Bray’s well deserved win over Rathnew has opened up the championship

WE are now at the business end of the championships in all grades and codes and the next month or so will be filled with great scenes of jubilation for all the winners or total heartbreak for the losers.

The semi-final draws last Sunday evening certainly threw up some fascinating clashes many involving teams that regularly appear at the penultimate stages and refreshingly this year many new clubs.

Similar to last Sunday’s victory for the Tipperary hurlers over Kilkenny it is great to see new winners and success being shared around.

Most teams start off their season with great expectations and hopes for the year ahead and as the year unfolds many of these high hopes diminish for various reasons. This could be due to a lack of numbers, limited commitment from players, just coming up against better teams or simply the team is just not good enough.

It must be great to be involved with a team or teams that have a genuine chance of winning their respective championships.

I am sure many players over the years at certain times in their careers have taken some of their success for granted.

On the other hand you have teams, who at the start of the year, and through no fault of their own, know in their hearts that they have little or no chance of winning their championship.

They are the real heroes in the GAA who keep small villages on the map and whose members work extremely hard to keep a single team going despite the many obstacles they might face.

When these small clubs do experience success even in junior competitions it is a fantastic achievement and one which they deserve to celebrate and cherish.

I took the short trek over to Ashford last Saturday to watch two of the Junior ‘A’ football quarter-finals, the first was Kilcoole v. Barndarrig and the second Valleymount v. St. Pat’s.

Barndarrig, who are currently playing in Division 2 of the football league, went into the game as slight favourites but the form book went out the window and after a slow start Kilcoole got into their stride and finished up comfortable winners on a score line of 2-15 to 1-10.

Barndarrig will be hugely disappointed to exit the championship at this stage and in such a manner especially after pushing Junior ‘ A’ champions Kilmac to a point in last year’s final.

But take nothing away from this Kilcoole team, they were worthy winners and have a great blend of youth and experience in their squad.

Their younger players such as Conor Toole, Luke Evans and county minor, Jack Bellamy, certainly came of age and Bellamy was probably my man of the match.

His strong running at the Barndarrig defence caused havoc.

Matthew Kennedy was very strong at centre-back and his return to the team will have a big bearing on Kilcoole’s year.

With Kennedy situated at centre-back this freed up the impressive Ronan Keddy from a defensive role and allowed him to penetrate the Barndarrig defence time and again.

The return from injury of Daniel Kavanagh for the semi-final will certainly strengthen the team and provide greater attacking options.

Many have said that the winner of this game would be crowned champions and after this victory Kilcoole will now be fully confident and capable of going all the way in the competition.

In the other quarter-final Valleymount made the long trip over the Gap to face a St. Pat’s team with a considerable amount of senior experience on board. St. Pat’s played a nice brand of contained football and were very economical with their scoring efforts and in Donie Fitzgerald they had the standout forward on the day.

On the other hand Valleymount will be kicking themselves not to have given themselves and great chance to advance.

They owned the ball for long periods of the first half but their shot selection was very poor and they passed up far too many great scoring chances.

The well taken goal from Conor O’Brien early in the second half was a killer for Valleymount but to their credit they never gave up and their goal with 10 minutes to go gave them renewed hope but this faded as the game entered its final minutes.

St. Pat’s will now now meet local rivals, Ashford, in the semi–final and will, if they don’t lose players to the seniors, be in a great place to make the final.

So, despite Coolboy’s comfortable victory over Carnew and Ashford’s slender victory over Eire Og on a miserable night last Friday in Roundwood, I still think we are looking at a Kilcoole v. St. Pat’s final.

I have seen Valleymount play three or four times over the last two years and they are certainly going in the right direction.

A bit more work is needed in their attacking play but no one could fault their work rate and their ability to win first phase and breaking ball.

For Valleymount it is the end of the road as far as their championship ambitions lie but they are only one point adrift of second place Kilcoole in the league so they can now concentrate on trying to secure the second promotion place.

Promotion would be a solid indicator and a reward for the hard work they are putting in.

Bray Emmets’ well deserved victory over champions Rathnew has really opened the door for all four semi-finalists and all four will believe they have a great chance of winning.

However, I personally believe that the winner of the Blessington/St. Pat’s game will be crowned champions. Rathnew were worthy champions and will be disappointed not to have secured a three-in-a-row.

No doubt they will regroup and be a main contender again next year.

All roads lead to Aughrim this Saturday for what should be a fascinating clash between old rivals Glenealy and Carnew in the SHC.

Glenealy will be anxious to reverse last year’s result and this will take an almighty effort as Carnew are a much improved outfit this year under the management of Casey O’Brien.

The availability of Wayne Kinsella who is in excellent form this year is a considerable boost to the Carnew attacking options plus Enda Donohue back in the forward division increases their scoring options. At time of writing Bray don’t know who their opponents are but they will be odds on favourites to reach yet another final.