An in depth look at all the teams in the Offaly Senior 'B' Football Championship

Take an in depth look at all the teams battling it out to be crowned Offaly Senior B Football Champions this year.

GROUP 1

Cappincur

Manager - Keith Ryan (Kildare);

Selectors - JJ Malone, Adrian Daly, Mike Tormey;

Captain - PJ Daly , Vice Captain Sean Graham;

New players - John Colgan while former county star Eoin Carroll is expected back from his extended break in Australia during the summer and will be a big help;

Long term injuries/Absentees from last year -  Brian Norris while Bill Carroll is in America on a playing sanction and will miss the early action before his return; Diarmuid Carroll is out injured.

Last year – Relegated from senior;

Star player – Bill Carroll;

Prospects – Having come down from senior football last year, Cappincur should be very strong at this level. Clubs can bounce back immediately and that is Cappincur's aim. Eoin Carroll is returning from Australia and he will be a big help but his younger brother Bill is in America and will miss some action. Diarmuid Carroll, rock solid in recent years in the defence, is out injured and Cappincur will have their credentials well tested.

They are helped by being in the weaker of the two groups and should come out of that. They could get very strong then and they are contenders. In a strange case of managerial musical chairs, last year's successful Ballinagar manager, Keith Ryan (a Kildare man) is at the helm with two of his Ballinagar selectors, Adrian Daly and JJ Malone with him. Ryan led Ballinagar to junior and junior “C” football titles last year and went to Cappincur after his reign came to a surprisingly quick end. Cappincur will be hard to beat and have a chance but could come up just short.

Walsh Island

Manager - Conal Mahon;

Selectors - Mark O’Connor, Barry Duffy, Keith McGuinness;

Kit man - Liam Corcoran;

Captain - William Mulhall; Vice Captain - Evin Galvin;

New players - Killian Duffy, Gavin O’Donnell;

Long term injuries/Absentees from last year – None;

Last year – Beaten by Bracknagh in the semi-final;

Star player – Willie Mulhall;

Prospects – Past experience has taught us to write Walsh Island off at your peril. Despite a limited pick and a handful of players well and truly in the veteran ranks, they continue to pull off big wins, to perform to the best of their ability. They will perform to their best again this year, though it remains to be seen where this will bring them. At some stage, legs will catch up on some of their older players and they will be in trouble then. They will have a chance of coming out of group 1 but equally could end up in the relegation play off. Their first task is to stay up and if they get into the play off, they could be in bother against the bottom team in the stronger group 2. They probably don't have the players to win a championship but they can make a quarter-final, though relegation would not be a surprise.

Ballycumber

Manager- Paddy Marsh (Moate);

Selectors - Stevie Quinn, Ken Daly.

Captain - Gary Larkin and Alan Flanagan.

New players - Cathal Guinan, Harry Champ, Conal Minnock, Jamie Rigney, Dylan Daly. Sean Ward;

Absentees from last year – The injured John Egan plus Luke Gavin Mangan in USA, Marcus Keena in Australia and Jack Quinn in Canada;

Last year – Beaten by Walsh Island in the quarter-final;

Star player – Cormac Quinn;

Prospects – Ballycumber have been very competitive in this championship for a few years but a quarter-final defeat by Walsh Island last year raises questions. They are missing some key players and it is hard to know with Ballycumber. With three qualifying from the group, they will fancy their chances of making a quarter-final and should be able to achieve that. At the same time, it would not be a huge surprise if they had a bad year and ended up in relegation trouble. If Ballycumber do get out and they probably will, they could get good very quick and be serious contenders but they have plenty of improving to do.

St Rynagh's

Manager – Enda Corcoran;

Selectors – Willie Slevin;

Captain – Conor Daly;

New players - Shane Daly, Jack Slevin, Kieran Clancy, Paddy McGuckin, Paddy Mahon;

Long term injuries - Fergal Hanamy, Robbie Daly;

Absentees from last year - Graham Lynch, Martin Byrne, Padraig Corcoran, Alan Kelly, Cillian Troy (Lusmagh have entered a football team this year) Sean Hanamy, Joe Carroll, Gary Mahon, Aaron Kenny, Sean Dolan, Dean Flynn, Evan Conroy;

Last year – Beat Erin Rovers in the relegation play off;

Star player – Joey O'Connor;

Prospects – St Rynagh's are championship outsiders and staying up is their focus. St Rynagh's regularly fluctuate between periods of strength and struggle and it looks like they are in the latter at the moment. The above list of absentees gives an indication of the challenges facing them. They just can't afford to lose that volume of players and will miss permission players from Lusmagh, who are fielding their own junior “B” football team this year. They are in the weaker of the two groups and this is a big help. They could pick off a win here and squeeze into the quarter-finals.

The Cloghan club play with heart and are hard to beat but you couldn't make a case for them winning the championship at the moment and they are candidates for the drop. Their first round clash with Walsh Island is a real relegation six pointer and you would imagine the relegated team will come from this group – though St Rynagh's will fight with every fibre of their being to stay up and if Gracefield in particular end up in it from the other group, they could lose heart.

Fascinating fight for Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship in store

GROUP 2

Clonbullogue

Manager - Jack Kilmurray (Rhode);

Selectors - Nigel Smith, Niall McEvoy, Tom Gorry;

Captains - Jamie Quinn; Vice-captain Ian Curry;

New players – None;

Long term injuries/ absentees - Keith O’Neill, Shane Furey, Jack McEvoy, Peter Bennett, Shane O’Brien, Ciaran Maher, James Byrne;

Last year – Beaten by Bracknagh in the final;

Star player – Keith O'Neill;

Prospects – Clonbullogue are definite contenders for this championship but an awful lot depends on the fitness of Keith O'Neill. The flying forward has had a lot of injury problems and while they have a lot going for them apart from him, O'Neill is the difference for them. Clonbullogue are an exciting team with a solid backbone. They are hard to beat and play an effective brand of football. They are drawn in a real group of death and qualification is far from assured. They didn't play well in their Division 2 League final defeat by Tubber but championship is a different story. They will need O'Neill playing to win a championship but they have that potential.

Tubber

Manager - Matt McCormack (Tullamore);

Selectors - Stephen Lonergan, Pauric Brazil, Paddy Sheridan;

Captain - Bernard Allen;

New Players - Conor Fox, Padraig McLoughlin, Donal Shirley;

Absentees - Jamie Colgan, Dan Kelleher, Ian Daly have all emigrated to Australia. Eoin Dunne is out with ruptured Achilles tendon;

Last year – Beaten by Clonbullogue in the semi-final;

Star player – Bernard Allen;

Prospects – There is a temptation to make Tubber championship favourites but you couldn't do it for one very big reason: in recent years they have displayed an unfortunate tendency to shoot themselves in the foot in big knockout games and while that may not have left them. They had a very good win over Clonbullogue in the Division 2 FL final some weeks ago and were clearly the better team but once again did their best to lose it, kicking too many wides. Yet Tubber probably are the team to beat.

With a new manager, Tullamore's Mattie McCormack at the helm, they have a lot going for them, some very experienced players mixed in with exciting young ones. Their group is tricky and they will have to perform in it but they should be able to get through – though it is also possible to lose all their games here. At some stage, Tubber will click in knockout football and the younger players should bring them on a bit. You wouldn't put much money on them but this could be their year.

Gracefield

Manager - Adrian Murphy; 

Selectors - Brian Brereton, Bobby Fitzpatrick;

Captain - Jason Slattery;

New players - Jamie Evans back from a year playing in Clare, Gavin Smyth back from overseas duty with the Army; 

Long term injuries/Absentees from last year - Jason Knight, Conor Shortall;

Last year – Beaten by Tubber in the quarter-final;

Star player – Jamie Evans;

Prospects – Gracefield have fallen down the pecking order fairly dramatically in the past few years and at the moment, are a middle of the road senior B side. They could get on a run but equally, they could be in the relegation play off. They are in the toughest of the two groups and their initial priority is to avoid the drop. With games against Clonbullogue, Tubber and Ballycommon, they could very easily end up in the relegation play off, though they are capable of getting wins. It could go either way for them. Gracefield have some very good players and Jamie Evans' return is a big help. They have a lot of work to do to win a championship and are in the class of outsiders but ones with the potential to get going. They will also be keeping an anxious eye on the relegation battle. One of four strong teams will end up there from this group, that could be Gracefield and you never know what will happen in a once off game.

Ballycommon

Manager - Padraig Egan (Kilbeggan);

Captain - Aidan Bracken;

Selectors - Colin Bermingham, Shay Bracken, Patrick Conway;

New Players - Ryan Conway, Killian Owens, Zach Wright;

Long term injuries - Darragh Flynn (shoulder);

Last year – Intermediate champions;

Star player – David Dempsey;

Prospects – It will be very interesting to see how Ballycommon fare this year. They won intermediate last year and have the players to contend at the higher level. Ballycommon command respect and they will talk to plenty of teams. Clubs have won back to back championships in the past and Ballycommon have the ability to do this. Their first priority is to stay up and Ballycommon are in a tough group. They will have to hit the ground running. The jury is out on them but they are a real footballing side and nothing would be a surprise with them.