Weekend previews

SATURDAY, APRIL 20 Group 1 Annascaul v Knocknagoshel Annascaul 18.30

It’s been a really good campaign for Knocknagoshel so far. This is exactly the position they would have wanted to be in going into the last round with full points in a do or die affair. It’s very nearly a winner takes all affair too, except that a share of the spoils would put Annascaul top on score difference, albeit only by a point.

As good it has been for Knocknagoshel this is the point at which the rubber hits the road. Victory over Duagh – minus Anthony Maher for the game – and victory over Valentia last weekend doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be ready to step up and take down the pre-championship favourites on their home patch.

It’s a big boost to Annascaul to have this game on home soil. They’d probably be favourites regardless of where it was played, even after they found Duagh a more difficult nut to crack than many expected before hand. Knock will give them a game of it, but Annascaul’s quality ought to see them through.

Verdict: Annascaul

Group 2 Renard v Asdee Asdee 18.30

Renard are in a really strong position to top this group, but it’s not a done deal just yet. They will need to get a result – a win or a draw – to ensure that they do.

Even if they lose there’s a half decent chance they’d still top the group, depending on the margin or their defeat – or on the margin of any potential Beale victory over Moyvane – but the South Kerry side won’t want to leave things up in the air like that. They’ll want to get the job done on their own terms and even away from home they should have enough about them to get the better of Division 5 Asdee.

For their part Asdee will see last weekend’s six point defeat to neighbours Beale as an opportunity missed as now, even if they do win their home game this weekend, there’s no guarantee it would see them top the group.

Verdict: Renard Beale v Moyvane Ballybunion 18.30

Beale’s victory over Asdee last weekend leaves them with an outside chance of returning to the knock-out phase of this competition for the second year in succession. They will need to win at home against a disappointing Moyvane outfit and they’re more than capable of doing that.

After that they will need Asdee to do them a massive favour by defeating Renard up in Asdee at the same time. They’ll need Asdee to win and win by enough to put a dent Renard’s score difference, while winning by a big enough margin against Moyvane to bridge the eleven point gap that exists.

The second par t of that is possible, but it’s hard to see Asdee winning.

Verdict: Beale

Group 3 Cordal v Scartaglin Castleisland 18.30

This is a really interesting contest. You’ve got two local rivals going headto-head on neutral territory, not too far from either club in a do or die contest to see who tops the group. It should guarantee a big crowd in attendance at the match.

There isn’t a cigarette paper between the sides either in terms of how they’ve performed to date in this championship. Scartaglin have the better score difference and that gives them a slightly better chance of topping the group as they don’t actually have to win the game to advance to the semi-finals.

After their big victory over Tarbert in the first round you would have them down as having a greater scoring potential than Cordal, but their struggles at the weekend against Castlegregory – albeit away from home and albeit in terrible conditions – suggests they can be stopped.

Cordal are Division 3 and Scar taglin are just Division 5, that suggests a difference in overall quality, but still we just lean towards Scar t here.

Verdict: Scar taglin

Castlegregory v Tarbert Connolly Park, Tralee 18.30

There’s nothing much on the line here except for pride and avoiding the fate of finishing at the foot of the table. Both sides have each earned a draw, but Castlegregory after a shaky start have arguably been the more impressive of the two sides over the previous two rounds. The two Division 4 sides will want to round the campaign off on a high to regain some momentum for the league, which will resume in the month of May.

Verdict: Castlegregory

SUNDAY, APRIL 21 Group 1 Duagh v Valentia Duagh 14.30

A game of little consequence except for the hope of avoiding the wooden spoon in the group. This campaign has been relatively frustrating for Duagh. Anthony Maher’s suspension the first day out probably cost them victory against Knocknagoshel, while they came agonisingly close to derailing favourites Annascaul. Duagh are certainly good enough to see off a Valentia side struggling for numbers at the moment.

Verdict: Duagh

Group 4 Ballyduff v Cromane Ballyseedy 14.30

Because of Tuosist’s failure to fulfil a fixture this must go to a play-off after these two sides’ draw in Ballyduff last weekend.

It was a strange enough sor t of game, but it’d be hard to argue that Ballyduff don’t have the greater potential to improve on their showing. They missed a penalty, missed a glitedged goal scoring opportunity and practically gift-wrapped a goal for Cromane in the first half. If both sides play to their potential the North Kerry men should triumph.

Verdict: Ballyduff