New Ireland Assurance Club Championships - Rd 2 Previews

  • May 22,2018

New Ireland Assurance Dublin club championships second round – previews

(All throw in times 7.30pm)

Senior Championship Group A:

St Sylvesters v Clanna Gael Fontenoy

Venue: Broomfield, Malahide

Referee: Simon Redmond


Both teams suffered defeats in their opening round games to Kilmacud Crokes and St Maurs respectively. Upfront St Sylvesters on paper possess one of the most potent forward lines in Dublin club football. They can call upon the offensive services of Sinead Aherne, Niamh McEvoy and Nicole Owens then add in Dublin minor corner forward Kate Sullivan and you’d wonder why the Malahide club haven’t registered a victory to date in either league or championship.


Clanna Gael Fontenoy is also 0-4 this season and will hope that players of the calibre of Kate McKenna, Maria O’Dea and Ella Thiourrez can hit form tomorrow evening. The recent knee injury to Rebecca McDonnell was a huge blow to the Ringsend club with McDonnell ruled out of action for the remainder of the season.  This should be a tight encounter with the home advantage maybe just tipping a result in St Sylvester’s favour.


Senior Championship Group A:

St Maurs v Kilmacud Crokes

Venue: Rush

Referee: John Gallagher


St Maur’s maiden senior championship campaign got off to a perfect start when they registered their first win at this level last Wednesday with a 3-10 to 2-07 victory over Clanna Gael Fontenoy. Their opponents Kilmacud Crokes also have a dream start to their 2018 campaign with a 10 point win over St Sylvesters. Both sides have nice balance to their squads with a mix of experience and youth.


St Maurs will look to Eadaoin McGuinness, Olivia Leonard and Laura McCarthy to perform well versus a Kilmacud Crokes side that have amongst their ranks Lauren Magee, Eabha Rutledge and Julia Buckley all members of the Dublin NFL winning panel.  Kilmacud Crokes would be many pundits’ favourites to register their second win of the championship.


Senior Championship Group B:

Parnell’s v Thomas Davis

Venue: Chanel College, Coolock

Referee: Paul Flanagan


Both sides tasted defeat last week in their opening round games Parnells lost heavily to an experienced St Brigids outfit while Thomas Davis came up against a formidable Foxrock Cabinteely side that are determined to retain their County title while having aspirations to add maybe an All -Ireland title to their list of honours this season. Parnells are a very young team and will find senior football a big challenge this season likewise Thomas Davis are developing their team around a nucleus of young footballers who will benefit greatly from playing club football at this level. Thomas Davis would be tipped to come away with their first win of the 2018 championship owing to the having key players like Siobhan McGrath, Riona McTavish and Ciara McGuigan amongst their ranks.


Senior Championship Group B:

Foxrock Cabinteely v St Brigid’s

Venue: Kilboggett Park

Referee: Stephen McNulty


This tie is a repeat of the 2016 and 2015 senior County final of which both were won by current champions, Foxrock Cabinteely. St Brigids have a good win over Parnells last Wednesday night but will find this week’s challenge posed by Foxrock Cabinteely a formidable one.


Foxrock Cabinteely have an abundance of talent amongst their ranks including the likes of Sinead Goldrick, Niamh Collins, Amy Connolly and Hannah O’Neill to name but a few. St Brigids will require footballer of the year Noelle Healy, keeper Ciara Trant and key players like Deidre Murphy and Colleen Barrett to hit top form in order if they have any prospect of registering a second win in the championship.


Senior Championship Group C;

Ballyboden St Endas v Na Fianna

Venue: Pairc Ui Mhurchu

Referee: John Doherty


Na Fianna had a bye last week so therefore are only getting their 2018 championship campaign underway on Wednesday night with an away tie to Ballyboden St Endas. Their opponents had a great tussle away from home last week with Fingallians only to lose out to the Swords based club by 4 points. Both clubs are former County champions and have struggled in recent times to get back to the standard of previous glory days.


However both clubs have a huge membership base with plenty of talented young players coming through their ranks so the future definitely has a rosy outlook. This Wednesday night Ballyboden St Endas will look to players like Sinead Burke, Emily Flanagan and Simmone Reilly to hit top form. Meanwhile the visitors will be looking to Leah Caffrey, Lucy Collins and Laura Walsh to lead the way.


Intermediate Championship:

Clann Mhuire v Skerries Harps

Venue: Naul

Referee: Derek McKittrick


These two sides experienced defeat at the hands of Cuala and Clontarf respectively in the opening round of the competition. This latest battle of Fingal has all the makings of a close contest as both teams try to get some championship points in the bag.


Key players for the home side will be Carla Rowe, Oonagh Whyte and Aishling Barrett while Skerries will look for big performances from Eve Keogh, Alex Buckley and hopefully a fully fit Lyndsey Davey.


Intermediate Championship:

Clontarf v Cuala

Venue: St Anne’s Park, pitch 34

Referee: Maurice Mulcahy


This could be the dress rehearsal for the County final later in the year as both Clontarf and Cuala would be many pundits’ favourites to contest the 2018 Intermediate championship final. Again both clubs have an abundance of young up and coming Inter County players amongst their ranks and have enjoyed a good start to their respective league and championship campaigns. 


Sarah McCaffrey’s departure to the Southern Hemisphere will be a big blow to Clontarf however they recently welcomed former Irish International soccer star Siobhan Killeen into their squad her experienced should help nullify the loss of All Ireland final star, McCaffrey. Key players to keep an eye on will be Cuala’s Martha Byrne, Jennifer Dunne, Niamh Sheehan and Grainne O’Driscoll while the aforementioned Killeen along with Sarah Fagan, Caoimhe O’Connor and Katie Murray will have big roles to play for the home team.


Junior Championship Group A:

Croi Ro Naofa v Lucan Sarsfields

Venue: Killinarden Park

Referee: David Murphy


2017 runners up Lucan Sarsfields should prove to be too strong for a spirited Croi Ro Naofa side who despite a resilient performance against Castleknock last week ended up on the wrong side of a 3-14 to 2-02 loss.


Junior Championship Group A:

Raheny v Castleknock

Venue: St Anne’s Park, pitch 10

Referee: Orla Simpson


Raheny suffered a surprising 8 point defeat to St Jude’s last week so can the home team bounce back and see of the threat from an inform Castleknock outfit?  Spare a thought tomorrow night for former dual County player Ciara Burgess, who plays her Camogie with Raheny while playing football for Castleknock, she’s bound to get some stick from the home side-line!


Junior Championship Group B:

Man O War v Garda / Westmanstown Gaels

Venue: Man O War v Garda / Westmanstown Gaels

Referee: Finbarr Shanahan


Man O War rallied well last week in the second half of their game against a strong Naomh Barrog side but still came up short on the final whistle. Garda / Westmanstown Gaels on their other hand got their championship campaign off to a flying start with a 30 point victory over Ballinteer St Johns.  Man O War will be well aware of the big task ahead of them however playing at home could be worth a few points on the scoreboard to this spirited outfit.


Junior Championship Group B:

Ballinteer St Johns v Naomh Barrog

Venue: Marley Park

Referee: Jason Buckley


Bolstered by their win over Man O War last week Naomh Barrog will travel to Marley Park full of confidence in the hope of registering their second win of the championship. Ballinteer St Johns who are in a transition period at the moment will hope to perform well in front of their home support.