S.F.C Quarter Finals
S.F.C Quarter Finals
Anyone any thoughts?
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Lone Shark
- All Star
- Posts: 5378
- Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 5:21 pm
- Club: Ferbane
- Location: Roscommon
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Quarter Final games
Good games this weekend - 7.30 tomorrow evening is a little tight for me to make from Dun Laoghaire @ 5.30, but I'll see what I can do. I do expect as Turk said, that Edenderry will be a lot more keen to line up a clash with Rhode, while Ballycumber have no reason to be motivated any more this week than they were last week.
Regarding the actual quarter finals being played -
Clara vs Shamrocks
On paper at least Shamrocks should be good enough here. They were very slick against Ferbane, and Ronan Mooney coming back will give the whole club a lift. On top of that Clara have the few lads over in America, Dayler playing with Lucan, and suddenly they don't look anything like the team that was second best in Offaly last year and best in 2003. But.... .... for all that, they've still got two draws and lost one game by a point not playing very well. Their full back line is not fantastic, but unlike the three teams they played in the group, with Jimmy Paw, O'Neill, and Egan/Casey, Shamrocks don't have a blue chip inside guy to exploit this. In one sense Deehan is a loss, but they're so used to playing without him by now that it won't upset them too much.
Shamrocks have fallen just short in a lot of winnable games over the last few years, none more so than the semi in 2003 against Clara, and I think they will again.
Tullamore vs Gracefield
I suspect Tullamore might win this with a lot to spare. They've a young team that is greatly changed from last year, and as a result it was always going to need time to gel. They started poorly against Shamrocks, improved against us and put in their best display against Rhode last time out. I think they're getting better, and going further away from Gracefield all the time.
I will confess that Gracefield are the one team in the Offaly SFC that I haven't seen play in 2005, so my reading on them is based on paper reports and conversations with others who were at their games, but the indications are that they aren't a club who really believe that Dowling is within their grasp, and though O'Neill returning and the motivation provided by Slatts doing his body-on-the-line thing like only he can has injected a bit more purpose into their season, the truth is that they were completely outfought by Brigid's, got a draw in a tame clash with Clara and beat a Doon team who were struggling to find their groove, and with Jimmy's radar switched off. I suspect Tullamore could win this by seven or 8.
Regarding the actual quarter finals being played -
Clara vs Shamrocks
On paper at least Shamrocks should be good enough here. They were very slick against Ferbane, and Ronan Mooney coming back will give the whole club a lift. On top of that Clara have the few lads over in America, Dayler playing with Lucan, and suddenly they don't look anything like the team that was second best in Offaly last year and best in 2003. But.... .... for all that, they've still got two draws and lost one game by a point not playing very well. Their full back line is not fantastic, but unlike the three teams they played in the group, with Jimmy Paw, O'Neill, and Egan/Casey, Shamrocks don't have a blue chip inside guy to exploit this. In one sense Deehan is a loss, but they're so used to playing without him by now that it won't upset them too much.
Shamrocks have fallen just short in a lot of winnable games over the last few years, none more so than the semi in 2003 against Clara, and I think they will again.
Tullamore vs Gracefield
I suspect Tullamore might win this with a lot to spare. They've a young team that is greatly changed from last year, and as a result it was always going to need time to gel. They started poorly against Shamrocks, improved against us and put in their best display against Rhode last time out. I think they're getting better, and going further away from Gracefield all the time.
I will confess that Gracefield are the one team in the Offaly SFC that I haven't seen play in 2005, so my reading on them is based on paper reports and conversations with others who were at their games, but the indications are that they aren't a club who really believe that Dowling is within their grasp, and though O'Neill returning and the motivation provided by Slatts doing his body-on-the-line thing like only he can has injected a bit more purpose into their season, the truth is that they were completely outfought by Brigid's, got a draw in a tame clash with Clara and beat a Doon team who were struggling to find their groove, and with Jimmy's radar switched off. I suspect Tullamore could win this by seven or 8.