The club football Championship was blown wide open last weekend.
We’re not going to lie, if this article was written last week, St Vincent’s would definitely have occupied one of the top spots.
Fast forward a week and the Dublin kingpins, who hadn’t lost a game in the Leinster club football Championship since 1981 are eliminated. Perennial Wicklow Champions, but 15/2 underdogs Rathnew pulled off one of the biggest shocks in club Championship history, with a result that brought delight to most of the GAA world.
We all love to see a David and Goliath type story, the underdogs winning against all the odds. It’s the type of result that will give hope to other clubs coming in under the radar. They will be inspired by Rathnew’s refusal to accept the common belief that they didn’t have a chance against Vincent’s.
It’s the beauty of sport, the beauty of the GAA, that on any given day even the biggest scalp can be taken by the smallest fish.
The Leinster Championship is down to four, and four evenly matched teams at that. The Connacht final is a repeat of the 2015 final, with Castlebar Mitchels taking on holders Corofin.
The Munster final will be contested by heavyweights Dr Crokes and Nemo Rangers. In Ulster, Slaughtneil have coasted through to the final and are awaiting the result of this week’s replay between Derrygonnelly Harps of Fermanagh and Cavan Gaels.
Here’s how we rank the 11 left standing.
11. Derrygonnelly Harps (Fermanagh)
The Fermanagh men are in unknown territory in the Ulster semi-final. Their last eight victory over Armagh Harps was their first ever triumph in Ulster after six failed attempts in recent history.
They’re not just making up the numbers, as they showed in last weekend’s fiercely contested draw with Cavan Gaels after extra-time in Clones.
11 still standing https://t.co/dNCniJVHMg
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) November 12, 2017
With brothers Conall and Ryan Jones attacking, and the tenacious Mickey Jones and Eamon McHugh manning the defence, they have a solid outfit, but we fancy the Cavan side to just about edge the replay this weekend.
10. Cavan Gaels (Cavan)
The Cavan kingpins coasted to their second Breffni title in four years this year, and have plenty of experience in their ranks. Seanie Johnston, for example, now has ten county senior medals.
He or his club have never advanced to an Ulster final in that period of dominance, and their semi-final clash with Derrygonnelly is as big a chance as they’ve had.
They lead by four with the clock ticking towards 50 minutes last weekend, but were pegged back in injury time by the Fermanagh Champions.
They didn’t kick on in extra-time, either, but we feel the experience, class and guile of Johnston and Martin Dunne will tip the tie in their favour this weekend.
Slaughtneil are waiting for them in the final, and that is expected to be a bridge too far.
9. Simonstown Gaels (Meath)
Have now won the Meath title for two years on the trot, the first and second times in the club’s history.
They impressed against Starlights last weekend in Wexford park, with forwards Padraig McKeever and Seanie Tobie doing the damage for Colm O’Rourke’s men.
The loss of Conor Nash, a pillar of their county winning campaign, to the AFL might prove costly, and the challenge posed by Westmeath winners St Loman’s might put a Leinster final place beyond their reach.
8. Rathnew (Wicklow)
After their Aughrim heroics last weekend, the Wicklow champs’ challenge will no longer be taken lightly. The biggest difficulty for them, now, is to kick on from that famous victory.
They have plenty of firepower, with James Stafford’s strength and direct-running from midfield a huge asset, as is the vision and youth of Ross O’Brien in the half-back line.
So often, teams in that situation are unable to put two huge performances back to back, and that’s why we are giving the nod to Moorefield ahead of them in the next round.
7. Moorefield (Kildare)
Leinster is wide open and the Kildare men will fancy themselves. A whisker separated them and Portlaoise in last weekend’s Leinster quarter, but crucially, it was them who came out on top.
Full back Liam Healy set the tone last weekend, winning his duel with Portlaoise’s talisman Brian McCormack.
Kevin Murnaghan also impressed, and this victory will stand them in good stead going forward.
6. St Loman’s (Westmeath)
You can never write a team off when they have John Heslin. The Westmeath star has been rampant for the Mullingar men up to now, scoring 1-7 in their narrow quarter-final victory at the weekend, and 2-6 in their county final triumph the week before.
Heslin is well backed up by the energetic Ronan O’Toole at centre forward, and the mercurial Shane Dempsey in the corner. Paddy Dowdall and Paul Sharry are resolute blocks in defence, and that’s why we give them the edge over Simonstown.
5. Nemo Rangers (Cork)
It has been all too easy for the Cork outfit in their last two games, having trounced St Finbarr’s in the county final replay and then demolishing Adare in the Munster semi.
Paul Kerrigan is at the top of his game up front, while Barry O’Driscoll is a powerhouse in midfield.
They will put it up to Dr Crokes in the Munster decider.
4. Castlebar Mitchels (Mayo)
They weren’t convincing in Mayo, losing in the group stages to Ballina, and then scraping their semi-final victory in a replay. They narrowly won the final against Ballintubber, and since then they’ve struggled over the Leitrim and Sligo champions respectively in Connacht.
They haven’t hit top form, but it’s always a good sign of a team that they can grind out a victory without being at their best.
They now face Corofin in the Connacht final, and will be hoping to topple the defending champions in the decider, like they did in 2015.
Paddy Durcan is solid in defence while Barry Moran is a powerful runner in midfield, and is pivotal in their attacking movements.
Up front they’ve an in form Danny Kirby and Neil Douglas, one of the county’s best forwards at club level over the last few years.
They’ll take some beating.
3. Corofin (Galway)
The 5-in-a-row Galway champions are the bookies’ favourites to raise their third ever All-Ireland club title this year. They have a place booked in the Connacht final against Castlebar Mitchels for their fourth year in a row.
The Galway men are surely one of the most consistently successful club teams in recent years, but consequentially, they do have loads of miles in the clock, and we feel that this might come against them when the competition reaches the business stages.
2. Dr Crokes (Kerry)
There is a reason Crossmaglen Rangers are the only side to have retained the Andy Merrigan Cup on this side of the millennium.
After a club conquering its own Everest and battling all the way to mid-March to win the All-Ireland club, the next season comes around before many players are ready or motivated to do it all again.
In fairness to Crokes, they’ve shown no signs of a hangover from last year’s triumph, coasting to a county final and a Munster decider, but we do feel that a hungrier Slaughtneil side would edge them if it came down to it.
1. Slaughtneil (Derry)
Slaughtneil have made their way to a third Ulster final in four years this term with a ruthlessness that suggests they are hell-bent on avenging last year’s crushing All-Ireland final loss to Dr Crokes of Kerry.
Their semi-final victory over Kilcar last weekend was a testament to this. Despite trailing the Donegal champions at various stages early on, the Derry men gave an exhibition in game-management and composure in the second half.
You can’t afford to give them a chance, because they will usually punish you and Kilcar learned this the hard way on Saturday evening. Their first wide ball came in the 53rd minute of the game.
One simple shooting stat shows why Slaughtneil are as good as they are https://t.co/r5WQUROhTN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 14, 2017
Their fitness and direct running from deep is a facet of their play that few sides are able cope with, and with their focus on going one step better than last year, we wouldn’t bet against them.
Chrissie McKaigue is a crucial part of their game plan. His ability to join the attacks and support their forward play is something else, while in front of him, Christopher Bradley is on form in attack.
This is their year.
