Today’s previews
Leinster Club SFC final Éire Óg (Carlow) v Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin), MW Hire O’Moore Park, 2.00
IT IS a measure of Dublin’s dominance in Leinster that you have to go back as far 2002 for the last time the capital went three-successive years without winning the provincial title.
That prospect awaits should Ballyboden fail to find a way past Éire Óg, although that seems unlikely with the Dublin champions overwhelming favourites to get the job done.
Added to the mix, is the fact that it is only 12 months since the Carlow champions were mauled by Longford’s Mullinalaghta on a 2-15 to 0-3 scoreline.
Give or take a player or two, this is the same team that now faces a Ballyboden side who journeyed untested to a Dublin championship title with the exception of an epic semi-final battle against Na Fianna.
Logic demands that not only should Ballyboden win, but they should do so emphatically.
History, however, suggests something very different could unfold.
One of the many badges of honour stitched into Éire Óg’s history is the fact that they have never lost to a Dublin club.
In their glory days of the 1990s, when they won five Leinster championships in seven years, Erin’s Isle, St Sylvester’s and Kilmacud Crokes were put to the sword in finals. Ballyboden did not escape either – losing to the Carlow town club in their only previous meeting in the 1995 semi-final.
What value is that now? It might not count for much, but feeding into Dublin’s dominance, both at county and club level, is that many opponents are beaten psychologically even before a ball is throw in.
‘I remember being on the buses going to all those games,’ recalled Éire Óg captain Seán Gannon this week. ‘Everyone in Carlow went out supporting Éire Óg in the
’90s. It was just something that was done.
‘Because of that, there is a massive grá for it in Éire Óg.
‘It probably comes from the history of the club and the success in the ’90s but we really believe we have a fighting chance,’ added Gannon.
Outside of that history, Éire Óg have something more substantial to lean on – form. While the demolition they endured at the hands of Mullinalaghta is still a stain on their credibility as a group; the evidence is that rather than being haunted by that experience, they have learned from it.
In their games to date, against Castletown (Wexford), Sarsfields (Kildare) and Laois champions Portlaoise, they have given up just over 10 points a game.
They have always had a cutting edge – which had underpinned their recent dominance in Carlow and saw them complete the three-in-a-row for the first time since that great team of the 1990s – but their capacity to leak scores has cost them when playing elite opposition.
This season they remain as potent as ever, not least Chris Blake who is in red-hot form, but the confidence that fuelled their drive though Leinster is based on the integrity of their defence.
‘Éire Óg have always played attacking football but out of nowhere, we stopped conceding goals. A lot of that is down to the work Mark Fitzgerald is doing at full-back and Mark Furey is doing at centre-back,’ said Gannon. ‘We have a tight base and we all know our jobs, but we’re able to get forward a bit quicker than perhaps the county team manages.
However, their wellbeing in defence is likely to be stresstested by a Ballyboden attack, spearheaded by the Basquel brothers, Colm and Ryan.
Such has been their form –
Ryan was unplayable against Garrycastle in their semi-final triumph – that it is almost certain they will be part of the plans of the soon-to-be-appointed new Dublin manager.
And such is their depth that they coasted into the final despite former Player of the Year Michael Darragh Macauley not being fit to start in the semi-final. He was, however, sprung from the bench along with Conal Keaney.
That depth is a given with Dublin teams and while the lopsided odds will hardly reflect what is likely to be an intense and competitive final, it should play out as anticipated in the end.
Verdict: Ballyboden St Enda’s O’Byrne Cup, first round Meath v Louth, Páirc Tailteann, 2.00 Walsh Cup, first round Westmeath v Carlow, Kinnegad, 2.00 Kehoe Cup, second round Kildare v Down, Newbridge, 2.00