Bursting for action
Draws made for first round of new seeded SFC format
WICKLOW GAA club delegates voted for the seeded option for the Senior, Intermediate and Junior ‘A’ football championships at the County Board meeting held last week in Ballinakill and on Zoom.
Delegates were offered two options, the first being the four groups of three and an open draw, the second being the seeded option that saw the four semi-finalists from 2019 (the relegated team from the higher championship replacing the promoted teams in the IFC and JAFC) placed in a pot on their own while the remaininng eight teams were drawn to face wach other in Round 1.
Wicklow’s CCC fixtures secretary, Paul Wilson, was the man who took charge of the meeting and together with help from County Chairman Martin Fitzgerald and Fintan Fanning managed to get all draws concluded in a short period of time.
‘We get to the other side of things now, which is the Senior, Intermediate and Junior ‘A’ football championships,’ said Paul Wilson, as attention turned to the main championship draws in the football at last Wednesday evening’s County Board meeting in Ballinakill.
Paul Wilson outlined the two options that were before the delegates in terms of formats for their championships for 2020. He said that the CCC had worked ‘long and hard’ and had considered a number of formats but they had decided to bring the two options before the delegates. Option 1
Four groups of three teams. The top two from each group qualify for the quarter-finals.
Option 2
Pot 1 - Four semi-finalists from 2019 (for the Intermediate and Junior championships the relegated team from 2019 in the championship above will replace the promoted team from 2019) Pot 2 - Eight remaining teams
1. Draw eight teams out against each other from Pot 2 – four fixtures for Round 1
2. Four winners of Round 1 play four semi-finalists from 2019 (Pot 1) – four fixtures for Round 2
3. Four winners from Round 2 go into quarter-finals (if one of the semi-finalists from 2019 wins their first game, they go straight to quarter-final).
4. Four losers from Round 1 play four losers from Round 2 – four fixtures for Round 3
5. Winners of Round 3 play winners of Round 2 in quarter-finals (previous pairings avoided).
One delegate inquired as to whether the start date of the championship could be put off for a week but Paul Wilson said it would be impossible to do such a thing.
Bobby Dignam asked if the Senior was starting before the Intermediate and Junior. Paul Wilson said that when the draws were made, he was going to have to try and knit it all together.
Dignam said that he thought that it would be better to start the Junior ‘A’ and Intermediate first but Wilson said that it would normally be the Senior that would be played first.
Dignam then inquired as to whether there was any leeway if
Photo: Joe Byrne
‘small clubs’ like Rathnew used a Junior ‘A’ player on Senior or Intermediate teams.
‘Would they be gone?’ he asked.
Paul Wilson said that as per GAA rule they would be gone.
A vote was taken then on which option to go with and Option 2 won by22to20
You can’t help but be excited about the ties for the first round of the Boom & Platform Hire Senior Football Championship given the personalities and potential that exist within the squads.
Perhaps the one that is set up for the biggest shock is the meeting of Bray Emmets and Rathnew. The Bray men pose a
massive threat to Rathnew in their opening championship tie of 2020 and Harry Murphy’s side will need to be on their toes to avoid an early setback that would see them enter the last-chance saloon against potentially quality opposition.
Bray, under former Dublin star Ger Brennan, will be a tough test and won’t be found wanting in terms of physicality or football ability.
How both teams have handled the lockdown and the very short space of time to prepare for this championship will be key to the result on the day.
The Dunlavin v Baltinglass clash is an intriguing clash. Last year’s Intermediate champions will relish the chance to test themselves against Brian Heaslip’s charges who have not set the Senior championship alight since their last win in 2016 under Paul Garrigan.
Directing affairs for Dunlavin will be Kiltegan’s Gavin Wynne and no better man to plot the demise of an opposing team than the former Kiltegan manager and player.
Whether a young Dunlavin side can throw caution to the wind and play to the full potential with the likes of Eoin Murtagh, Shane Carty, Sean Phelan, Daniel Dawson, Shane O’Rourke and Cian O’Sullivan leading the charge remains to be seen but if that reality does transpire then Baltinglass will have a serious challenge on their hands.
Will Tinahely be able to make that impact at Senior level that they failed to do last season? Not if Kiltegan have anything to say about it.
There are so many sub-plots to this one. Can both sides handle the abundance of talent on both sides?
Expect an experienced Éire Óg side to have too much for Newtown in their opening joust but the Magpies are never an easy target and would take great pleasure in upsetting the best laid plans of the Greystones men.
It was agreed at the end of the meeting that there would be relegation in any of the championships in 2020.
Paul Wilson said that given that some players might not return to play for whatever reasons that it would be unfair to see teams relegated and that there would be a double round of relegation in all championships in 2021. Boom & Platform Hire SFC Newtown v Éire Óg Dunlavin v Baltinglass Tinahely v Kiltegan Rathnew v Bray Emmets Blessington, St. Patrick’s, Avondale and AGB awaiting the winners for the second round with the draw taking place after the last game.