Championships taking shape after group stage draw

Naas and Sarsfields, the top two in the betting for the Joe Mallon Motors Senior Football Championship, will meet in the group stages for the third year in a row following last Sunday's round robin draw.

Five-in-a-row chasing Naas looked uncharacteristically vulnerable but survived a ding-dong last ten minutes against a dogged Moorefield side on Thursday night while Sarsfields joined them in the winners’ section with Daragh Ryan leading a late surge to see them past a stubborn Eoin-Cully inspired Carbury on Sunday.

The other two teams who made up the last four in each of the last two years, Athy and Celbridge, will meet in Group A following comfortable wins over Eadestown and Clane respectively over the weekend.

Joining them in Group A will be neighbours Clogherinkoe and Johnstownbridge. The Cloghs, after a poor league campaign, survived a second-half fightback from Allenwood to ensure a sixth successive year at the senior grade. Veteran Johnny Doyle came out of retirement to aid Allenwood, but an unfortunate shoulder injury forced his withdrawal at half-time.

Pitched in with Naas and Sarsfields in Group B are Raheens and Maynooth. Raheens, thanks to the sharpshooting of Jack Taaffe in particular, edged out Intermediate champions Caragh by five points in a full-blooded local derby on Sunday while Maynooth had it much easier, putting five goals past a disappointing Kilcock. They’ll have concerns over Neil Flynn, however, after the recently returned forward departed injured.

Three teams out of four emerge from Groups A and B with the top two through to the last eight and the third placed teams featuring in preliminary quarter finals but there’s a lot more jeopardy at play in the losers’ groups where only the winners qualify for the last eight and the runners-up go through to the preliminary quarter final. There’s also the danger of slipping into the relegation play-off which is the fate awaiting the bottom team in each group.

Kilcock were victorious against St Laurence’s in that one last year and on the evidence of their defeat to Maynooth they’ll be in danger again in Group C though a depleted Allenwood will also have concerns.

The other two teams in that group, Clane and Moorefield, will be more concerned with qualifying, you’d imagine. The sides met last year at the same stage with Moores winning by eight points as they topped Group D.

Group D this year looks wide open with the three C’s of Carbury, Caragh and Confey joined by Eadestown. While Eadestown were under-strength in a heavy defeat to Athy, the other three will all have taken positives in their performances against Sarsfields, Raheens and Johnstownbridge respectively.

The National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Championship, as ever, threw up a few surprises. Ellistown, the Junior Champions, and St Laurence’s were playing two grades apart last season, but it was the former who deservedly took the spoils to ensure they’ll be playing at Intermediate level (at a minimum) again next year.

Rathangan edged a thriller in Conneff Park on Sunday afternoon, beating last year’s beaten finalists Leixlip 4-13 to 3-14 and they’ll join Milltown and Straffan in Group A. Milltown, semi-finalists last year, hammered Monasterevan while Straffan were surprisingly comfortable winners over Two Mile House.

The second winners’ group sees two of the favourites, Sallins and Round Towers, joined by Ballyteague and Castledermot. If ever the term Group of Death applied, this is it. Sallins had plenty to spare over Nurney, Ballyteague got past Kilcullen and Castledermot were too strong for Suncroft at the weekend.

As a result of their surprise defeats, St Laurence’s and Leixlip, another two of the pre-competition favourites, will have to take the difficult route, though it is worth remembering that Caragh did just that last year.

St Laurence’s are joined in Group C by two near neighbours Kilcullen and Two Mile House as well as St Kevin’s, who gave Towers a fright. There’ll be no easy escape from that group.

Meanwhile in Group D, Leixlip should be good enough to cope with Nurney, Suncroft and a spiralling Monasterevan, who will all be eyeing up second spot while keeping a watchful over their shoulder at a possible drop to Junior.