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Raheen will surley seal Killclonferts faith tomorow night in Ocp as realistically nothing less than a win for Kill put them true,.the other game left in the group between Clara and shannonbridge probably wont even be contested ive heard roumers Clara are quiet happy to go down to junior,seem to be putting a big emphasis on the first team were there just scrapping a second team together wich suprises me for the size of the town and all the good minor and and u.21 teams that have came through the last few years,where are they all gone
In the other side of the group in my opinion the weaker side of this years championship I was suprised the way it finished up didnt think durrow would go the hole group stages without being beaten and might stilll cause a few upsets,Rhode ticking along nicley but i think Clonbollouge still have more to give this year than what weve seen so far and its looking likley theyll met in the Q/f id back Clonbollouge,for me Birr have the talant to give this champship a good rattle but i reckon the small ball will get first preferance and that will hender their chances.Doon have being a hugh dissapointment this year and cant see them gettin past the q/f if they meet Raheen im asuming they will if team 1 will play team 4 and team 2 will play team 3 in the q/finals.
At this stage for me its raheens to loose i think there just a little bit ahead of the rest .

So the Quarter Finals look like this

Raheen v Doon
St Rynaghs v Birr
Rhode v Shannonbridge
Clonbullogue v Durrow


Anyone any predictions?

That's actually a ridiculously open championship. Not alone could you not pick any of the four quarter finals with confidence, I honestly think all eight teams are entitled to consider themselves in with a shout. Raheen are probably marginal favourites on account of their group form and they are a different team this year with Bracken back in, but they lost to Doon last year and Doon are always capable of running up a good total of scoring.

Rynaghs will fancy themselves against Birr but this is an improved Birr team this year and while Rynaghs have a lot of good young footballers in there, they'll still need to get a lot of improvement from their full forward line.

Shannonbridge and Rhode is a particularly tricky one. Again Rhode have been doing well on form but Shannonbridge are starting to hit their rhythm at this stage of the year and to do so well against Castleisland with the starting midfield missing was impressive. I think if the Bridge can hang on in there in the first half, they might just dog out a result but it really is a very close one.

Durrow would probably be the shortest bookie favourites at maybe 1/2 or so, but it still is a game that would have been 50/50 at the start of the year and they are new to this level so you couldn't back them with confidence. I think they'll have a bit too much between 8 and 12 myself but again, I wouldn't be at all shocked if Clonbullogue won it.

No team shorter than 4/1 outright, and no team bigger than 12/1 either - it really is a great championship this year.

it certainly is an open championship but i think its between raheen rynaghs and shannonbridge,
raheen hav looked the best so far and probably deserve their favourites tag but i think when push comes to shove shannnbridge will be hardest bet even doe the loss of our 2 midfielders will be a huge loss.
dont think any of the other 5 teams hav the quality to win it
raheen v doon- should be easy enough win for raheen
st rynaghs v birr- expect rynaghs to win this wont be easy for them doe
shannonbridge v rhode- bridge by 4 or 5 points
clonbulloge v durrow- the hardest game to call il go for clonbulloge

Raheen v Doon - Raheen to win it as Doon have been very poor this year

St Rynaghs v Birr - Hard one to call. Two rival teams in hurling. Im gona say Birr on this one but could go either way

Shannonbridge v Rhode - Im gona say rhode for this one. Shannonbridge missing there midfield and a good few of the rhode players have played senior in the past couple of years and have a good few young lads coming up.

Clonbullogue v Durrow - Been biased i would say We'll win it but durrow have a good team and with the two gerathys could go far in the championship. The last time these two teams met in the league back in april, Durrow scored something like 5 goals in the first half and were 14-15 points up at one stage but Clonbullogue staged a 2nd half comeback and won by 2 points with a goal 5 mins from the end. So overall it will be a close game

Raheen v Doon -Doon to win,they are holding back for this stage..
Rynaghs v Birr -Rynaghs to win this..
Shannonbridge v Rhode -Shannonbridge to win this with a bit to spare..
Clonbullogue v Durrow -Clonbullogue to win this dogfight..

Doon id say to win this championship.

durrow to beat clonbulloge,raheen to destroy doon,shannonbridge edge rhode out in close game maybe,and st rynaghs to scape home.

Raheen v doon:raheen to win by 5 points plus be shocked if they dont,
doon are very poor the worst of the eight teams left
Ryanaghs v Birr: I think ryanaghs just about,easily the best tie of the round
Rhode v Shannonbridge: the bridge by 2
Durrow v clonbulloge: top team in group 2 against fourth team in group 1 and im going for clonbulloge to win and put all the teams from group 1 into the semi-finals

Raheen 3-08 Doon 0-09
Raheen won this not, because they were any good it was the fact doon were awful to put it mildly,Raheen got a goal in the 1st ten mins and doon lost james coughlan to injury in the same period,and after that the game turned into a very bad challenge match,Doon dont have 1 other scoring foward with coughlan bar donie ryan who kicked a couple of nice points,When doon got the ball 40 metres from goal they hadnt a clue what do with it,oh jaysus the standard was woeful,i nearly fell asleep watching it.Raheen lead 1-5 to 0-04 at half time,they got there 2nd goal in the opening mins of the 2nd half and the third soon followed,Raheen lead 3-08 to 0-06 with 18mins remaining but they never scored again,they wasted ball after ball painful stuff to watch,on a bright note for raheen there in the semi-final and john crombie had a great game scoring 3-04,but plenty of work to do

The hurling is killing Doon football. All their Brosna Gaels players seriously underperformed yesterday. Raheen are the team to beat at this stage.

Any predictions for the final lads? Would have to favour Rynaghs I think however wouldn't be surprised if that replay penciled in for monday is needed! Pity that the final is being played at the end of October when week after week passed by in the summer and not a ball kicked. Overall this has been the most competitive intermediate championship in years, 6 of the 12 teams were in with a shout of winning it out.......must be the only one of the 9 adult championships in football and hurling where we could say that?

I heard that Rynagh's won by 6 points. Any idea of the score, type of game etc.
I agree that this competition, and the others should be well finished by now.

Rynaghs won by 1-11 to 0-08...poor quality stuff.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... ml?start=1


Dashing groom enjoys a perfect match
Double celebration as captain brings cup back to reception

Monday October 25 2010

WHEN two newlyweds hightail it off in different directions as soon as they leave the church, it doesn't usually bode well for their relationship.

But when a runaway groom dashed off to captain his team in a football match minutes after exchanging marital vows, he had his wife's blessing.

Alma Daly just had time for a quick embrace with her new husband Ger Rafferty outside St Manchan's Church in Boher, Co Offaly, on Saturday, before a helicopter whisked her to the wedding reception in Athlone.

Meanwhile, Ger, an Offaly county player, sped off to O'Connor Park in Tullamore, where he captained Cloghan side St Rynagh's in an intermediate football final against Durrow.

There was no chance of a fashionably late arrival for the bride -- she was under orders to get to the church on time, as any delay could cost the team precious time during the match.

Fortunately, not only did Ger make it to the match on time but he arrived back to the reception in glorious triumph, carrying the Billy Kelly Cup with him, after St Rynagh's recorded a comfortable 1-11 to 0-8 victory over Durrow.

The GAA was even further indebted to the gracious Alma as two of her brothers, Des and Aaron Daly, missed the wedding ceremony as they were playing for Ballycumber in the Junior B Final against Erin Rovers. They were also successful, on a score of 0-16 to 0-6.

Stoic

To add to the bride's troubles, a sizeable portion of the wedding party also attended one or other of the matches.

While some bridezillas might have whinged and stamped their feet, Alma was stoic about the absent guests.

"We had kind of joked about it during the year. It was only for two hours, so it's fine," she said.

"We kind of knew when he got into the final. I was happy enough, there was no way he wasn't going to be there," Alma said.

A dedicated GAA player, Ger not only captains St Rynagh's, he also trained the side this year, Alma explained.

To sweeten the deal, St Rynagh's hired the helicopter to fly Alma and her bridesmaids to the wedding reception at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone.

As a condition, Alma was asked not to arrive late at the church. "A minute past one was my time limit," she said.

Despite taking it all in her stride, Alma admitted she had deliberately booked the wedding for late October in order to avoid the football season.

"It's kind of ironic because when we did book the wedding, this was the reason why, because it (the football season) was meant to be over."

Her plans went awry, however, after a drawn semi-final and a few delayed games during the year.

And the newlyweds have also had to delay their honeymoon until Christmas, to allow Ger to start a new job this week.