Warriors go to Killorglin for crunch Cup tie

PAT DUFFY NATIONAL CUP Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin v Garveys Tralee Warriors Saturday, October 25 at 8pm in Killorglin Sports Hall

In what might well be a marketing executive’s dream, Saturday night in Killorglin sees the clash of two SuperValu sponsored teams in an eagerly awaited National Cups that would be billed as the ‘Battle of the Brands’ as Garvey’s Tralee Warriors head across the short mountain to take on Keane’s of Killorglin in a decisive Cup contest.

Tralee have certainly had the better of the starts to the Superleague season, and are currently third on the table, with three wins from five games.

A solitary win from their opening five matches see Killorglin struggling at the foot of the table, just ahead of the pointless Dublin Lions.

Tralee have more long-standing and fierce rivals in the League than Killorglin, but the geography of the fixture - a rare all-Kerry Cup fixture, certainly in recent times - means they’ll be packed in and partisan in the Killorglin Sports Centre on Saturday night.

The transfer of Lithuanian

Daniel Jokubaitis from Killorglin to Tralee over the summer adds another dimension to the rivalry, such as it is, and the 25-year-old has settled very well into Pat Price’s team.

Jokubaitis is an integral member of the Warriors so far this season, and he will be keen to put in a big performance against his old club, though eh sure to get a ‘warm’ reception from his old fan base.

Warriors are defending

League champions, but the National Cup is the prize all the clubs want most, and Tralee will have to be favourites to get past this tricky test and set up a quarter-final match against Pyrobel Killester, who received a bye in the first round.

Killester are defending Cup champions - and lie mid-table in the Superleague at the moment - and Tralee, or Killorglin, would love a crack at the champions in the next round.