Boyle returns could be game-changer for Ballyduff

MIKEY Boyle is a remarkable sportsman. A champion boxer, hurler, footballer, a dab hand at the association code too as it happens. Pretty much anything he puts his mind to, he can pull it off. As well as being very talented, above all else what he is, is a winner.

For John Paul Leahy’s Ballyduff, Boyle’s full-time availability for the club’s footballers for possibly the first time ever in his career is a potential game-changer. Looked at their County League form last year was nothing much to write home about, but with Boyle and his brother Pádraig back for the club championship you saw a different side to the Duffers. Enough to see them challenging for promotion this year? We certainly wouldn’t rule it out.

There’s quite a North Kerry tinge to the division with Beale, Brosna, St Senans and Moyvane also in contention. Of those possibly Beale are the most upwardly mobile looking outfit, a young side very much improving (albeit that the absence of

Robert Stack to the Kerry Under 20s could prove costly).

Elsewhere Lios Póil freshly promoted from Division 5 will look to make their mark, while relegated South Kerry sides Dromid Pearses, Skellig Rangers will hope to at the very least maintain their status for another season.

On-the-up Cromane saw their momentum checked a little last season, but they will have meaningful ambitions of a promotion challenge again this year – after all they let for much of the season last year.

Brosna, fresh from life in Division 3, will feel they can get back to winning ways this year after a disappointing league campaign last year, while Castlegregory will certainly hope there’s more in them this year as compared to last year when they were closer to the drop than to promotion.

The reality is all these teams could challenge, and all of them could find themselves in a relegation battle. It’s that finely poised. Our tips for promotion though are Ballyduff, Beale and Lios Póil. It’s a genuine crap shoot, but they seem well placed.