All to play for on 'moving weekend'

SFC round 3 preview

In recent years, the Senior Football Championship has been something of a slow-burner. While in the early years of the current championship format – brought in in 2017 at senior level – the winners and runners-up finished in the top three of the group table each year, two-time defending champions Gowna bucked that trend in the last two seasons.

The Dermot McCabe/Fintan Reilly-managed outfit finished eighth in the group in 2022 and fifth last year before moving through the gears in the knock-out stages, so there will be no panic in their camp heading into round three with only one point on the board.

However, the fact that they now face old foes Cavan Gaels is sure to add interest to this weekend’s round of matches. The Gaels fell to Mullahoran – the first time the Dreadnoughts had taken the Terry Coyle Park men’s scalp since 2006 – in the first round and bounced back when beating Ballinagh by a goal last weekend.

That state of affairs mean both sides will be desperate for a win and while Crosserlough v Gowna has been the box office rivalry in senior football in recent years, the town v country meeting of Gowna and the Gaels always generates huge interest. Theirs has been a fiery rivalry in recent decades and with so much at stake, a very interesting game is promised this Saturday at Kingspan Breffni (6.45pm).

The meeting of Killygarry and Ramor United is also intriguing. Ramor have been in the latter stages every season since winning the championship for the first time in 24 years in 2016 but have come up short in the last two semi-finals.

They won the league in impressive fashion – a first title in that competition since the 1990s – but their form has deserted them in championship thus far as they struggled with Ballyhaise and drew with Mullahoran, having been long odds-on favourites for both matches.

2022 finalists Killygarry, for their part, were unbeaten in 11 league games before getting caught on the line in the semi-final, which doubled as a promotion play-off, against Ballinagh. They finished strongly to beat Castlerahan in round one and finished poorly to lose to Kingscourt last time out. Two points is unlikely to get either through so a high-stakes battle is guaranteed, after which we will know a lot more about both teams’ Oliver Plunkett credentials.

Mullahoran have been handed three difficult draws so far against Cavan Gaels, Ramor and, this weekend, Kingscourt, and have risen to the challenge each time. There is never much between these traditional powerhouses, with the Stars going well following a draw with Gowna and win over Killygarry.

Elsewhere, Castlerahan and Ballyhaise is a repeat of the 2022 Intermediate Championship final, which the Ballyjamesduff-based side won. Both teams had wins last weekend, Castlerahan beating Lavey and Ballyhaise producing the upset of the year so far to get past Gowna, so a close game could well be in store.

The local derby between Crosserlough and Ballinagh has potential to be well-contested if Ballinagh can up their game but Crosserlough’s form, albeit against two sides who are winless to date, has been impressive and they will be fancied.

Laragh and Lavey, meanwhile, will both see this as a winnable game and will be desperate to get two points on the board and avoid a potential relegation battle if they can pick up another victory in round four.

The intermediate teams have a week off, with a full round of six matches in the Junior Championship down for decision. The tie of the round is either the local derby clash of Redhills and Drung or the meeting of Belturbet and Kill.

Drung slipped to a first loss last weekend against Munterconnaught after two excellent earlier results while Redhills hit eight goals in their win over Mountnugent. The Rorys were expected to be Knockbride’s main challengers but have only one win to date and more than likely have to beat Kill to go through.

The Shamrocks, for their part, have shown great improvement this year but will be disappointed to have squandered an eight-point lead against Kildallan last time out.

See anglocelt.ie for updates over the weekend.