Gavin O’Connor says it’ll be hard and it won’t be pretty, but Austin Stacks will overcome Slaughtneil on Sunday in the All-Ireland Club Semi-Final in Portlaoise…
ROCK STREET is a long way away from the foot of the Carntogher mountain.
Between Austin Stacks and Slaughtneil it’s as much north v south as rural v urban.
The village of Slaughtneil consists of the GAA grounds and the Carntogher Association, a group which promotes the Irish language and culture in the area.
And that’s it…not even a shop.
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The type of surroundings both teams call home may be different, but their stories are similar. This time last year, both sides would have been more than happy with a county title. Now they’re on the verge of something that may define their club’s history, something truly unique.
The team news for Stacks is it’s not known yet if Ronan Shanahan’s shoulder will have healed in time for Sunday’s match. Slaughtneil are happy to report a complete clean bill of health.
In the lead-up to the game, Stephen Stack has spoken about Slaughtneil’s dominance in most of their games around the middle of the park and how it was vital they attacked the Ulster side where they are strongest.
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If this is the case, I think we can take it that Donaghy will be deployed solely around the centre-field in order to swing the tide in the Rock’s favour.
Both sides are comfortable using a defensive blanket system with an onus on counter-attack. Expect long intervals of sideways passing and cagey, dogged stuff.
Stacks have been notoriously bad starters in the championship campaign. This surely will be something Slaughtneil will be privy to. It’s also an aspect of their game Stephen Stack will have worked hard to eradicate over the last couple of months.
Slaughtneil picked up their first Ulster title last November against a fancied Omagh side who beat club football kingpins, Crossmaglen Rangers.
On their way to that win, the Derry side secured their second county title ever.
Their main men are the Bradleys of Patsy, Paul and Chris. Slaughtneil won seven Gaelic Life Ulster Club All-Stars with Patsy Bradley winning player of the year. No mean feat in arguably the most competitive province in the country.
On the sideline they are led by, Mickey Moran, a man well used to managing at inter-county level, having had three stints in the Derry hot-seat along with spells in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Leitrim.
The lack of high scoring is a worry for Austin Stacks. They have a decent spread of scorers, but no one forward who can really shoot the lights out. Their defence and workrate has been their main component to getting this far.
The bookies and most of the tipsters have Slaughtneil as favourites. I always feel a Kerry side going in as underdogs is worth three points in a match at least.
The Donaghy factor is a huge as well, you just hope he hasn’t lost that magic touch over Christmas.
It doesn’t feel to me that The Rock’s adventure is going to end this Sunday.
It’s going to be hard, it may not be pretty, but they’ve proven themselves time and again against the odds.
Verdict – Austin Stacks by 2 points
