Group 1 – O’Callaghan’s Mills, Inagh-Kilnamona, Whitegate, Kilmaley, Clonlara
The footballing ‘Group of Death’ bears only a mild toxicity to its hurling equivalent as while three teams advance directly to the last eight of the Jack Daly race, only two will emerge unscathed from this heavyweight pool.
All but Whitegate have contested at least a semi-final since 2017 so it means that at least two genuine contenders for the Canon Hamilton will suffer a premature exit.
While O’Callaghan’s Mills are the seeded team and don’t appear to have any hangover from last year’s final reverse, it’s a reinvigorated Clonlara, complete with returning county senior duo John Conlon and Colm Galvin for 2021, that might steal their thunder to top spot.
In addition, the winners of the opening round derby between Inagh-Kilnamona and Kilmaley will be favourites to nick the other spot.
Whitegate could topple one of the four but perhaps haven’t the depth to be in the mix come the final round.
Group 2 – Wolfe Tones, Scariff,
Sixmilebridge, Clarecastle
Even allowing for an uncharacteristic bout of complacency, back-to-back champions Sixmilebridge should complete a clean sweep of their group opponents and comfortably return to the quarter- finals for a fifth consecutive season. The big question is who joins the holders and just as significantly which sides enters the dreaded relegation play-offs that are particularly merciless this year with two teams ultimately dropping to intermediate.
The bottom line is that whoever finishes bottom can have no excuses after this draw so while Scariff have momentum from their intermediate win, all three will legitimately feel that they can beat each other.
Clarecastle’s numerous injury concerns could be detrimental to their advancement chances if accurate so it could mean that the opening bout between Wolfe Tones and Scariff is season-defining.
Group 3 – Ballyea, Broadford, Crusheen, Cratloe
With two titles each since 2009 and a combined total of 11 final appearances in that time, Ballyea, Cratloe and Crusheen’s experience certainly puts relative newcomers Broadford in the shade.
Most recent winners Ballyea are up there with Sixmilebridge in terms of title favouritism and should have the firepower to prevail on top of the pile but the tussle between the rest could be interesting.
While 2020 was a huge learning curve for Broadford, they haven’t mastered the art of consistency quite yet, leaving the opening bout between familiar foes Crusheen and Cratloe as a veritable four-pointer.
Despite being their third week on the road, overall Cratloe appear to have the better balance but the emergence of an exciting, fresh-faced Crusheen cannot be underestimated either.
Group 4 – Éire Óg, Feakle,
Newmarket-on-Fergus,
Clooney-Quin
Recent history tells us that Éire Óg are justifiably seeds in this group and it’s a toss of a coin as to who will join them in the business end. The one nagging doubt from that pronouncement is a worrying rumour mills of injury worries that could bring the Townies back into the pack depending on their severity.
All will be revealed on Saturday though as Éire Óg and Newmarket-on-Fergus lock horns in an intriguing derby. And there’ll be a Sunday revelation too back in O’Garney Park, just to confirm or deny various reported sightings of a rare species of Dugganous Peterous.
Clooney-Quin do have an encouraging sprinkling of young talent coming through as do Feakle and Newmarket so this weekend’s performances will tell a lot more about the credentials of all four candidates.
by Eoin Brennan