Now this is a bit of an eye opener. I thought that the Doon quarter final was just an upset and that Brigid's would restore the balance, but instead it seems we have a new coming power in Offaly football!
Obviously I would expect Rynagh's to reach the final and win comfortably all things being equal (Rynagh's beat Ballyskenach by 35 points in the quarter final, who beat Coolderry in the group earlier in the year ) but even so this is a bit of a surprise.
Are there any actual footballers in here? Can Joe Brady play midfield and catch a ball by any chance ....
I dont find this surprising at all to be honest.The majority of this Coolderry team would be all senior hurlers and would be highly fit.That would be enough against most Junior B sides which is a grade where there is very little football played.They won a Junior C football title in 2004 to go with their Senior Hurling title.
However I fancy Rynaghs's to win it out this year having been beaten in the last 2 finals.
I dunno - the only Junior B team where I'd know most of the lads involved would be Doon, and they certainly would take it fairly seriously. They mightn't be as fit as the Bradys and O'Meara's of this world, but they would at a reasonable level and would be playing football all year.
What this does say is that there certainly is every reason to put out a divisional side from South Offaly at both under 21 and senior - you never know, we might be missing out on a potential gem or two.
To be fair St. Brigids pick is one of the smallest in the county and while the Junior B team starts off reasonably strong by the time this semi had come around a number of key players had been lost to the senior team.
Having said that I was impressed with the Coolderry team. Half of them had Offaly togs presumably from Hurling teams (among them Brian Carroll and Joe Brady as a second half sub!) and they had a very fast and fit forward line, big midfielder, centre half and full back.
I agree with TRUE RED. Fitness at this grade would win many a match and also if you had any bit of football in you you would be on the St. Brigid's first squad as they would not have a great pick.
) but even so this is a bit of a surprise. 