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Austin Stacks Kieran Donaghy on the ball while Dingle’s Mark O’Connor keeps close watch during last week’s Club Championship encounter. Photo by Dermot Crean.
Gavin O’Connor on the Austin Stacks v St Michaels/Foilmore, Super Valu Senior Football Championship opener this Saturday at Austin Stack Park…
DESPITE an eight-point chastening defeat at the hands of Dingle last week – and some notable absentees – Austin Stacks will be hot favourites against a struggling St Michaels/Foilmore.
The Rock got a bit of a shock against Dingle. They started the game well with the aid of a breeze, but they were hit by three goals either side of the half they had no answer for.
The game was also a set back, as it means that, in the county championship, they will now go into the hat with eight other clubs and fight for the senior status next year.
There are positives however. The Rock will welcome back midfielder Shane Guthrie who was on Dynamos duties last weekend and half-back Pa McCarthy, who looked a bit rusty after his inclusion against Dingle last weekend.
In attack, David Mannix had a fine game last weekend kicking six points, three from play. Shane Carroll didn’t back up his man of the match league final performance against Crokes, so he’ll be looking to pick up momentum again.
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Shane O’Callaghan, is a man who has underperformed in recent games so it will be interesting to see if he can get himself back on track.
St Michael’s/Foilmore are a side that shipped a few beatings in the league this year, including a 30+ point loss at the hands of a merciless Dr Crokes.
Kerins O’Rahilly’s also put a massive score against the South Kerry side, who are rooted to the bottom of the table with no points after four games played.
In their defence, three out of four of those games were against top of the table opposition – the aforementioned three, plus Legion.
Mark Griffin is the side’s representative on the Kerry panel. The match up of the day will come when he and Kieran Donaghy do battle.
Donaghy still proves to be the most decisive player for the Stacks. The two goals The Rock got in the League Final came from two long balls into Donaghy and he also was fouled for a penalty.
Against Dingle, ‘The Star’ looked dangerous but was also starved of quality ball. Even if St Michael’s/Foilmore manage to cut the supply to Donaghy and Griffin has a good day, there will be plenty more for them to keep an eye on.
Even if they are missing players from last year, Austin Stacks are still operating at another level to St Michael’s/Foilmore so it’s difficult not to see them win comfortably.
Verdict – Austin Stacks by 10 points
Throw-in 5.15pm
