2001 revisited as Rathnew and Charlestown look good

November 4th, 2009 by Kevin Egan

As this post goes live, the Meath football championship and the Galway hurling championship are the only domestic campaigns still unresolved, with every other Senior title in the country decided. As a result, this and the next few weekends are very much about sorting the wheat from the chaff, separating the clubs who look on a domestic championship as an opportunity to progress even further from the clubs who look on a domestic championship as an excuse to go an unholy session. (Obviously clubs generally dwell in the grey area in between, but the point remains that different clubs treat a county championship win very differently!)

This weekend there are a couple of matches where clubs with real potential are meeting others who have perhaps overachieved to even get this far, and these represent some of the best betting opportunities out there.

First and foremost is the meeting of Charlestown and Castlerea in Dr Hyde Park. The Mayo championship is consistently one of the strongest in Ireland, and Charlestown have regularly featured in the latter stages, maintaining a fine tradition since their Connacht championship win at the start of this decade. They have a very strong and balanced side and are certainly no worse than average for Mayo winners. Castlerea St Kevins should be decent on paper in that they are returning county champions who have already got a win under their belts, but they simply aren’t as good a team as Charlestown, indeed by some distance.

Since St Brigids came back to meet the pack in the county, the standard in Roscommon club football has been very even – fourteen of the nineteen matches in this year’s championship were decided by a goal or less. However an even championship in a division three county means that there simply is no exceptional team – certainly not one good enough to beat Charlestown without a lot of luck.

The nature of winter football is such that big margins are unlikely, but even so, Charlestown are a cut above here and should win this with at least a goal to spare – a 4pt bet on Charlestown at 1/2 is recommended.

In Ulster, the four games are priced exactly as last week, so last week’s recommendation remains – a 1pt win bet on Derrygonnelly at 4/1 and a 0.5pt saver on the draw at 8/1 , while in Leinster, there are four quarter finals to be played, though Portlaoise’s opponents will only be known after tomorrow night’s final replay between Wolfe Tones and Seneschalstown.

In the other three games, Clara are likely to take out Rathvilly in Tullamore, though odds of 4/11 simply do not invite a bet. Clara showed great resolve in turning over St Laurences in Newbridge and may have too much overall strength, though any Offaly team is vulnerable against a genuine fielding midfielder – and certainly Rathvilly have that in the recently-returned Brendan Murphy. The lack of balance in the Rathvilly attack may be their undoing, but they are live outsiders nonetheless.

In Longford, Clonguish will consider their near neighbours Garrycastle to be ripe for the picking, however there is a lot to like about the Athlone club in this fixture. Clonguish are very decent and will enjoy a strong home backing, but Garrycastle have a lot of class about them and will be very well guided by Anthony Cunningham. Key men like David O’Shaughnessy and Dessie Dolan are well known to opponents, but Garrycastle have put a lot of work into their underage structures in recent years and have an excellent panel filled with pace and power. They were comfortably the best side in Westmeath this year and are well entitled to favouritism – indeed 4/5 could be a touch generous, albeit perhaps not enough to warrant a recommended bet.

However of all the Leinster games this weekend, the meeting of Rathnew and Ballyboden St Endas looks the most appealing for a bet, with a 2pt bet on Rathnew at 3/1 recommended, as well as a 0.5pt saver on the draw at 8/1.

Granted we would much prefer to be backing Rathnew at a shorter price at home than at 3/1 in Donnycarney, but they remain a very dogged and competitive team and will not go down easily in Parnell Park. Ballyboden have been balancing both sports for some time now and that will of course be taking a certain toll, but even aside from that, they are simply not of the calibre of the recent winners of the Dublin championship. In contrast, Rathnew are experienced players at this level and individuals like Tommy Gill are still very hard to stop in games of this nature. There is no reason why Rathnew would be such outsiders for this game, and to be honest anything over 7/4 would have been value. At the 3/1, they simply have to be backed.

PS – for those who missed the reference, 2001 was the year when Rathnew and Charlestown each closed the year as provincial champions – bonus points to anyone who picked that up from the heading!

Tags: Charlestown club championships, Rathnew