Will Rathangan or Caragh reach a shock Intermediate Championship final?

It is the battle of the upset winners as Rathangan and Caragh face off for a place in this year’s The Auld Shebeen Athy Intermediate Football Championship final.

Rathangan toppled mid-season Championship favourites Round Towers to book their spot in the last four while many people’s pre-Championship choice Sallins were knocked out by Caragh.

After an uninspiring to poor group stage showing, Rathangan produced a second half blitz against Suncroft before beating Round Towers in extra-time. It would be fair to say that the now semi-finalists have only come alive in the knockout stages of this year’s competition, but when better to do so?

Those losses in the group stages to Sallins and Leixlip don’t matter now and Rathangan look like an altogether different outfit in the games since, having accumulated just one point less in their last two games than they put together across all three group games.

That change in scoring pace has been due to goals. Suncroft put a respectable 0-17 on the board, only to lose by 10 as Rathangan racked up 2-21. In a second half display that almost had to be seen to be believed, the Rathangan frontline were receiving possession on the turn and firing over points at will. Add to that their goals at two crucial points in the game and their all around showing against The Croft announced them as potential contenders.

That being said, nobody expected them to come through their quarter-final clash with Round Towers and, after taking the game into extra-time, they finished five points clear of the pre-match favourites.

Sam Savage impressed again and Sean Behan’s two goals off the bench would be a welcome addition to any team in a big game.

The rising Rathangan will face a Caragh side that looked streets clear of each of their Group D opponents before sending Sallins packing with an 0-12 to 0-8 defeat.

Their standout player is undoubtedly Darragh Swords, the star forward is a reliable points scorer and Caragh will need him to add to his impressive points tally if Rathangan produce the goods up front once again.

Caragh’s success to this point has been built on an excellent defensive structure. They emerged from their group having conceded just 1-17 across three games and reduced previously free-scoring Sallins to a miserly eight points. Those statistics represent the best defensive numbers in this year’s competition.

Michael Behan and his back six have been brilliant for Caragh this year and their continued ability to shut teams down gives their side an opportunity of winning any game.

So how do these teams match up?

It would be fair to say that Rathangan haven’t faced a team of Caragh’s nature in this year’s competition yet. After facing a whole host of sides who have gone toe-to-toe on the scoreboard with them, Rathangan will have much more of a challenge breaching this stern Caragh backline.

Key to this obstacle will be Sam Savage, the tricky centre-forward has the speed and agility to carve open any defence at this level and he has done so to great effect already this year. That is without mentioning the variety of Teahan’s in their ranks, who all have the ability and athleticism to beat a man.

My pick for this semi-final is Rathangan. They have been the surprise package of this competition after their aforementioned mediocre start and I think they have shown enough recent scoring prowess to indicate that they can outgun their rigid opponents.

Caragh will of course seek to maintain that defensive solidity and will be a true test of mettle for their previously high-scoring opponents.