Saturday, 17th September at O’Connor Park, Tullamore
Raheen v Cappincur – 4pm
Tubber v Durrow – 5.30pm
Three of last year’s semi-finalists will be joined by the 2015 Intermediate winners when the penultimate round games in the Tullamore Court Hotel Senior ‘B’ Football Championship take place at O’Connor Park this Saturday.
Throw-in for Raheen v Cappincur is at 4pm, and their duel will be followed by Tubber v Durrow at 5.30pm.
The form shown by all four clubs in the group stages suggests that these could be closely-fought contests. Each of them holds genuine aspirations of advancing to the top flight of Offaly football for 2017. Tubber and Raheen fell at the semi-final stage 12 months ago, while Durrow lost out to Ballycumber in the decider. Meanwhile, Cappincur defeated Erin Rovers in the Intermediate final.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that these four clubs came through the group stages. Durrow and Cappincur convincingly claimed the top two spots in Group 1 while Tubber and Raheen did likewise in Group 2.
The first semi-final between Raheen and Cappincur, each of whom ended the group stages with two wins and one defeat. Raheen easily accounted for Walsh Island and Doon, but lost out by six points to Tubber. Similarly, Cappincur got off to a great start with a 2-10 to 1-10 defeat of Shamrocks and after losing out to Durrow next time out, bounced back with a big win over St Brigid’s.
It’s the two teams with 100% records who will clash in the second part of the double-header. To date, Durrow have beaten St Brigid’s (2-11 to 1-13), Cappincur (0-12 to 0-9) and Shamrocks (1-23 to 1-7). For their part, Tubber have defeated Doon (2-18 to 1-6), Walsh Island (1-17 to 0-8) and Raheen (1-14 to 1-8).
The only shock on Saturday will be if more than a few points separates the sides in either of the semi-finals.
By kenny Thu 15th Sep
