Kilcormac-Killoughey, Ballinagar, Rhode and Edenderry the standout contenders in Offaly JFC

KILCORMAC-Killoughey are the favourites to win the Offaly Junior Football Championship, though they will be anticipating very stern resistance from a young Ballinagar side – and Rhode and Edenderry also look set to mount a powerful challenge.

It may be Offaly's fourth tier but it will still be a very keenly contested championship and there will be a lot of interest in it, both from the competing clubs and neutrals.

Kilcormac-Killoughey should be strong enough to win it but this is far from a formality. They don't always treat football very seriously and much will depend on their approach to it – though they have occasionally won championships in lower grades before without devoting many hours to football training.

Their senior hurling fitness will carry them a good bit of the way, though Kilcormac-Killoughey's chances have been damaged by an injury to county player, Cathal Donoghue – if he makes it back for the knockout stages, they will be very difficult to beat.

Ballinagar will be there or there abouts. They have some excellent young talent and there is a case for making them favourites but there are doubts about them. Their star player is Morgan Tynan, who was outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 football title last year. Tynan, Diarmuid Finneran, Adam Strong and Geordi O'Meara all played U-20 football for Offaly this year. They have others who have featured on county minor panels in recent years, including the above mentoioned quartet along with Robbie Gallagher and Jacob Beatty: Kevin Beirne was on the Offaly U-21 football panel back in 2016.

There are not many players at junior level with this volume of county players and it suggests that Ballinagar should be very strong. Yet those expectations are a problem for them. There is heavy expectations in their area along with a desperate hunger for success. A junior football title would mean so much to Ballinagar who have won so little in their long history – their only adult title was the 1988 junior while they won a Minor Football Championship back in 1932 but that was on an objection against a Belmont side who were not unduly concerned about the age of some of their players.

Managing this expectation is one challenge for team management. The other is that Ballinagar have been quite medicore in recent years and don't know how to win big knockout championship games. Players from Ballinagar backboned the Na Fianna side that won the Minor Football Championship in 2019 and as they have graduated to adult football, the club has turned a corner. It is a slow process, however, full of pitfalls and Ballinagar have to prove themselves yet – they could do with winning this championship very soon as you never know what players will drift away. They won both Division 4 and 5 Football Leagues this year, Ballinagar will be doing a lot more football work than Kilcormac-Killoughey and they do have a good chance

As expected both Kilcormac-Killoughey and Ballinagar made winning starts last weekend. Kilcormac-Killoughey had a good 5-11 to 2-8 win over Tullamore in group 1. It may have been Tullamore's third team but it was a performance that suggests K-K are keen to do well.

The big standout result at the weekend was Rhode's 12-21 to 0-4 win over Durrow in group 1. Any result of this magnitude can be taken with a grain of salt and sometimes, it says more about the losers than the winners. That is possibly the case here but it was still impressive by Rhode and they are definite contenders. It is Rhode's second team and they have to be strong at this level.

Ballinagar had a comfortable win over Kilclonfert in group 2, 2-15 to 1-4. They were never in danger but the win comes with a warning sign. Kilclonfert have been struggling badly for numbers this year and were down some of their best players in the Mangan brothers, Cathal and Mark, Paul Lambe and Alan Daly. They had drafted back Kevin Beacon in recent weeks, with the former forward lining out in goals and they fielded another two players the wrong side of 40. They didn't compete in the league this year, playing only a couple of challenges and fitness was an issue for some of their team. They would have been a much different side with the Mangan's, Lambe and Daly on board but it was still an important win for Ballinagar. They can only beat what is in front of them, they did it comfortably and there were a number of years when they just couldn't beat Kilclonfert, or even get close to them.

Edenderry looked good in the other group 2 game, beating Doon by 3-21 to 1-8. Again, the result says a bit about Doon but it is also Edenderry's second team and they have to be strong at this level.

Rhode and Edenderry could lose players to their senior team and this would really damage their prospects but it wouldn't be a surprise if either of these mounted a championship winning charge. The big game in round 2 is the meeting of Ballinagar and Edenderry and that will tell a lot about both sides.

Round 2 is on the weekend of July 29-31 and fixtures are:

Group 1: Durrow v Kilcormac-Killoughey; Tullamore v Rhode.

Group 2: Doon v Kilclonfert; Ballinagar v Edenderry.