A good Port even without a storm

October 8th, 2009 by Kevin Egan

Irish people could be forgiven for getting confused in recent years. Summers used to mean July and August, but it appears that the calendars have been adjusted, and May, June, September and October have become the best months of the year, weather-wise. Traditionally county championships that dragged on into October used to mean finals being played on soft pitches with a nip in the air, but due to the peculiarities of the Irish climate, the club players rather than the county men seem to be getting the best of the conditions.

Of course from a betting perspective, October is still October – which means the latter stages of county championships and looking forward to provincial campaigns. And though it’s not the nicest perspective for all those clubs out there trying to make the breakthrough, the simple fact is that breakthroughs in club championships are hard earned, and the old dogs don’t go down easy. Of course they do go down – witness the demise of such stalwarts as Crossmaglen, Nemo Rangers, Ballinderry, and Mayobridge already this year.

Last weekend saw Birr and Toomevara bite the dust in the small ball code also, and it would be hard to find two clubs who are more synonymous with Winter hurling.

Portlaoise are not quite at that level, at least in hurling, but they are a proven team who have been there or thereabouts in Laois for some time now. Their win over Castletown in the semi-final was the kind of form that their opponents on Sunday, Clough-Ballacolla, simply haven’t matched so far this year and they are entitled to be favourites for this Sunday’s county final, and should be shorter than the 4/5 currently available.

The dual status of the club won’t help matters as the town football team is also going strong, but Portlaoise have dealt with this very well so far this year and there’s no reason why it would suddenly become an obstacle now. Indeed when teams get on a roll like this, one sport can often energise the other, and after the footballers secured a 3-18 to 0-9 win over a club that would have been regarded as big rivals earlier this decade last weekend, it would be amazing if the hurlers weren’t on a high as well.

A 3pt bet on Portlaoise to beat Clough-Ballacolla at 4/5 is the best option for this weekend, and should be taken relatively quickly as this price is likely to move before Sunday.

It would also be remiss if an Offalyman such as myself was not to give a mention to the Offaly county final between Rhode and Clara, though unfortunately, it appears that the bookies have called this one reasonably accurately. Unlike Kilmacud, who had to be back in action very quickly after their All Ireland campaign, Rhode had the benefit of a much later start to the season and didn’t have to kick a ball in the championship until July. They hit their stride fairly quickly and their semi-final win over Shamrocks was very impressive in two different ways. When things weren’t going well for Rhode, they hung in well and slowly chipped away at Shamrocks’ early lead, and when they did click into gear early in the second half, they demolished good opponents in jig time.

Despite the absence of Niall Darby due to a cruciate ligament injury, Rhode appear to be at or close to their level of play from 2008, however they are still very short at 2/7.

Clara may not be a team well known to those outside of Offaly, but they have a lot of the ingredients needed to cause Rhode real problems. They have a devastating inside line who can score well off scraps of possession, they have oodles of self-belief – indeed some would say too much – and they have a manager who is tactically very astute in Pat Flanagan. Now no amount of planning makes it easy to curtail a forward of Niall McNamee’s ability, particularly when Flanagan is working with a defence with no county players, however an upset here is quite possible. At 3/1, Clara are not quite big enough to be recommended, but they certainly should not be opposed.

Tags: club championships, Portlaoise, Rhode