Harps and Kilclief set for Intriguing Contest 08/10/2003
Intermediate
Football Championship Final
Taken
from Newry Democrat
Harps
and Kilclief set for intriguing contest
Sunday
October 12 sees Ballyholland Harps encounter Kilclief in the final of the Down
Intermediate Football Championship.
Despite neither side doing
themselves full justice in their league campaigns, both have blazed a trail through
the Championship and this is sure to be an intriguing climax to the tournament.
This season saw Ballyholland’s return to intermediate football
after a couple of seasons in the top-flight, including an SFC semi-final appearance
in 2000. The panel took a battering with players out of the country during the
league campaign but, so far, everyone has shown strongly in the bid to land a
third IFC in ten years.
Their opponents, Kilclief,
are a team built upon a solid defence and strong midfield, and are sure to be
well marshalled seeing as they recently came under the tutelage of Down
legend, Barry Breen.
Rory Sharvin is a name
synonymous with Kilclief and the club’s rise from a Division Four outfit to a
mainstay in Division Two and it’s easy to see why. The powerful midfielder won
an All-Ireland medal with Down in 1994 and still cuts a formidable figure in that
position.
Alongside him is likely to be the
considerable presence of Matthew Johnston and together they are sure to cause
Ballyholland a few problems.
In comparison,
Ballyholland’s likely midfield of Paul Murphy and James Patterson is very young,
but recent weeks have seen them continue to develop an excellent understanding
and they are rarely bettered at this level.
Kilclief’s
defence is resolute and hard-hitting, led by Paul Watterson at full-back and Ciaran
Polly just in front of him. It will be interesting to see how they fare against
Ballyholland’s trump cards of Shane Mulholland and Ronan Murtagh, who are undoubtedly
among the best players in the county.
In particular,
it will be intriguing to see if Polly curbs his natural attacking instincts, which
are regularly the basis of Kilclief’s best attacks, in order to concentrate on
marking the inspirational Mulholland.
Murtagh
has a phenomenal scoring record at this level and Watterson may have to play the
game of his life to keep him quiet.
Ballyholland’s
defence has, generally, been excellent over the course of this season. Sean O’Hare
is approaching his best again and, when he’s on form, there are fewer better exponents
of full-back play in the county.
Like the rest
of the players around him, he’ll have to be especially careful not to concede
easy frees as Ciaran Sloan, another dangerous forward, has proven himself a reliable
marksman from the dead ball.
Darren Swail is
also likely to cause the Harps defence a few problems but Brendan O’Hare has had
a magnificent championship and will be keen to snuff out any threat.
League position and the recent history of games between
the sides point only to a Ballyholland victory. A 15-point triumph in Fr Lynch
Park, as well as a seven-point victory on the road this season, undoubtedly gives
Harps a psychological advantage.
They also
came through arguably the tougher side of the draw, with wins over Bosco, Drumgath
and a hugely impressive thumping of Attical.
On
the other hand, there aren’t many indicators of a Kilclief victory. However, the
beauty of the Championship is that it’s all on the day.
If
Ballyholland don’t enter this game with the right mindset, you can be sure that
this Kilclief team will not be long causing an upset.
The
underdogs can also take hope from the fact that Ballyholland have failed to deliver
on quite a few occasions this season.
Overall,
though, there should be enough of a gulf between the sides to ensure the trophy
finds its resting place for the next year in Newry.
