GROUP FOUR
SKELLIG Rangers will feel like they’ve been parachuted into the North Kerry Championship as they are the geographical outsider in a group with St Senans, Listowel Emmets and Ballydonoghue. The South Kerry District Board club will find it tough to come out of this group, but they do have the advantage of a home draw against Ballydonoghue in the first round, and that’s a very winnable game for them.
Ballydonoghue have been talked up over the last couple of years as strong contenders for this championship, but they’ve really underwhelmed in the last couple of campaigns. Much of that confidence has been based on good underage teams a few years ago and the emergence of fine players like Jason Foley, Mitch Foley, Brian O Seanachain and Darragh O’Shea.
Listowel Emmets are a team that really, all things considered, be contesting hard for a county intermediate title, but for whatever reason, they just seem to be stuck in a rut below where they should be.
As the biggest town in north Kerry they have a decent pick of players, but they have - like most of the region - been hit by migration and emigration.
Conor Cox told The Kerryman a few weeks ago that he was committed to Emmets for 2020, but he lives in Leitrim and will be readying himself for inter-county training with Roscommon from the middle of September. It remains to be seen if he will commit to Listowel for the club championship, but if he does then they certainly will be force to be reckoned with.
Without him and the John James Buckley trained Emmets might just fall out of contention for a place in the last eight.
St Senans made it all the way to last year’s Premier Junior county final only to fall to Na Gaeil in that decider, so the motivation to atone for that defeat and go one better is unquestioned.
Mark Boourke remains on as team manger and with Barry Mahony, Sean Weir, Damien Somers among others expected to carry the fight, the Mountcoal have to be favourite to top this group. After that they will hope the draw is kind to them, but they’ll be a team no one else will want to meet in the knock-out phase.
Skellig Rangers just about avoided being dragged into a relegation fight in last year’s county league and so they live to fight another year (or two, given that the 2020 league is set to be voided) in Division 4. Playing numbers and emerging talent has come against them in recent years - as it has for a few south Kerry clubs - but the Portmagee side are never found wanting in championship football. Whether they have the raw goods to get a win or two in this group is the big question.
With Cox, Emmets have every chance, but without him the other two North Kerry get the nod to advance to the quarter-finals.