County League decision on hold
The roadmap for club teams from next weekend is far from straightforward and contains a lot of what ifs and maybes but CCCC Vice-Chairman Eamon Whelan has done his best to explain a busy club programme.
Whelan firstly moved to confirm that a decision on whether there will be a 2020 Senior County Football League is on hold. “There is no decision yet made on the County League and it will be discussed when a full review takes place after week six and week seven of the return to play, so a decision will not be taken for another three weeks at the earliest.”
Whelan went on to confirm that District Board competitions will be given priority in the month of September.
Crokes set up group decider with Kenmare
A heavy shower of rain in the build-up to this game changed the dynamic somewhat but Dr Crokes really needed some local knowledge to pull through against a spirited Kerins O’Rahillys side who were left to rue the key moments of the game not going their way.
Meetings between the two clubs in recent years have been tight and tetchy affairs and this was no different as there were a few little niggles off the ball throughout. O’Rahillys were still smarting from the nature of their defeat to Kenmare Shamrocks across the road in Fitzgerald Stadium the week before and they definitely had the look of a side wanting to make a point in the opening quarter as David Moran was the dominant early presence at midfield.
They scored the opening three points of the game before David Shaw got the hosts on the board in the 10th minute. Although Strand Road led by 0-5 to 0-2 at the first half water break, the fact Barry John Keane didn’t register a score was telling in the end as he did have an effort in the 16th minute disallowed for a foul inside the area by Jack Savage. Savage would have a major personal scoring duel with Tony Brosnan as the latter was key to Crokes turning matters around on the scoreboard by half-time.
Na Gaeil keep their 811-day unbeaten run intact
When Na Gaeil ran out onto their home turf on Saturday evening, they were protecting a proud record as the 2020 All-Ireland Junior Club champions have not lost a Championship game since May 12, 2018.
On that occasion, they lost the Premier Junior Final to Beaufort in a high-scoring classic.
Since then, Na Gaeil have gone on to win County, Munster and All-Ireland titles. Their winning run had reached 811 days by Saturday night and they were in no mood to see that record being broken.