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| Strong St Brendans to provide Duhallow with stiff test - Saturday, January 14, 2006
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Munster Junior Football champions Ardfert backbone St Brendans quest for outright honours against hosts Duhallow in the Credit Union U21 Football Invitation Cup Final in Knocknagree this Sunday (2.30pm throw in).
The Kerry district league side will hope to continue the vein of form of the previous two winners Douglas and O’Donovan Rossa in the prestigious Cup on sampling outright success at their first attempt. That said, St Brendans will be without key player Mairtín Ferris. Injured in a Kerry u21 football trial last weekend, Ferris is also central to Ardfert’s game against Monaghan Harps in the All Ireland JFC semi final in two weeks time.
However St Brendans present a formidable challenge and though they are also appearing in their initial decider, the side possessing players from Na Gaeil, St Patricks, John Mitchels, Churchill and Ardfert were regarded as amongst the frontrunners for outright spoils at the outset of the competition. St Brendans possess a side loaded with potential including goalkeeper Dermot Dineen, the hero of Ardfert’s triumph over Erins Own in the provincial junior club decider. Also prominent are John Dowling, John Egan, Shane Griffin, Daniel Doyle, Stephen O’Mahony and Brendan Poff.
Duhallow face a searching test of character as they incurred a defeat to an St Brendans side without their Ardfert contingent in the opening round. However Duhallow will not be overawed by the occasion but they have demonstrated enough battling qualities in a back door qualifier to suggest they can face Sunday’s encounter with optimism. Recovering from a ring rusty showing to Brendans, Duhallow availed of a back door qualifier to better Douglas, Dingle and Rathmore to reach this decider. Fronting the Duhallow challenge is target man Anthony Nash better known for his hurling exploits. Nash won an All Ireland intermediate hurling championship medal two years ago and participated in last season’s All Ireland Puc Fada over the Cooley mountain.
To date, the Kanturk player is the Invitation Cup’s top scorer and Duhallow will seek more of the same against St Brendans. Joining Nash are the Lenihan, McCabe and Dennehy brothers in addition to Maurice Stack, Colin O’Sullivan and Brian Sheehan. While the smart money may be on St Brendans to record a Kingdom win, nothing is ruled out and the traditional Cork/Kerry meeting adding considerable spice to what promises to be a revealing encounter.
John Tarrant |
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