Weekend previews

SATURDAY, APRIL 20 Group 2 Kerins O’Rahillys v Dr Crokes Strand Road, Tralee at 18.30

ALTHOUGH all four teams in Group 2 can still top the table and qualify for the final as it stands currently this is an unlikely fixture between the bottom two sides in the group.

It’s hard to fathom that defending champions are, by virtue of having scored one point less than O’Rahillys over the last two games, technically bottom of the group, but both games in Group 1 next weekend are both potential qualification and relegation battles at the same time.

O’Rahillys dug out a hard-fought win over Rathmore in Round 1 but then saw that result reversed last Sunday when they lost out to Legion. Another extremely tight contest is expected here.

There’s little doubt but O’Rahillys are missing the presence of David Moran at midfield and Tommy Walsh somewhere between midfield and full forward, and the ankle injury suffered by Gavin O’Brien last Sunday will be a major concern this week.

Ten concession of three first half goals to Rathmore looked to have been addressed by the time of their visit to Legion, but O’Rahillys will face a Dr Crokes attack more than capable of hitting the net even if recent performances and results have suggested otherwise.

The All-Ireland Club Final hangover appears to be still lingering for Dr Crokes, who managed just one second half score in their latest defeat to Rathmore last Saturday.

Somewhat worryingly is that Crokes have been fielding pretty much their strongest team in these last couple of rounds, with the notable absence of Colm Cooper from the team sheet.

It won’t get any easier when they

SUNDAY, APRIL 21 Group 1 Kenmare v Austin Stacks Kenmare, 2.30

THE optics are simple: a win for Austin Stacks and they will go to the club final. Easier said than done, however, as they must journey south to face a strong Kenmare team that will be confident of getting the win that will give them an outside chance of going to the final themselves.

Wins over Dingle and then Kilcummin sees Stacks as the only team in this championship with full points after the first two rounds, but a win over Kilcummin and a narrow loss to Dingle shows Kenmare are no pushover at this level.

The scoring return of Sean O’Shea and Stephen O’Brien will be crucial to Kenmare, which Stacks will need to be acutely mindful of, while the Rockies will look for real leadership from Kieran Donaghy, Greg Horan, Ronan Shanahan and Wayne Guthrie.

The form line has to favour Stacks slightly but home advantage could mean a couple of points to Kenmare and that could be the difference.

Verdict: Kenmare head to Strand Road on Sunday. There personnel and ability is clearly there for them to win but it might well be the case that the Crokes players are just burnt out after the rigours of a long winter of football.

And that’s what O’Rahillys have to capitalise on. It’s unclear if Walsh or O’Brien will feature (Moran won’t) but if Savage can stay on the field and Barry John Keane can get the best out of himself they have a great chance.

Still, it’s likely that Crokes will find more within themselves at the right time and just about get over the winning line.

Verdict: Dr Crokes

Rathmore v Legion Rathbeg at 18.30

AN East Kerry derby to be played out on a broader canvas this is another game where the winner could top the group - but may not - and the loser could be relegated - but might not.

The only thing separating the teams on the table is that Rathmore have scored a combined 30 points as against Legion’s 27, so that’s an indication of how tight things are.

Having blown a great chance against O’Rahillys, Rathmore bounced back to scrape a win over their old nemesis Dr Crokes, and they will look to see off more Killarney opposition to book their place in the final.

Legion also recovered from a narrow Round 1 loss to edge another close run thing last week, with James O’Donoghue looking sharp and driven in the Legion attack.

Paul Murphy will surely be deployed to man-mark his Kerry team mate and this could well be the defining match-up.

Legion need to get a few more scores out of more players, but Rathmore might say the same for themselves.

A tight derby could be decided by the advantage of the venue.

Verdict: Rathmore

Kilcummin v Dingle Kilcummin, 2.30

PLENTY at stake for both teams here with the only thing for sure heading into this third and final round is that Kilcummin cannot reach the final.

Dingle can qualify but it will take a wide winning margin here and a big win for Kenmare over Stacks to bring all three to four points and then for the West Kerry club to overtake Stacks considerably better scoring difference as it stands.

Kilcummin can drag themselves off the bottom of the table and avoid a relegation play-off with a similarly large win so there’s no doubt they’ll be competitive and keep Dingle honest here. Whether or not they have the capacity to win right now is the question.

The Intermediate champions are considerably weakened by injured and it won’t help their cause to see Mikey Geaney back playing for Dingle and his cousins Paul and Conor playing well.

Dingle dug deep to see off Kenmare last weekend and while they won’t really fancy the trip to East Kerry there’s signs they are moving in the right direction as a team.

Verdict: Dingle