Division II
Play Offs Previewed
Taken
from Ballyholland website
Now that the championship
finals are out of the way, attention
can be re-focused on the league and,
in particular, on the upcoming play-offs.
The Division II promotion
play-offs are always hard-fought,
well-contested affairs. A season’s
hard work by the best sides in the
division can finally gain the reward
of silverware and promotion, but in
a flash all that hard work can just
as easily be undone.
In about a month’s
time two out of Atticall, Annaclone,
Ballyholland and Shamrocks will be
in the midst of celebration; a return
to the big time secured and with it
an opportunity to test themselves
against the best players in the county
again.
As for the other
two, well at best they will have the
consolation thought that maybe next
year will be their year.
Of the contenders,
Annaclone, Shamrocks are battle-hardened
play-off veterans, each having spent
the past five seasons ending the year
either fighting for survival or playing
for bigger stakes.
Ballyholland haven’t
been involved in a shake-up (or shake-down)
for a couple of seasons, but most
of their squad will have strong memories
of a series of play-off battles (often
involving Shamrocks or Annaclone)
around the turn of the decade.
In comparison with
the other three, Atticall are veritable
play-off novices. The question though
is, will this inexperience count against
them? The answer is that there is
no hard and fast answer. In recent
seasons Ballyholland, Longstone and
Loughinisland have stormed up at the
first time of asking, whereas the
likes of Saval and Shamrocks have
had to take a few hits before delivering
the killer punch.
Definitely in Atticall’s
favour though is that they could hardly
be in better form coming into the
play-offs. Only six points dropped
in a full league campaign should be
evidence enough of their form, but
this is further reinforced by the
manner in which they swept through
to the final of the Intermediate Football
Championship, when a stubborn Drumgath
were seen off by a couple of points.
Obviously the Mournemen
should be buoyed by this recent success
and the lift that a Championship run
can give to a club as a whole and
to the players in particular might
just spur them onto greater things.
Their well-organised
team is built around the Sloan families
and Ollie, Louis and Paddy Sloan form
a formidable backbone. The player
though who, more than any, makes them
tick is Miceal Sloan.
Miceal can be found
lined out in any position from midfield
through to corner-forward, but he
generally assumes the role of playmaker
and his intelligent play often finds
its rewards in the guise of scores
from the clinical Ollie Sloan and
Gary Morgan.
A yo-yo club for
the past ten years or so, Annaclone
have matched their Mourne rivals stride
for stride this season and in the
process have yet again proven themselves
too strong an outfit for Division
II.
Undoubtedly though,
it was their hugely impressive progress
to the Senior Championship final that
drew the most plaudits – but
they were served a rather unfortunate
reminder in the final that Division
1 is more than a giant step up in
class by Mayobridge.
Still, having disposed
of the likes of Castlewellan and An
Riocht on their way to that final,
they have proven that they are capable
of scrapping it out with the better
teams in the county on their day.
A line drawn through that form would
suggest that they should walk through
these play-offs.
But, it remains to
be how they will react to their hiding
in the SFC final. The chances are
that they will be still be fresh and
motivated from their pre-final training
but there is also the chance that
their players will have little interest
in pursuing the play-offs after such
a demoralising defeat. The thought
of meeting teams of Mayobridge’s
calibre week-in, week-out in Division
I might not seem overly appealing
at present.
The accurate Aidan
Fegan is Annaclone’s most celebrated
player…but Fegan can be contained
and quite often it is his brother
Colm who steps up and delivers when
it is needed most, while county minor
Martin Farrell looks like one to keep
an eye on.
In my opinion though,
much of Annaclone’s success
this year has been owed to their talented
and athletic half-back line. Normally
comprising of Gary Byrne, Colm Farrell
and John Haughey, this trio are constantly
involved in Annaclone’s best
moves and represent a genuine driving
force that can turn defence into attack
in a matter of seconds.
It is often lamented
that in order to have a strong county
side, Down needs to have strong teams
in Newry. The main population base
in the county has not had a Division
I team in the past three seasons –
but both the Shamrocks and Ballyholland
have an outstanding opportunity to
rectify that problem in the coming
weeks.
It’s fair to
say that the previous couple of seasons
had been far from vintage for the
Pairc Esler club. They hardly got
out of second gear in Division II
and indeed that lack of form saw them
demoted to the IFC this season for
the first time in their history.
Despite a shock defeat
to Kilclief in that Championship,
there have been signs from their league
form that they are starting to get
their act together again.
The only side to
beat Atticall this season (and twice
for good measure), they also managed
a thumping away victory over Ballyholland
by a record margin. There have been
a couple of blips en route to the
play-offs, but by and large this was
a league campaign when the Shamrocks
finally regained some consistent form.
The return of talented
forwards Gavin Treanor and Noel Heaney
certainly helped towards this form
and at stages of the season left the
Shamrocks management spoilt for choice
with attacking options.
They have plenty
of options at midfield too, as evidenced
by classy players like Kevin McGuigan
and Collie Burns often being accommodated
elsewhere, while the elegant Conor
McCoy would have to rate amongst the
best free-takers in the county.
Although defensively
the Shamrocks don’t have quite
the same riches, they could hardly
be described as weak in this sector.
Rory Sharvin did exploit a weakness
under the high-ball in the Championship
but, in fairness, it is unlikely the
Shamrocks will encounter anyone of
his physical presence in the play-offs.
A mile up the road,
neighbours Ballyholland seem to have
stumbled into the playoffs by accident
rather than design. It with clear
conviction that I say Ballyholland
played better football in the previous
two seasons, both of which saw them
missing out on a play-off berth by
the smallest of margins.
Indeed this year’s
total of twenty-four league points
represents their smallest tally since
returning to Division II for 2002
- and is an amazing nine short of
third-placed Shamrocks and fourteen
points shy of the table-toppers.
Unlike previous seasons,
Ballyholland have also struggled in
the ‘marquee’ games against
likely play-off opposition and only
gained one point from their five outings
against their fellow promotion contenders.
Based purely on this
evidence, you would have to say that
Harps are simply non-starters in the
upcoming shoot-out.
But it would be a
fool who backs against any team at
this level containing players of the
calibre of Ronan Murtagh and Shane
Mulholland, amongst a host of experienced
campaigners.
Paddy O’Rourke
would not be alone in selecting Ronan
Murtagh as the most dangerous forward
available to the four teams and it
should be pointed out that a combination
of injury, suspension and county commitments
saw the powerful forward miss two-thirds
of Ballyholland’s season, including
all the games against play-off opposition.
The key area for
the Harps though is at midfield, where
their pairing of Paul Murphy and James
Patterson ranks as possibly the strongest
in the play-offs and when those two
are both on form their attackers can
look forward an abundance of possession.
If their experienced
back-line can curb their tendency
to give away silly frees, they represent
a very tough proposition for any attacking
unit, while the likes of Glen Elmore
and Eugene Campbell like to bomb forward
and have a keen eye for a score.
But, all in all,
Ballyholland don’t really have
any right to be lining up in the end
of season showdowns. Their league
forms suggests they belong in Division
II.
Still, none of their
opponents in these upcoming games
will take them lightly. They have
shown too many times that they have
the key ingredients of class and experience.
On the face of it,
Annaclone and Atticall should progress
through to Division I. They were the
most consistent sides in the league
and have both proven themselves in
the frenzied one-off arena of the
Championship this season.
They would appear
to have better organised teams than
the other pair and the Championship
runs have given them a number of serious
games in recent weeks, while Ballyholland
and Shamrocks have lain dormant.
Look a little closer
though and it is arguable that Ballyholland
and Shamrocks possess the greater
individual talents of the four teams.
Individual talents win one-off games.
Look a little deeper
again and you’ll see that the
Shamrocks represent Atticall’s
bogey team, and also that Ballyholland
destroyed Atticall in the Championship
last year. Have the Mournemen really
improved that much in the past twelve
months?
Then there has to
be a question over Annaclone’s
mindset after the SFC final massacre.
When I put all this
together, something tells me there
will be at least one Newry side celebrating
come the end of these play-offs. It
should be an entertaining three weeks.
Posted On: 11/10/2004 By: AMN
