Leinster tests for Louth champions
LEINSTER CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
ALL three Louth champions will play this weekend in Leinster competitions, with Senior champions Newtown Blues out on Sunday and Mattock Rangers and Roche Emmets lining out on Saturday.
Momentum has been built for both Mattock and Roche after confident opening-day wins. Mattock turned on the style in the second half of their away trip to Gracefield to turn over Offaly champions Bracknagh, storming nine points ahead in that second period before free-wheeling over the line to win by three.
Roche never looked in trouble despite a shaky start in their opener against Castletown Gaels.
Once again the ever reliable Barry O’Hare proved to be unmarkable at times by the Laois team, bagging 3-6 in their comprehensive win.
This time around the Faughart men will embark on the road to Faithful fields, the Offaly equivalent of Darver, to take on Shannonbridge. It goes without saying that the Offaly intermediate champions will be a vastly superior test.
Roche manager Paddy McGuinness will no doubt have his homework done on both ‘Bridges cornermen Jack Darcy and Kieran Flannery who scored 12 of their side’s 14 points between them the last day in their one-point win over Carlow champions Fenagh.
Young goalkeeper Barry Rohan, who has started in goals for the Offaly seniors, also scored from a placed ball the last day and there are numerous Offaly underage players in their forward line, so Roche will know where the game will be won.
Dermot Carthy no doubt will be asked to do another marking assignment similar to the county final triumph and - recently called up to the Louth panel - Enda Murphy will also be called upon to curb the Offaly men if Roche are to make it to the semi-final.
Mattock Rangers return to a place which has brought them fond memories this season. Stabannon is the very venue where they picked up the Seamus Flood Cup and will look to be perfect hosts again on Saturday afternoon against the competition favourites Monasterevan.
The Kildare side are no strangers to Louth football, having beaten the O’Connell’s in the final of this grade in 2012 in a miserable low-scoring spectacle in the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda.
A huge bulk of that championship winning side has gone, and has seen the side go back down to the grades again. However, the influx of youthful talent has seen the blue and white side reborn.
Padraig Nash is their star player and the high-scoring corner forward is one of three players in the Monasterevan team that claimed Under-20 All-Ireland success with Kildare in 2018. John O’Toole and DJ Earley are the other two players and all three were on the senior squad this season before Cian O’Neill’s departure.
To make Mattock’s task more difficult, Leinster-winning full forward of seven years ago Wayne Fitzpatrick has returned from overseas duty and featured as a late substitute in their Intermediate final win over Leixlip.
Mattock will look to their 2002 win over Kildare supremo’s Moorefield for inspiration. On that day the underdogs’ display of attacking play won out on the day, and with Monasterevan’s defensive approach they will look to be patient and hope the full forward line of David Reid, Aaron O’Brien and Brian Corcoran will yield the goods.