Getting down to the business end of things

It’s hotting up in the Joe Mallon Motors Senior Football Championship with four Quarter Finals down for decision this weekend. RICHARD COMMINS previews the action.

Are NAAS sliding? That’s the big question as we head into Quarter Finals that have a very familiar look. Seven of last year’s last eight are back again, with Caragh replacing neighbours Raheens, much to their satisfaction no doubt, the only change.

To say off-the-field matters have made it a tricky campaign for the five-in-a-row chasing county town side would be an understatement. The aborted and perhaps misguided move to appoint Rory Gallagher followed by the unexpected switch of Joe Murphy back to his native Carlow have perhaps conspired to hand new manager Philly McMahon something of a poisoned chalice, particularly coming as close as it did to the start of the championship.

The counter argument is that McMahon came into a vastly experienced squad, with good Naas men such as Pádraig Cribben and Eoin Doyle around him, and a team of serial winners. That all it needed was a steady hand on the rudder.

There were little inklings of weakness that surfaced even before Sarsfields bullied them off the park in Newbridge two weeks ago. They stuttered through the league but still ended up in a final but even in that decider Sarsfields had them on the ropes and should really have delivered a knock-out blow.

The second half comeback put a lot of doubts to bed but then they struggled past Moorefield in the Preliminary Round with a late Darragh Kirwan cameo rescuing them after conceding two soft enough goals.

Maynooth put two goals past Luke Mullins as well in the opening round game, although Naas put in a powerful attacking display that suggested they could outscore any opposition. Worth remembering we are playing under new rules, so all defences are more open than before.

Raheens offered little resistance as their own season hit the buffers, but it was the resounding defeat to Sarsfields, and the manner of it, that brings us back to the opening question. Are Naas sliding? Or was it more a case of Sarsfields needing the win, psychologically, more than McMahon’s side. One of those “Not Today” games?

The temptation might be to see that game as a changing of the guard, but I am loathe to take it that definitively. If I’m McMahon I’m taking that game as a huge learning opportunity for him personally but also as a perfect wake-up call at the right time of the campaign for a team who perhaps had gotten a bit too used to winning.

McMahon himself won’t take too kindly to being the first Naas manager to lose a championship match in five years, particularly as it only took him two months for that blot to stain his copybook. It will, though, offer the perfect chance to circle the wagons and redouble efforts on the training pitch and we’re likely to see the results of that this weekend.

CLANE are next on the horizon for Naas on Saturday and it is hard to know what to make of them. They misfired completely against Celbridge, scoring only 0-8, to drop into the losers’ section but once there they found their shooting boots and returns of 1-21, 5-12 and 3-21 will boost a team with plenty of talent as they head into the Quarter Finals.

Brian McLoughlin is pulling the strings from deep and the last day against Moorefield Shane O’Sullivan (1-10) and Adam Fanning (2-4) looked in flying form. But context is everything and Moorefield started without Aaron Masterson, Ryan Houlihan and James Murray that day, though Murray came on as substitute, and perhaps the need was greatest for a Clane team settling into life under Paul Kelly’s management.

Kelly facing Naas is, of course, a particularly intriguing sideshow, the Dubliner having departed the club in acrimonious circumstances in 2021, with Doyle and Eamonn Callaghan joining forces to carry the team through to a first title in 31 years. A one-year spell as Tipperary manager in 2023 was inauspicious.

You’d have to fancy Naas to return to form given the players available to them, particularly with Clane looking vulnerable at the back. They conceded eight goals in three group games, despite winning them all, and will need to tighten up clearly at the back to push Naas in the way Sarsfields did.

SARSFIELDS themselves go into their Quarter Final on Sunday afternoon in perfect shape after that win over Naas to continue an unbeaten scoot through the championship to date. Their four games have seen them amass a +49 scoring difference with Ben Loakman, Karl Hartley, Ryan Kearney and Conor O’Donovan in sparkling form up front and the Ryans and Tadhg Hoey returning to form further back.

With Matty Byrne back around the middle with a rejuvenated Hoey and Callum Bolton, Sarsfields look the most likely team to deny Naas that five-in-a-row, not achieved since they themselves, as Roseberry won seven on the bounce from 1904 to 1910.

JOHNSTOWNBRIDGE looked like potential dark horses in that group draw with Celbridge and should really be stronger now with Daniel Flynn back in harness, but they were brought back to earth with a bang by Athy and failed to impress, albeit in difficult conditions, on Sunday against Eadestown. The sight of Sam Doran going off will have raised alarm bells as well, as he really makes them tick. Sarsfields should win with a bit to spare.

What to make of CELBRIDGE, who meet MOOREFIELD in what could be a sizzler. Dare I suggest that the Moores might be the last team a side not exactly renowned for their mental fortitude would want to be facing at this point?

You’d expect Celbridge to have enough, though. Their win over Athy after the Johnstownbridge draw is up there with Sarsfields’ over Naas for performance of the competition so far, even if the rest of their campaign has been underwhelming.

Can Moorefield produce another miracle on Sunday after their smash-and-grab on Maynooth? That might be asking a lot twice in eight days, although Celbridge will have to keep a close eye on Evan O’Brien and Adam Tyrrell who are both in good form in front of the posts. Moorefield will still fancy themselves if it’s close coming down the rails. Celbridge will do their best to ensure that scenario doesn’t present itself.

What of CARAGH v ATHY then? Will Caragh’s appetite be sated now they’ve reached a last eight in their first year at Senior having won three group games on the bounce or can they go one further and produce what would be a major shock over one of the ‘top four?’ Caragh have been a breath of fresh air, but they are stepping up a lot in class this weekend, no disrespect to their Group D opponents, and Athy showed no ill effects of that horror show against Celbridge with the Colm Moran inspired demolition of Johnstownbridge.

Everything points to the same last four as last year, barring a major shock, with Naas and Celbridge set to reprise the last two finals and Vinny Walsh facing his old charges Athy with Sarsfields.