Four intriguing clashes

THE draw for the quarter-finals of the Boom Platform Hire Junior ‘A’ Football Championship has thrown up some meaty contests among the eight remaining sides in the competition.

Clash of the last eight has to be Baltinglass against Kilcoole which sees last year’s beaten finalists coming up against one of the form teams of this year’s championship in Baltinglass.

Both sides have suffered one defeat in this campaign with Baltinglass falling to the in-form An Tochar while Kilcoole suffered something of a shock defeat to Aughrim although the shock mentioned here might have more to do with people disregarding the strength of the Aughrim side than any actual notion that Kilcoole would be superior to Aughrim going on form.

Things are looking swell up in Kilcoole this season with their Junior ‘C’ side in the county decider against Tinahely this Thursday night following a superb campaign and their Senior side facing Baltinglass in what promises to be a belter of a game in a repeat of the league final which Kilcoole triumphed in.

For Baltinglass, Henry Sinnott is a key member of their useful attack which includes the likes of Jack Timmons, Mark Ashton and Willie Hanlon.

The Keddy’s, Vinnie Quigley, Danny Kavanagh and Luke Evans will be vital for Kilcoole’s cause as they look to push on in 2018 and make that step up to Intermediate.

There’s an all-west battle brewing between Valleymount and Kilbride/Lacken. The amalgamated outfit suffered defeat to An Tochar last weekend but were missing some players and fought bravely to the end. Valleymount topped Group 1 with four from four and will be expected to progress to the last four from here.

Kilbride/Lacken have struggled in recent years with falling numbers and retirements and their amalgamation appears to have steadied their decline.

A third place finish in Group 3 that ended with a quality victory over Shillelagh in Baltinglass was no mean feat given that An Tochar and Baltinglass populated that group along with them.

The ability to get scores may be their downfall while the strong running Valleymount men will be too hot to handle.

Aughrim’s clash with Barndarrig is an intriguing one.

Barndarrig toppled Newcastle in their last game with Martin Cullen bagging 1-3, John Andrfew Kinsella firing over six points and the always reliable Michael Murphy contributing four points.

The recent Junior ‘A’ hurling championship victory seems to have lifted the entire community of Barndarrig and they will take to the field for this encounter with massive belief in their ability and the potential for what some might consider a shock given recent results.

The importance of the Lambert brothers, Conor and Robert, to Aughrim’s cause can’t be overstated.

They scored 1-7 between them in the victory over Rathnew and it will test Barndarrig’s resolve to try and handle an Aughrim side full of belief.

Throw in Andy Holt, Ian Clancy, Paddy Phelan and Pat Kavanagh and you have a team littered with capable footballers.

Knockananna drew possibly the shortest straw when they were paired with An Tochar.

It’s been a difificult season for the Carlow border side and although they possess some fine footballers it’s likely that An Tochar are too far down the road for there to be any chance of an upset here.

JAFC quarter-final draw: Baltinglass v Kilcoole; Valleymount v Kilbride/Lacken; Aughrim v Barndarrig; An Tochar v Knockananna.