Has Grangenolvin's time finally arrived?
Grangenolvin are on the quest for junior football glory. Photo: Sean Brilly
RICHARD COMMINS previews the Tom Cross Transport Junior Football and Junior A Finals which are down for decision in another busy weekend of action for Kildare football.
Will GRANGENOLVIN finally get over the line after banging on the Junior Championship door for the last few years or can a well road-tested RATHCOFFEY go one step further than they did four years ago when losing out to Kilcullen in the final?
Can underdogs BALLYKELLY repeat their shock semi-final win over Kill in the Junior A final or will ROBERTSTOWN justify the favourites tag to take that particular crown on Friday night?
The Junior A competition was really set up for the likes of Ballykelly and others who may struggle to compete at the top end of the grade but would cherish silverware, nonetheless. Robertstown, meanwhile, were one game away from taking Rathcoffey’s place in the knockout stages of the competition proper.
Ballykelly have already accounted for a Kill team who reached the Junior final last year, but Robertstown will heed that warning surely and are favoured to take the honours.
On to Saturday and Grange, last winners of the Junior title twenty years ago, and appearing in their first final in the grade since relegation in 2009, were beaten semi-finalists in each of the last three years, losing out to Kill twice, sandwiching a one-point defeat to eventual winners Milltown two years ago.
But under the careful stewardship of Arles Kilcruise clubman David Conway, they operated comfortably in Division 2 of the League before embarking on an unbeaten run through Group A of the Championship before accounting for Athgarvan by five points in the semi-final.
The Bergin brothers get a lot of the headlines with Conall a dominant midfielder and Cillian, Fionn and Oran lively and accurate forwards but make no mistake, this is a talented all-round fifteen. In defence Paul Huntingdon at full-back, Gavin Ivory alongside him and half-backs Dylan Costigan and Brian Cullen have been regulars on the Loading and Lifting Kildare Nationalist Teams of the Week while Keith McGloinn is a hard-working foil for Conall Bergin at midfield.
Watch out too for a cameo from veteran Timmy Doyle when the game is in the melting pot. Remarkably, Doyle is a survivor from that title winning team of 2005 when he scored 1-2 in their win over Robertstown. That side contested the Leinster Final, losing narrowly to Ballinagore of Westmeath.
Their opponents on Saturday, Rathcoffey, picked their way through the mire of a highly-competitive Group B, topping that section with four wins and only one defeat, to Cappagh. They got their revenge on their neighbours at the semi-final stage with a 2-13 to 1-14 win in one of the many thrillers this year’s competition has given us.
Ethan O’Donoghue was the star man up front for Cian Flanagan’s side that day, registering 2-5 but like Grange, Rathcoffey are a strong all-round team. Conor Harris and Chris Shiels are regulars in the Teams of the Week while Michael O’Connor, Joey Toman and Tom Moriarty have plenty of fire power in attack. Goalkeeper Freddie Rust is another who won’t let his side down.
Grange may go in as slight favourites having gone unbeaten to date, but Rathcoffey are perhaps more battle-hardened and might just have enough in their armoury to cause a mild surprise on the day.
