[quote=“The Runt”]The tension is palpable on here to lead up to these games. Hopefully you all have your tickets secured as they are selling like a fresh shipment of heroin in tallaght.
to get you in the mood here are the previews courtesy of Professor Honeydew on Hoganstand:
SFC semi-final, Dromcollogher-Broadford v Ballysteen, Newcastlewest, Saturday 2:00pm
After becoming the first Limerick club side to win the Munster football championship, few were betting against Drom claiming their fifth county senior title of the decade. And so far, they haven’t proven their supporters wrong. Their only blips in a very impressive campaign were defeat to Fr Caseys in their final group clash after they’d already qualified for the play-offs and a hard-fought draw against bogey side St Senans. However, it’s their immediate form which has inflicted the wobbles in their challengers. Drom’s quarter-final demolition of Newcastlewest was arguably the most clinical display of the team game that has ever been seen in Limerick football.
Ballysteen’s path to their first county semi-final since 1984 has been even more immaculate. Some may point out that Group Two was the easier of the qualifying routes but the Deelsiders never put a foot wrong in racking up five wins out of five. Fllowing on their successful intermediate campaign last year, this has built up an amazing streak of eleven successive championship victories. So if performance is anything to go by, they will be a real measure of how the defending champions have progressed during the last two seasons under Ned English’s coaching.
The one constant between the sides is their ability to play the game tight. Drom’s concentration was seen at its best last winter as they frustrated the attempts of Nemo Rangers and Kilmurry-Ibrickane to score. Back with their own this season, their game has been more expansive but they still don’t give away easy scores. With countymen Pa Ranahan and Shane Gallagher in the spine of their defence, Ballysteen have been equally frugal at the back.
As a result, the game is likely to come down to possession and finishing. Drom not only have a serious ball-winner in Jason Stokes but their ability to come in waves, to build from the back and to move the ball quickly across the width of the field makes the openings for Michel Reidy, Derry McCarthy, Ray Lynch and Seanie Buckley to finish.
Ballysteen’s game is more conventional, relying on a solid midfield of Ray Hayes and Pdraig Vaughan and outstanding forward of the championship Maurice Carrig as the focal point of their attack. If Route One doesn’t work, they can bring side-gunners Maurice Somers and Anthony Ryan into play or use the running and distribution of Shane Gallagher.
An evenly-matched game on paper may end up being decided on temperament. Drom have been there and done it. Ballysteen are still feeling their way at the top level.
Prediction: Dromcollogher-Broadford
SFC semi-final, Father Caseys v Pallasgreen, Kilmallock, Saturday 4:30pm
Champions in 2006, Caseys have been one of the foursome who have dominated the last decade of Limerick football. More to the point, they’ve also been the outstanding club at minor and under-21 in recent years. This should be the year when a ripe crop of apples announces the emergence of a new force to replace Drom-Broadford’s reign at the top.
The Abbeyfeale side topped the qualifying group that contained every county champion since 1998 but there are questions over that record. Their first outing resulted in victory over a much-depleted St Senans side, their last in a win over Drom who had already made it to the play-offs. In between, they had to endure moments of anxiety following an emphatic loss to old rivals Ballylanders along the way and they just managed to hold out against a Monaleen side that never got going during the summer.
Pallas’s path to the play-off was decided in the end on score difference and they looked more adequate than impressive as they lost to Ballysteen and Adare and could only manage a draw against St Kierans who were beaten by everyone else. However, any notions that the only side west of the Maigue to qualify were just makeweights who scraped out of an inferior group were dispelled by last Sunday’s power-packed quarter-final win over fancied St Senans. And having claimed the scalp of one West side of irrefutable talent but suspect mentality, they’ll wired up to add another on their way to their first county final since 1958.
On paper, Caseys have the industry of Pdraig Browne, the composure of Eoin Joy, the abrasion of Tom Cahill and the finishing of Pdraig McEnery and Robert Browne to succeed. But to beat Pallas, particularly this late in the season when they’ve built up a head of steam, calls for a steadiness for which Caseys are not renowned. If the Fealesiders are to win, they’ll need to open a sizeable early lead, keep a muzzle on the breakaway scores of Samus Mulcahy and break through the physical barriers of John Ryan and John O’Connell. They have the firepower to do so but it remains to be seen whether they can keep the focus right for a full hour.
Prediction: Pallasgreen [/quote]
Honeydrew knows his onions. What odds Pallas EPL Runt?
