Curry
v St. John’s
Saturday
6.30pm in Curry GAA Park
Two
sides with contrasting fortunes thus far in the Belfry Senior Championship
collide in a Group One tie at Curry next Saturday evening when Curry and St
John’s clash at 6.30pm.
Should
the home side win, they will be almost guaranteed top spot in the group and a
safe passage through to the knockout stages, but if St John’s lose they will be
more than likely be heading for a relegation dogfight.
When
the teams met in the opening round of the competition Curry scored a 2-9 to 1-9
win at Markievicz Park in what was a close affair. With St John’s backs to the
wall now following their loss to the groups other team, Calry/St Joseph’s,
there will likely be huge hunger amongst the Carroroe-based side to cause a
shock in this tie.
They
have endured a torrid year thus far and are already heading for Division Two
next year as they currently occupy bottom spot in Division One, but still have
players within their ranks to turn their year around.
Without
talisman Charlie Harrison they are a weakened force, but Ian Rossiter, David
Rooney and Eoin Flanagan are useful players for St John’s and could help drive
them to victory in this encounter.
That
said, Curry are looking to preserve their 100% record here and on home ground
they are likely to do just that. Adrian Marren’s scoring ability up front is a
huge plus for the home side, with Cathal Brennan also proving to be a handful
for most corner backs.
Kenny
Morley and Seán Davey add experience and guile to the side, and both are still
key players for the 2012 champions.
With
such strength in depth, and a good start to the campaign behind them, it’s
difficult to anticipate any other result than a Curry win.
Coolaney/Mullinbreena vs Tubbercurry
Sunday at 6.30pm in Cloonacool
Community Park
Next Sunday will see both
Coolaney/Mullinbreena and Tubbercurry do battle for the second time this year
in the senior championship with the return fixture taking place. The last time
out Coolaney/Mullinbreena got the better of the current county champions
Tubbercurry who last weekend got back to winning ways with a comprehensive win
over Geevagh .
As both Coolaney/Mullinbreena and
Tubbercurry have both beaten Geevagh this match next weekend could yet prove
vital in deciding where both teams finish in the group.
Tubbercurry who scored 24 points last
weekend against Geevagh were without Stephen Gilmartin and Brian Curran and
still managed to be very convincing. Tubbercurry will take huge heart from the
way they took care of Geevagh last week and with that said they will still feel
sore from the opening round defeat against Coolaney/Mullinbreena and will feel
that they would like to correct that result this coming weekend.
Coolaney/Mullinbreena will feel themselves that they would like to
continue in winning ways as they have two from two so far in this year’s
competition and if they were to get another win next weekend it would show huge
intent from their side that they will be among the teams fighting it out to win
this year’s Owen B Hunt Cup.
If Coolaney/Mullinbreena can get Ray
Connolly involved in the game and he can supply ball into Shane O’Brien there
is no doubt that Tubbercurry will have a fight on their hands while Tubbercurry
will feel the same if they can get Stephen Gilmartin to boss the midfield
sector and he can link up with David Kelly who can supply the ball into the
full forward they will cause problems for the Coolaney/Mullinbreena defence.
It’s a game to really look forward to
this weekend where a draw could be most likely outcome.
Coolera Standhill v St.Mary’s
Sunday at 6.30pm in Ransboro Park
Next Sunday will tell lot about this
year’s Senior Championship with the first must win match of the year as nothing
but a win for the home side Coolera Standhill will be enough to keep them in
the competition after St.Molaise Gaels pulled off a surprise result last Sunday
when they were four points the better team against St.Mary’s and with a win
also against Coolera Standhill it has St.Molaise Gaels in a very strong
position in the group.
The last time the sides meet in the opening
round of the group stages St.Mary’s proved too strong for Coolera Standhill who
will feel that they left that game behind game with some wasted opportunities
but Mary’s punished them and will feel that they could do something similar
next weekend.
Coolera Standhill will depend on
Niall Murphy who had such good season with the Sligo team and he would be
expected to drive his side on to victory and they will be boosted with the
addition of Kevin Banks who was unavailable the first day out against Mary’s. But
meanwhile Mary’s also can recall a number of players who were absent for a couple
weeks and have Mark Bulter back from his travels.
Tommy Breheny will be hoping that his
side can get back to winning ways after last week’s defeat against St.Molaise
Gaels and he will expect his big players to have big games against Coolera
Standhill next weekend with a lot expected of Johnny Martyn who has recovered
from injury along with the very experienced Johnny Davey and Mark Breheny in
attack.
Coolera on the other hand were
unlucky not to get the better of St.Molaise Gaels last day out and will hope
that they can play to their strengths and if they do they will feel they will
have a great chance next Sunday.
Taking that all in consideration it
will be a game that everybody in north
Sligo will be looking forward to and it’s hard to see which team will come out on
the right side of the result.
Drumcliffe/Rosses
Point v Tourlestrane
Sunday
at 1pm in Oxfield Park, Drumcliffe
Tourlestrane,
having overcome a difficult challenge in the form of Eastern Harps last week,
face an equally tasking trip to Oxfield to play Drumcliffe/Rosses Point in
Group Three of the Belfry Senior Championship this Sunday afternoon at 1pm.
The
South Sligo side travel to the base of Benbulben looking to preserve their
unbeaten run in the group to date.
When
the sides met in the opening round at Tourlestrane last June the home side ran
out rather convincing eight-point winners, but with Drumcliffe/Rosses Point
since getting their points total off the ground with a valuable win over
Eastern Harps, this tie could be a lot closer.
Home
advantage will count for a lot one would imagine for Drumcliffe/Rosses Point
following their narrow win over Eastern Harps, and a similar result here would
put daylight between the sides in the group and almost guarantee a
quarter-final berth for Stephen Ward’s side.
That
said, Tourlestrane will provide stern opposition as always but following their
unspectacular win over Eastern Harps last weekend, they could be vulnerable.
Although
a win at Fr Brehony Park is not to be sniffed at, most expected Tourlestrane –
one of the contenders for the championship – to beat Eastern Harps – one of the
contenders, based on results to date, for relegation – by more than a three-point
margin (2-10 to 0-13 was the full-time score).
Although
the likes of Eamonn O’Hara and David Durkin have exited the scene, the younger
brigade are beginning to step up with John Kelly in particular a shining light
in recent years. Cathal Henry and John Carr are also younger players capable of
carrying on the mantle.
Drumcliffe/Rosses
Point also have a youthful-looking side with Paul Logan providing the flair up
front, alongside Niall Collery. Neil Ewing is also a key player for the North
Sligo men and it will be interesting to see where he is deployed for his club,
with his versatility a key feature of his inter-county career.
Ultimately,
Tourlestrane should emerge with another win form this tie, but they will get
nothing easy at Oxfield.