St Mary’s bid to send Douglas packing

THERE’S some big games to be played as the year comes to an end with matches all scheduled to take place on the Bank Holiday Monday.

There are three games in the Munster Junior Cup taking place. St Mary’s have been in fine form in the Second Division and will fancy their chances of progressing with a home tie against Douglas. The Corbally outfit are a very dynamic side and have been in fine form in recent weeks with Barry Duggan and Sean Lyons among their key players.

Douglas have been inconsistent but despite losing the majority of their league matches, they are capable of causing upsets.

They will need to put an even better performance than their surprise success at Killorglin if they are to have a chance of a result.

Despite being at home, Newport will find it difficult to get the better of a very impressive Presentation side for whom Mark Phair has been an outstanding performer this season.

The club situated in Rathuard have relished the challenge of playing in the Second Division and will relish the chance of progressing against a side struggling in the same division.

Newport’s primary focus will be on their relegation battle, but the pressure will be off in this game and a good performance could give them plenty of confidence heading into the next round of league matches.

Bruff make the trip down to Dunmanway with the Limerick team likely to prevail. They have had a decent record in a very competitive Seconds League.

The west Cork side will hope that a strong home support can bolster their efforts but there should be too much class in the Bruff side for them.

There is one game taking place in Division One which has all the makings of a relegation showdown. Tralee host Old Christians and can possibly overtake their Cork opponents and put them in the second relegation spot. Both sides have shown glimpses of the quality they possess this season but have been far too inconsistent to garner a comfortable mid-table position.

Gareth Walsh is the star man for Tralee and if the Rathcooney side can stop him, they will go a long way to producing a result. The packs are evenly matched with both sets of forwards liking to do a lot of grunt work. It should be a real hard-fought match and it is likely that very little will separate the teams come the final whistle.

In Division Two, there are a couple of matches down for decision in the Kingdom. Castleisland will host Ennis with the Clare side eager to get a win to pull themselves out of a very tight relegation battle. Ennis have only one league win to their credit but with a draw and three bonus points, they are almost always competitive. With a couple of games in hand, they will be confident of putting some distance between themselves and the teams below.

Castleisland have some breathing space but aren’t totally assured of their status yet and will be fired up to get a win from this game.

Youghal make the journey west to take on Killarney where it looks like both teams will be settled in for a mid-table finish. The Kerry venue is a tough place to visit and with the east Cork side somewhat stuttering after a strong start the result is likely to go in Killarney’s favour.

One match in Division Three will also take place in Kerry as second-placed Killorglin will look to put their promotion push back on track as they host Carrick-on-Suir. The Kerry side made a great start but have slipped up recent games. The Tipperary outfit must win to keep their promotion hopes alive.

There are two very intriguing games taking place in the Cork County Cup. Kanturk and Kinsale are both competing for their respective leagues and they face-off at the seaside venue. Kinsale have some high calibre players and will be capable of causing an upset.

There is a big north Cork derby in the other tie as Mallow concede home advantage to Fermoy in a game that will now kick off at 4pm. Mallow should be too strong for their visitors but Fermoy aren’t going to give anything easy to their local neighbours and will make sure that they have to play hard for the win.