All to play for as SFC and IFC come to the boil

GAA news

What has been a disappointingly dull championship so far will hopefully belatedly come to life this weekend with the final rounds of the Senior and Intermediate Championships down for decision.

In the Senior Championship, the top four in the table – Crosserlough, Gowna, Killygarryand Kingscourt (all six points) and Ramor United (four) – are all guaranteed to advance to the knock-out stages.

Below that, the other seven teams are still mathematically in with a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

With the way that results have worked out, the novel championship format which came in in 2018 and proved very successful at first has lent itself to some drab campaigns since, with the possibility that a team will go through to the quarter-finals having lost three matches from four this year, which also happened in 2020.

It has become increasingly clear that there are two tiers to the Senior Championship, which has resulted in quite a few one-sided matches. There have, for example, been no draws in the 18 matches to date, which is highly unusual; in 2018, there were nine draws in the championship and most years produce four or five, which seems unlikely with just 13 matches remaining in the SFCthis year.

While a quarter-final draw against one of the top teams may seem a dubious prize for some of those in the bottom half of the table, the alternative is a scrap for survival as all four teams outside of the quarter-finals are drawn into a relegation battle.

Ninth place will play 12th and 10th will meet 11th, with the two losers facing off in the relegation final.

Cavan Gaels and Lacken will lock horns for what is almost an annual tussle at this stage (this will be the 16th meeting in 18 years, with Lacken having spent two seasons in intermediate ranks in that time) while Killygarry and Kingscourt, who usually produce close games, also clash, with champions Gowna taking on 2021 winners Ramor.

In the Intermediate Championship, things are similarly tight with Bailieborough the only team who cannot make the knock-out stages.

Cuchulainns, who secured promotion to Division 1 of the league, surprisingly find themselves outside of the top eight at present but a win over Cornafean could catapult them into the quarters.

There are no Junior Championship matches this weekend but due to a new rule which rendered score difference meaningless, three play-off games will be needed prior to the quarter-finals, the first two of which were on Wednesday night, with wins for Swanlinbar and Drung.

FIXTURES

Kiernan’s Service Stations Senior Championship 2023

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Hugh O Reilly Memorial Park, Kingscourt Stars V Killygarry 14:00, Ref: Pat Clarke

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Pairc Naomh Fionnan Cornafean, Cavan Gaels V Lacken 14:00, Ref: Joe Mc Quillan

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: St. Felim’s Park Drumalee, Laragh Utd V Mullahoran 14:00, Ref: John Emmo Ref

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Annalee Park Ballyhaise, Lavey V Ballinagh 14:00, Ref: Padraig Sheridan

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Sheelin Park Ballymachugh, Castlerahan V Crosserlough 14:00, Ref: Brendan Sweeney

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: St. Mattews Park Crosskeys, Ramor United V Gowna 14:00, Ref: James Clarke

McEvoys Supervalu Virginia Intermediate Championship 2023

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: Kingspan Breffni, Ballyhaise V Ballymachugh 17:30, Ref: Noel Mooney

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: Pairc na gCead Ultach, Drumlane V Belturbet 17:30, Ref: Margaret Farrelly

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: Lacken GAA, Butlersbridge V Denn 17:30, Ref: John Power

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: St Bridget’s Park, Cootehill V Killinkere 17:30, Ref: Ollie Donohoe

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: Lavey GAA, Cuchulainns V Cornafean 17:30, Ref: Conor Dourneen

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: Athletic Grounds Killygarry, Templeport V Drumgoon 17:30, Ref: Oliver g O Reilly

Sat, 09 Sep, Venue: O’Raghallaigh Park, Shercock V Bailieborough 17:30, Ref: Barry Mc Menamin

McEvoys Supervalu Virginia Reserve Championship 2023

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Rathluden Park Kill, Butlersbridge V Killinkere 17:00, Ref: TBC

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: TBC, Knockbride V Cornafean 17:00, Ref: TBC

Michael Fitzpatrick Architects Ltd Reserve Championship 2023

Sun, 10 Sep, Venue: Templeport, Templeport V Cootehill 12:00, Ref: Brian Seagrave