Tipperary Senior Football Championship Round 2 Preview

By Anthony Shelly

Friday, 28th August

Group 1: Cahir v Ballyporeen in Ardfinnan at 6.30pm

The losers of this one will almost certainly be facing into the relegation play-offs. Cahir got a bit of a telling off against Kilsheelan-Kilcash (5-17 to 1-15), but the reality is they probably wouldn’t have looked at that game as a potential win for them and will view this game against their South neighbours as a more realistic opportunity.

Number 1 target for Cahir should be to tighten up at the back. If they can do that, they certainly have enough firepower with the likes of the Grogan brothers and Craig Guiry to ensure this game goes to the wire.

Ballyporeen’s loss to Aherlow was the only shock result of round 1 but it couldn’t be considered a major upset. The South finalists will be looking to get back on the horse straight away and they will be hoping county man Darragh Brennan will be fit enough to join former All-Star Conor Sweeney in attack. Verdict: Ballyporeen

Saturday, 30th August

Group 2: Clonmel Commercials v Ballina in Drombane at 6.30pm

As expected, both these sides had comfortable wins in round 1 and both remain as odds-on favourites to qualify from this group.

This is a repeat of the county quarter-final last year where the South side came away with a comfortable 1-12 to 0-6 win and despite Ballina’s impressive win over Grangemockler/Ballyneale the last day out, it’s hard to see anything but another Clonmel Commercials win. Verdict: Clonmel-Commercials

Group 2: Ardfinnan v Grangemockler-Ballyneale in Monroe at 6.30pm

This could be one of the games of the weekend, maybe not in terms of quality but certainly in terms of excitement. The loser is most likely heading to relegation play-offs and with three teams to be relegated this year that is not the place any team wants to be.

One shouldn’t really judge Ardfinnan based on their performance the last day against Clonmel Commercials, but the size of the defeat (4-20 to 0-7) will certainly be a worry.

Grangemockler-Ballyneale also suffered a heavy defeat to Ballina in round 1 and whether they can get their injured players such as Ben Comerford and Manus McFadden on the pitch may be what decides their fate in this game.

When these two teams met in the championship last year, the game ended in a draw, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a similar result on Saturday. Verdict: Draw

Group 3: Moyle Rovers v Arravale Rovers in Cahir at 6.30pm

Moyle Rovers had a hard-fought victory over Upperchurch/Drombane two weeks ago but it’s a victory that will help erase the nightmare of their county semi-final performance against Loughmore-Castleiney last year.

They will come into this game as long odds-on favourites but if they arrive with any sort of complacency then this game against Arravale Rovers could easily become a potential banana skin.

Arravale put up a spirited and fighting performance against JK Brackens and if they had taken their chances, they would have come away with something from that game which in all honesty their performance deserved.

The draw in this group has not been kind to West boys (they face Upperchurch/Drombane in round 3) so they will be looking for another decent performance to give them something to build on for the next round but a win against Moyle Rovers might just be beyond them. Verdict: Moyle Rovers

Sunday, 31st August

Group 1: Kilsheelan-Kilcash v Aherlow in Cashel at 2.00pm

In my preview of the championship two weeks ago, I mentioned that Kilsheelan-Kilcash are my dark horses for this year’s county title, and nothing happened in their game against Cahir to suggest otherwise.

With size, pace, power and more importantly good footballing ability all over the pitch I expect them to come through the challenge of Aherlow.

The only people in the county not entirely surprised by Aherlow’s victory over Ballyporeen was the Aherlow people themselves. By all accounts training and preparations have gone very well in The Glen but they may have to wait until round 3 to try and secure their county quarter final spot. Verdict: Kilsheelan-Kilcash

Group 3: Loughmore/Castleiney v JK Brackens in Templetuohy at 2.00pm

A repeat of last Sunday’s senior hurling fixture where Loughmore-Castleiney brought the Templemore boys back down to earth with a bang. I cannot help but feel this game is a much bigger game for Templemore than it is for Loughmore-Castleiney.

Following their Mid Final win in the hurling, JK Brackens have put in a lack-lustre performance against Lorrha in the hurling, a poor performance against Arravale Rovers in the football and an awful performance against Loughmore-Castleiney last Sunday. They need to get the graph going in the right direction again and what better place to start than a game against your oldest rivals.

Loughmore-Castleiney got their business done nice and early in the first round against Killenaule and while their second half performance may not have been as good, there was enough quality on display in the first half to suggest the county champions will have a big say in the championship again this year.

Traditionally there is nothing between these sides in football and that’s the way I’m seeing it again. Verdict: Draw

Group 3: Upperchurch-Drombane v Killenaule in Cashel at 3.30pm

Having both lost their opening round game, the winner of this would put themselves in pole position to qualify out of the group while the loser will be looking nervously over their shoulders at possible relegation play-offs.

Both teams probably haven’t prepared for this football championship as you might expect them to but no doubt the first round games will have brought them on a bit.

Killenaule rallied well in the second half against Loughmore/Castleiney when at half time a sizable defeat looked on the cards but Upperchurch/Drombane’s performance for long periods against Moyle Rovers looks the better form line going into this game. Verdict: Upperchurch/Drombane