Beaufort fancied in David versus Goliath duel

Beaufort v Churchill Saturday, April 28 Milltown at 6.30pm

ALL logic points to a comfortable win for Beaufort but this is Championship football so let’s step back a moment and consider all the angles. Yes, this is the classic David versus Goliath contest that pits David/Churchill - the Division 5 club - against Goliath/Beaufort - the Division 1 team, and we all know how that biblical battle played out. As long as Churchill have one stone in their sling heading into the closing phase of this semi-final they have a chance of causing what would, no doubt, be a huge upset. The difficulty for the St Brendan’s District club will be getting to the endgame and still be within striking distance.

Unsurprisingly, Beaufort manager Eanna O’Malley was keen to point out that the gap between the teams mightn’t be as wide as their county league positions would suggest. “I wouldn’t take much notice of them being in Division Five, they were in a group with two Division Three teams and they didn’t lose a game. They have beaten Ballydonoghue two years in a row in the Championship and they (Ballydonoghue) would’ve been considered one of the favourites for this championship. It’s championship football, anything can happen,” O’Malley said.

The Mid Kerry club haven’t done too bad themselves in the group phase, beating Firies on neutral ground before going to Mountcoal and beating St Senans to secure top spot in the group ever before hosting Annascaul in a game they didn’t need to win but did anyway.

They started life in Division One this year with a win over John Mitchels, before losing to Dr Crokes (no shame in that) and drawing with Rathmore last weekend in a game they really should have won given all the scoring chances they created. Beaufort’s strength is their strength: they are a strong, physical team that pivots around a middle diamond of Mike Breen, Nathan Breen, Ronan Murphy and Liam Carey, while full back Ger Hartnett (pictured) brings years of experience to the team. Churchill might have exceeded expectations in getting out of their group but Beaufort would underestimate them at their peril. The showed last year’s Championship win over the more fancied Ballydonoghue was no fluke with an opening round win over the north Kerry outfit before engineering a game drawing point in added-time at home to Skellig Rangers. A three-point win over Listry in the final round didn’t look as if it would be good enough to qualify them but with Skellig not piling on the points against Ballydonoghue, Churchill made the semi-finals by virtue of a higher ‘total amount scored’ than Rangers.

If those slender and nerve-racking two and three-point wins hints at a frailty in this team, it can also equally be said that they’ve shown tremendous character and a collective will to get the job done. Division Five players they might be, but there is a real touch of class to Ivan Parker, Cillian Fitzgerald, Michael Brennan and Chris Hurley, for example, while Garret Walsh brings every bit as much experience and panache to the Churchill defence as Harnett does to Beaufort.

Churchill manager Colm Duffy reports a clean bill of health and while mindful of the stature of this Beaufort side he isn’t overawed by the challenge that awaits. “On paper, yes, we got the toughest draw, but we are not a Division Five team. I’m not sure exactly where we rank yet but I’d like to think we can get out of Division Five this year even though it will be very hard. We are going to be underdogs but that won’t bother us. We’ll have to work on getting our match-ups right and on getting our guys to work extremely hard, but in fairness to them that’s what they’ve been doing. We’ve had a bit of luck along the way but you make your own luck too, and now it’s all about upstairs and getting the heads right,” he said.

Churchill are a relatively young team, and that can play both teams. If Beaufort get their foot on Churchill’s throat early on this contest could be all over by half time, but if Churchill can ease their way into the match - or even hit Beaufort hard and early - who knows what the exuberance of youth might do.

It would be foolhardy to predict anything other than a Beaufort win: even those early League games against Mitchels, Crokes and Rathmore will have sharpened them no end. However, if Churchill can achieve something close to parity at midfield, if Walsh can curtail Carey’s scoring threat, and if Parker and Fitzgerald can get the absolute maximum out of themselves and those around them, then maybe, just maybe, David can topple Goliath.

Beaufort

Verdict: