Portlaoise boss Mulligan ready for rollercoaster Leinster ride

LIFE, as an unlikely American philosopher once told us, is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

The same could be said for the Leinster Club SFC this past decade, and it has been all the better for it.

Eleven different clubs have won the competition in the past 11 seasons. Five of those have been from the capital, but six counties have claimed the honours, and the democratic nature of the competition has even seen places like Wicklow and Carlow gain representation on the podium.

No other province can match it for sheer unpredictability. Nemo Rangers have won Munster five times in the same period, Crossmaglen have done likewise in Ulster, while Crossmolina and Ballina have shared six of the titles west of the Shannon.

The lottery that is Leinster is in for a big day tomorrow with four quarter-finals up for decision. Kilmacud Crokes and Portlaoise are favourites but pitfalls aplenty lie ahead.

“There is no such thing as an easy game anymore,” says Portlaoise boss John Mulligan. “Every game is a battle. I know people always say that but it is true. It’s a brilliant competition. To be able to get out of your county and test yourself against the top teams from other counties is fantastic.”

The lack of a dominant force hasn’t served Leinster well further afield with St Vincent’s last St Patrick’s Day becoming the first team from the province to claim All-Ireland honours since Kilmacud Crokes in 1995.

Portlaoise came close three years earlier, losing out by a single point to Ballina Stephenites in the final and, with their six provincial titles making them Leinster’s most successful club, it is little wonder they find themselves one of the favourites again.

The side lacks the saturation of county stars that took it so close to ultimate success in 2005 but memories of their traumatic 11-point defeat to St Vincent’s in last year’s Leinster semi-final need banishing. They face Offaly’s Rhode for starters tomorrow.

“I wasn’t involved last year so I wouldn’t be reflecting on past years and I haven’t heard the lads mention it either,” says Mulligan. “Memories like that don’t go away though and the lads will remember that game last year and the All-Ireland final defeat a few years back.

“Those things don’t fade away. The lads are absolutely mad for it. They have trained very hard. We were back in training the Wednesday after the county final. This is a local derby for us as well, which adds to it. The lads have huge ambitions to progress.”

The only side with shorter odds is Kilmacud who face Louth’s Newtown Blues in Parnell Park. Dublin have claimed this title on 14 occasions, which is more than twice as many times as any other county and Crokes will be expected to reach the last four without breaking much of a sweat.

“I suppose that was always going to be the case when you’re playing a Dublin side, it was never going to be any different,” says Blue manager Eugene Judge. “But look, it’s really all on the day. They’re a very experienced side and they have a game (against Celbridge of Kildare) under their belts too.

“In fact, through the last three or four weeks they’ve played a lot of football. We’re just hoping that maybe we can just get them on the hop.”

A Louth team has never won this competition but there are more surprising statistics. Offaly’s last champion, for instance, was Ferbane in 1986 while Meath have finished in pole position just once in the last 25 years.

Navan O’Mahony’s may have a chance of changing that. Backboned by six Meath players, including Stephen Bray and Kevin Reilly, they have emerged from the county for the first time in 17 years to face Westmeath champions Castledaly tomorrow on home ground.

“The players believe that if they perform they’re in with a tremendous chance but we’ve no history in this competition either, this group of players hasn’t,” says O’Mahony’s manager Sean Kelly. “You learn from playing in competitions and what it’s like to play teams from outside your own area.

“We will learn a lot about ourselves on Sunday. They don’t know the opposition and they haven’t played in this competition before. I’d be hopeful they’ll turn in a good performance.”

The fourth quarter-final sees Éire Óg play Longford’s Colmcilles. The Carlow side possesses a rich heritage in this event having won five provincial titles in the space of seven years in the 1990s. They too could cause a stir this season but it is hard to see anyone replicating that sort of stranglehold again.