2018.

Cloughbawn have competed in every Senior championship without a break since 1974, while Ferns St. Aidan’s have been in the top flight for ten years and gave Oulart-The Ballagh a great run for their money in the county final four seasons ago.

The Clonroche crew also contested the relegation decider at the end of that same campaign and pipped Oylegate-Glenbrien by a point, but they wouldn’t have expected to be in the last chance saloon this time around after finishing as runners-up eleven months ago.

Last year’s group game between the clubs resulted in a 0-17 to 0-16 win for Cloughbawn, and it could be as close this time around. Rest assured that Bellefield will be an extremely tense spot from 2.30 p.m. to 3.45 p.m. on Saturday.

One of the best aspects of the new twelve-team format is that it shows such scant regard for tradition. In recent years we have also seen strongholds like Buffers Alley and St. Anne’s making the drop, while Rathnure and Faythe Harriers only survived by one-point margins in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

It’s no insult to Oylegate-Glenbrien to suggest that many onlookers expected them to only last one season as a Senior team after winning last year’s Intermediate crown, but they have emphatically proved all the doubters wrong.

And regardless of the outcome in Innovate Wexford Park on Saturday evening, it’s refreshing to note that either the Enniscorthy District crew or Naomh Eanna will be back a fortnight later to contest a semi-final.

It’s great to see the last two Intermediate title-holders in that position, and it will add a good deal of bite and intrigue to what promises to be a very entertaining contest.

Last year I was full of praise for the positive approach taken by the Gorey men in their 1-21 to 3-11 loss to Oulart-The Ballagh at the same stage, and they have continued to make fine strides.

Both sides will fancy their chances of advancing to a big occasion from this game, while St. Martin’s will be favourites to beat Buffers Alley beforehand but are unlikely to have it easy against such dogged opponents.

It’s hard to see anything other than an Oulart-The Ballagh win over Shelmaliers on Sunday, although the champions are probably more vulnerable at this stage than in a semi-final or final as Glynn-Barntown proved so memorably back in 2014.

The quarter-final action will conclude with another intriguing contest between Rathnure and Rapparees. And, similar to the meeting of Oylegate-Glenbrien and Naomh Eanna, both teams will entertain high hopes of making progress.

While tradition, and their table-topping group feats, would indicate that the black and ambers are favourites, their town rivals have a great deal of momentum on their side after crushing St. Martin’s in a game they had to win before virtually the same crew of players secured a Senior football semi-final spot last Saturday.

That was a fair turnaround after being in last year’s football relegation decider, and once again it underlines the thin line between top and bottom in our Senior championships.

Indeed, last weekend saw the departure of the last two football winners, and the 2016 runners-up, so the ultimate prize could go in any one of four directions next month.