Paying the December dues

AFTER the inter-county championship where anything could happen — and usually did — say hello to the predictable club championship.

One of the main reasons we all love the AIB club competition is its democratic unpredictability.

Caltra can progress from scraping past the Leitrim and Sligo champions to winning the football title. Tiny Newtownshandrum can make a mockery of logistics and go all the way too.

Not this year. The hurling final will feature two out of Toomevara, James Stephens and Athenry, big clubs with plenty of form at this level. And yesterday's football deciders produced two more provincial champions you'd probably have picked first day.

Like the Crossmaglen Rangers triumph in Ulster, there was something inevitable about Ballina's progress in Connacht. Rangers and Stephenites met just five years ago in the All-Ireland final, it would take a rash man to expect a different pairing in March's decider.

The Mayo men had rolled remorselessly over Roscommon Gaels and did the same to outgunned Killererin yesterday in Ballina.

Padraig and Tommy Joyce, Killererin's best players on the day, are an impressive pair of brothers but they were comprehensively trumped by the Bradys from the Quay. David ruled midfield, Liam swung over four fine points from play, and Ger produced the kind of subtle soccer finish Robbie Keane would delight in.

Portlaoise were Leinster favourites from a long way out and similarly disinclined to give their opponents any leeway. Skryne's two late goals were nods to the past of last-minute rescues but hugely irrelevant. Colm Parkinson was shouting the odds at the finish.

But and with the club championship there's always a but the Munster football championship has been keeping aficionados of the unpredictable going.

We nearly had the ultimate fairytale story when Stradbally led Kilmurry-Ibrickane by a point with time running out. Every front page in the country could have run a photo of the outsiders celebrating the most unlikely of triumphs.

Then a last gasp score by the West Clare men put the kibosh on that. You'd have to fancy the boys from Quilty to win the replay next Sunday in Killmallock.

It's been that kind of year in the club championship. More's the pity. Yesterday's draw was Kilmurry's second in the competition and their ninth match in all so far, something not lost on their coach Pat O'Dwyer.

"I had said to them I didn't want a repeat of the county final against Éire Óg or the Munster quarter-final against Drom/Broadford, but they clearly weren't listening," said a relieved team manager.

"This isn't good for the heart, but I am delighted to be still in the title race. It was riveting stuff and even if it's late in the season, it's great to be still involved in the championship.

"Stradbally are a very good side and all the talk we had heard about them being a physical team was utter nonsense.

"You expect to get hit, in a legitimate way, at this level of competition, and Stradbally hit hard, but fair. They played some excellent football, particularly in the second half, and it looked curtains for us after we surrendered that five point lead.

"Maybe we began to feel the title was won. Certainly we took the foot off the pedal from a position of total dominance and could have paid the price for it.

"You have to give credit to Stradbally. They came back at us playing beautiful football."

Sean Ahearne, the Stradbally manager insisted: "Whatever the future holds for this team, my abiding memory will be of Thurles on a day when we proved that we can play football at the highest level."

Additional reporting by Brendan Larkin and John Murphy.