No easy calls as Intermediate Championship reaches last eight

The Quarter Final draw for the National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Football Championship threw up four intriguing ties, all scheduled for next Sunday, while we can also look forward to last eight ties in the new Intermediate A championship, as well as Quarter Finals in the Tom Cross Transport Junior and Junior A grades. RICHARD COMMINS looks ahead to the action.

Sunday’s last eight IFC ties play out across three venues with Manguard Park hosting the clash of Grangenolvin and St Laurence’s (2.45pm) and Suncroft v Two Mile House (4.30pm) while Clane hosts Leixlip and Milltown (3pm) and it’s Cedral St Conleth’s Park for Rathangan v Round Towers at the same time. Indeed, the clash of times for the four games is unfortunate.

After a year in which Sallins comfortably waltzed to the title, we appear to have reverted back to type with this competition with four or five teams in with a decent chance of coming out on top next month.

Who would your money be on?

St Laurence’s, beaten finalists last year, comfortably topped the Group B table with three wins and a +24 score difference. They have a lovely blend of youth and experience.

They got nothing easy in the draw, though. Junior Champions Grangenolvin have settled nicely at the higher grade, beating Nurney and Ballyteague, the latter by ten points, and they have stuck to their fast, attacking brand of football that took them all the way to a Leinster title last year.

Expect them to push Larries all the way and, while they might be underdogs, if Grangenolvin play to their absolute potential they can make life extremely uncomfortable in what should be an intriguing local derby.

The second game in Hawkfield features two of the underdogs for the title with Suncroft meeting Two Mile House, though the latter were semi-finalists last year. Suncroft were many people’s favourites for relegation having failed to get out of Division 4 but wins over the two Leixlip clubs saw them top Group A on the head-to-head. They have an injury concern over key midfielder Tom Martin, however, with a hamstring strain.

Two Mile House remain dogged but hard to read. They ground out a deserved win over Castledermot before losing to Ellistown and then recovered with arguably the result of round three when shocking Group winners Rathangan with five points to spare. House will be favourites to reach the last four again but it’s another tie where the underdogs will have high hopes.

When Leixlip lost four experienced players in the Division 2 final, many would have written them off and the opening round defeat to Suncroft re-enforced those concerns. But they’ve bounced back superbly, with the Lawlors a handful for any defence up front and a derby win over Confey before grinding down Straffan saw them through to the last eight.

There they meet Milltown, who remain hotly tipped for the title, a fascinating clash with the sides having met in the semi-final of 2024 (Leixlip winning by two points) and quarter-final of 2025 (Milltown exacting revenge by a point in a six-goal thriller).

Milltown, without perhaps reaching the heights some expected from them, still topped their group with three wins and a +26 scoring difference and will go in as favourites. But Leixlip will probably relish being the underdogs and once again you couldn’t write them off, though Milltown look better placed to advance.

Also intriguing is the clash of Rathangan and Round Towers. That loss to Two Mile House took some of the gloss off Rathangan’s group campaign while Towers’ form improved with wins over Monasterevan and Kilcullen after losing to Larries. These sides have history too with Rathangan surprising their neighbours in the quarter-finals two years ago. Another one that’s almost impossible to call though Rathangan perhaps deserve the nod.

Ellistown will feel hard done by in not making the quarter-finals after finishing on four points and losing out on scoring difference but they will be hot favourites to get their A championship campaign off to a winning start on Saturday against a struggling Kilcullen, who will do well to avoid the drop.

Elsewhere, Nurney v Straffan, Castledermot v Monasterevan and Ballyteague v Confey are all really hard to call. How teams feel about playing in an ‘A’ championship may be a key factor, but the jeopardy involved, with relegation semi-finals ahead for the four losers, should be a motivating factor.

In the Junior Championship the Quarter Finals see Cappagh play Rathcoffey on Saturday, with both sides no doubt disappointed not to have taken the direct route to the semi-final while Castlemitchell meet Kill on Sunday.

In the Junior A Championship, Rheban beat Ballykelly by a point on Thursday evening, while Kildangan received a walkover from Ardclough and they both join Athgarvan and Roberstown in the last four