ACFL previews

Imperial Bar ACFL Division 1 Castlerahan v Lavey With their county contingent in tow, Castlerahan will be favourites to take the points from this clash at Fay Park. Sean Brady finally looks to be over his injury woes and has impressed with the county side in recent challenge matches while Cian Mackey is also in superb form. Lavey were impressive in their eight-point win over Denn last time out but remain over-reliant on Kevin Brady and Sean Maguire for scores and may not have the firepower to trouble the home side. Verdict: Castlerahan Gowna v Belturbet Belturbet"s form has been excellent in recent weeks as they have run up impressive wins over Cavan Gaels and Ballinagh. Key to this has been their inside forward line of Jason O"Reilly and Brendan Fitzpatrick. If Gowna can keep these two quiet, they will be half way there. Mick McCormack"s side are on a good run themselves though and currently sit top of Division One, one point ahead of the Rories. The presence of Dermot McCabe may be enough to swing the battle for the home side - just. Verdict: Gowna Ballinagh v Redhills Another tough match to call. Redhills, who are still without key man Paddy Gumley, have made an encouraging start to life in the top flight, with minors Packie Leddy, Oisin Minagh and newcomer Martin Walsh impressing, particlualry Minagh who has taken on a new role in the forwards. Both sides are level on points and possess scoring forwards who can do damage in the form of Niall McDermott, Colin Gumley' and Colin Reilly. Ballinagh will have Padraig O"Reilly available but Redhills, boosted by the return from Australia of Kieran West and the fact that the match will be played in McGrath Park and not Ballinagh, could scrape through. Verdict: Redhills Cavan Gaels v Mullahoran The two most consistent clubs in the county meet in a match which is sure to produce fireworks. The Gaels are without Sean Johnston (who will miss another couple of weeks due to a nasty kidney injury) and Cormac Nelligan but Mullahoran will probably miss Paul Brady, who has handball commitments in the near future in LA. If Eddie O"Reilly is fit, it will take some of the scoring pressure off the evergreen Danny Brady, but the Gaels should still shade it. Verdict: Cavan Gaels Cuchulainns v Crosserlough Cuchullains beat Redhills by the bare minimum last time out and will fancy their chances of taking the points at home to a struggling Crosserlough side. The "Lough have had problems off the field this season and without key man Jonny Crowe, they will struggle. Verdict: Cuchullains Killygarry v Lacken With four wins from five matches, Killygarry are going well and look to have improved since last season. Donal Thomas has been in good form at midfield for the Crubany men, but he will face a tough test against a strong Lacken pair in Joe and Trevor Crowe. Declan Rowley"s side have resurrected their faltering season with three solid wins over Denn, Crosserlough and Mullahoran, the latter acheived without Raymond Galligan and Finbar O"Reilly for most of the match, and will provide a stern examination of Killygary"s credentials. Verdict: Draw Cathal Brady Audi ACFL.Division 2 Drumgoon v Ballyhaise Two of the favourites for the Intermediate Championship clash here in a very close-looking tie. Much was expected of Ballyhaise this season under new manager Mickey Graham but so far they have won just twice in seven games. However, with Ray Cullivan back on board and boosted by the recent minor success, they will travel to Boyle Park with confidence. Drumgoon, for their part, haven"t set the world alight either. They will look to Keith Fannin - Man of the Match against Drumalee - to grab the scores here, but will be up against it. Verdict: Ballyhaise Drumalee v Drung Drumalee, currently lying in mid-table, enter this game as favourites against a Drung side who have struggled to pick up points. Barry Watters, the fulcrum of the Drung attack, will return but the Drumalee half-back line of Daire Donohoe, Gary Ferncombe and Sean Lee is a strong unit and could be the difference here. Verdict: Drumalee Cootehill v Shercock Another meeting of two neighbouring clubs in what is a 'derby division' this season. The Celtics probably should have beaten Ballyhaise last time out and are hard to beat at O"Reilly Park. Their opponents, who failed to build on their encouraging win over Cavan Gaels, will have to show a lot of improvement. Verdict: Cootehill Crosserlough v Knockbride Crosserlough have found the going very tough since promotion while their opponents have vastly more experience. Verdict: Knockbride Killeshandra v Drumlane Drumlane welcome back five players from injury for this local derby, including key forward Barry Cunningham, and they will need them as recent performances have been poor. The Leaguers have a super record at home and have made a brilliant start to the league. They recently welcomed Justin Hayes and Adie Burns back into the team after injury and have been scoring freely, with Declan McKiernan leading the attack. However, Drumlane are due a win and could pull off a shock to inflict a first defeat of the season on their neighbours. Cavan Gaels v Killinkere Killinkere were well-beaten at home by high-flyers Kingscourt last week, with only corner-forwards James and Brian Clarke posing any threat. The Gaels have a lot of talent to choose from, including the likes of forwards Martin Dunne and Tom McCormack, and should be too strong. Verdict: Cavan Gaels Kingscourt v Kill After a poor year in 2008 (and an annus horibilis the year before) the Stars have finally got their act together and have been sensational this year. Kill are no pushovers though, with Pearse McKenna still going strong and Niall McCaffrey catching the eye at corner-forward. Verdict: Kingscourt Stars John Brady Insurances ACFL Div 3 Corlough v Cornafean Cornafean make the long trek to Corlough for what will be a tough clash. The Reds were beaten narrowly at home by Munterconnacht last time out but could turn it around here. Verdict: Cornafean Templeport v Laragh Utd Laragh will expect to take the points here against the St Aidan"s, who have won just once in seven matches. With a couple of promising minors having broken through to the United side this year, they possess some decent options up front and will need a win to keep the pressure on leaders Bailieboro. Verdict: Laragh Munterconnacht v Bailieboro An interesting one here as it pits unbeaten table-toppers Bailieboro against a Munterconnacht team which has been impressive so far. The likes of John McCabe, Peter Cullen and Donal Heery, al graduates of successful underage sides, have been performing well for the Meath border side, but they will face a tough task against a well-drilled Bailieboro who are already being talked about as dark horses for a run in the Intermediate Championship. The Shamrocks have the momentum and should be too strong. Verdict: Bailieboro Ballymachugh v Killygarry The stats don"t lie here. Ballymachugh have won three from four, averaging 0-12 per game, while Killygarry have found it tough to rack up any scores, hitting just 0-48 (including goals) in their seven games to date. While Killygarry have improved in recent weeks and could have beaten the "Bridge in horrible conditions last week, Ballymachugh are favoured. Verdict: Ballymachugh Butlersbridge v Mountnugent The "Bridge are the great enigma of the county - they have some fantastic players but for some reason have struggled since winning the JFC back in 2004. They will look to freetaker Michael Fitzpatrick and the experienced Noel McPhilips to pick up scores but that will be no easy task against a solid Mountnugent back-line lead by the outstanding David Sheridan. David Givney, of course, is they key man for Mountnugent and played havoc when the sides met in the championship last season. However, the Bridge are a stronger outfit this year, with Donegal native Eamon Diver doing well at centre-back. This will be one of the tightest matches of the round. Verdict: Draw Shannon Gaels v Kildallan Shannon Gaels" minor win last Friday was a huge boost to the club, especially as their senior side are also going well. The Gaels are the second highest scoring side in the county this season (behind Kingscourt) and should stay in the promotion hunt against their neighbours, who are off-form and don"t look like turning it around any time soon. Verdict: Shannon Gaels Swanlinbar v Arva Swanlinbar, on paper, have the most talented team in this division with the likes of the Cunninghams, Gearoid McKiernan, Kevin Brennan and Robbie Prior. Their form has been up and down to date and they have leaked a lot of scores but, if they click, the west Cavan side are a serious outfit. With the Morris brothers and Gavin Doyle - scorer of the winning goal against Kildallan - in form, Arva have a chance but Swad are hard to beat at home and are fancied to take the points. Verdict: Swanlinbar