Clare champions under-rated

November 17th, 2011 by Kevin Egan

Based on what we saw from Dr Crokes against Ballinacourty in the first round of the Munster club football championship, the Killarney men couldn’t be in a better place in advance of Sunday’s semi-final meeting with Kilmurry-Ibrickane of Clare. They’ve been given permission to host the fixture in their home club ground on the Lewis Road and all across the team they have the kind of talent that makes them worthy favourites for a Munster title and strong contenders for the All Ireland in early 2012.

However there is a world of difference between Kerry vs Clare at intercounty level and Kerry vs Clare at club level. The Banner county may be one of the most spectacular underachievers on the intercounty stage but the clubs of West Clare have consistently punched above their weight in this competition and cannot be underestimated. In fact since Doonbeg became the first team from outside Cork or Kerry to win in 1998 (leaving out Thomond College who were hardly full to the brim with Limerick men), Clare clubs have reached seven finals, winning three. Kerry clubs in that time have reached five finals, winning two.

Of course the divisional system in Kerry is a huge handicap in that there are Kerry clubs that have represented the county after being inactive for some time and that certainly won’t be an issue for Crokes, but all the same the odds of 2/9 about a Crokes win inside the hour seem bizarrely short. Powers, Boylesports and Ladbrokes are all 9/2 about a win for the Clare champions and it’s hard to imagine another situation where a club that were Munster champions two years ago and runners up the year before that would be so summarily dismissed. Of course Crokes have to be respected and their squad is very impressive, but the bookmakers are clearly allowing for a lot of multiple bets this week and working off the basis that they can afford to lay a few single bets at big prices on the Clare men. Readers of this column are strongly advised to take full advantage and hoover up the 9/2, in a game where 5/2 would be a lot more accurate.

Ladbrokes are also offering total points betting on this tie and have pitched the total at 23.5. Once again, this may look reasonable based on the stellar attacking unit that will be lining out in the Crokes’ colours of black and orange, but Kilmurry-Ibrickane simply don’t do high scoring games, no matter who their opponents may be. All five of their Munster Club Championship games in 2008 and 2009, as well as their three county finals this year and back then, fell under this mark. Out of those eight games, only two featured a goal. This will be close, it will be low scoring and all bets should reflect that fact.

Munster Club SFC Tips:

Dr Crokes vs Kilmurry-Ibrickane: Kilmurry-Ibrickane @ 9/2 (Powers, Ladbrokes, Boylesports)

Total Points: Under 23.5 @ 5/6 (Powers)

Total Goals: Under 1.5 @ 5/6 (Powers, Boylesports)

Football action Shannonside

September 16th, 2011 by Kevin Egan

The club football scene is comparatively quiet this weekend, with Tyrone, Laois, Clare, Limerick and Carlow providing the vast bulk of the action on show throughout the country. The Tyrone championship is the one that would strike most people as the most appealing, however football in the Banner county is a hidden gem that doesn’t get fully appreciated all across Ireland.

The standard of play in that competition is actually quite high, albeit not necessarily prone to bringing about 3-11 to 2-14 thrillers, and the dearth of achievement from the county team in recent years can often lead to people forgetting quite how good the clubs sides are in Clare.

The strength of Kilmurry-Ibrickane plays a big part in this on a couple of levels. The KIB men are not always the first to answer the call to play for Clare, and those that do are often accused of giving their loyalty to club first and county second. They would probably argue that two Munster Club titles and an All Ireland final appearance justifies that approach, but that’s a debate for Claremen and not a betting analyst from West Offaly, least of all one not looking to get blindsided on his next trip down to West Clare.

KIB face a dangerous opponent this week in Kilmihil when they take on Cooraclare, but even at 2/9, it’s still hard to make a case for anyone but the reigning champions. Like most Clare football matches, ten scores will be more than enough to win a game like this, but even allowing for Ger Tubridy doing damage at one end of the field, Cooraclare are still likely to fall a couple of points short.

Wolfe Tones and Cratloe are two clubs more usually associated with hurling but they will be expected to make a real go of it this weekend against St Senans of Kilkee and Lissycasey, and both clubs make some appeal at Ladbrokes’ odds of 15/8 and 8/13.

Wolfe Tones play a hard working type of game, with Chris Dunning and Daniel Gallery leading by their industrious example from the half forward line, and while they don’t have a single brilliant attacker to compare with Michael O’Shea for Kilkee, they have the potential to close down space and force St Senans to push forward in numbers. If they can secure some turnovers and maybe play good breakaway football, this could be a good opportunity for Wolfe Tones.

Cratloe will be delighted with the fixing of their game for the Gaelic Grounds in Ennis, since that will suit their younger, faster and more mobile team down to the ground. On a tight club pitch this would be a tougher game to call, but the lithe Cratloe forward line should have the opportunity to cut loose and play some free flowing football at the county ground.

Across the Shannon in Limerick there are also two football quarter finals taking place, and 2009 and 2010 champions Dromcollogher/Broadford and Monaleen are both expected to progress. Monaleen haven’t fired on all cylinders in the group stages and they should come through at 4/7, however St Patricks could be worth a nibble at 5/2 to overcome Drom/Broadford. St Patricks had to show real battling quality to come through their final group game against Pallasgreen and to overcome a robust physical challenge and still come away scoring 2-11 was no mean feat.

At the same time as St Patricks were coming through against Pallasgreen, Drom/Broadford were doing a demolition job on St Kierans in what was essentially a straight knockout match in Newcastlewest. That result against Stephen Kelly’s club has obviously been given a lot of significance by the oddsmakers, but the 5/2 about a win for St Patricks could be a little bit generous as a result.

St Patricks will certainly benefit for the experience of their battle in the last round of the group stages and their young and speedy forwards could take the older Drom/Broadford backs for quite the run around in Bruff. Take the 5/2, with a small saver on the draw at 8/1 just in case they don’t quite get over the line against their more savvy opponents.

Joining the Shoe Shine Boy

January 22nd, 2010 by Kevin Egan

As anyone who bought a house in Ireland in the last five years will tell you, jumping on board a moving bandwagon can be a very dangerous game. Mistiming such a jump were one to take it literally would result in a serious dent to one’s physical well being, much like mistiming such a metaphorical jump could similarly result in a serious dent in one’s financial well being. Obviously it’s a lot easier to limit one’s exposure in the betting game than it is when buying a home, but there is still plenty of risk attached in looking at a graph and guessing that the recent upward trend is likely to continue.

From several weeks back, Off the Ground was looking forward to this weekend’s betting and suspected that there was likely to be real value in taking a punt on Tír Chonall Gaels to surprise Kilmurry-Ibrickane. The London champions have participated in this competition in each of the past two seasons and two creditable performances resulted in games against Crossmaglen Rangers in 2008 (0-10 to 0-6) and Corofin last year (2-7 to 0-6).

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Hypothetical assessment points to practical value

December 1st, 2009 by Kevin Egan

Let’s paint a hypothetical picture for a moment, where two clubs are set to meet each other in a crucial provincial championship tie. Club A is playing in their fourth provincial campaign this decade, and this year has reached their third final in four attempts, including one win and one runner up spot in their previous two tries. Club B is playing in their third provincial campaign, and has reached their first final, after two first round exits in their previous forays.

This year, Club A has knocked out the reigning provincial champions, and secured another win away from home. Club B has played both their games at home against moderate opposition, and indeed was very lucky to emerge from their semi final intact, with many pundits feeling that they were certainly no better and possibly a point or two worse than their opponents on the day.

To round it all off, Club B is missing their two best players since the first round, going some way to explaining the dip in form for their most recent match.

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