Intermediate Football Championship Profiles
Attending the Carlow GAA Club Football Championship Launch were Sponsors - Dusan Mrksic (Deputy General Manager Talbot Hote)l and Cian Doran (Gym Instructor), Jim Bolger (Chairman Carlow GAA) and BACK - Kieran Pender (Grange), Ceilum Darcy (Ballinabranna), Liam Roberts (Kildavin/Clonegal), Padraig Murphy (St Patrick's). FRONT - Eoin Maddock (Éire Óg), Patrick Doyle (Naomh Eoin), David Mulvany (Clonmore) and Shane Duffy (Ballon).
Robert Sansom
Jim Dunne
Jimmy Cahill is currently out injured but “working his way back to fitness”, while Dan Dunne is up from Minor and hoping to make an impact in his first season. David Cox also returns to the squad following a spell abroad.
Ballinabranna scraped into the Division 2 semi-finals having finished in fourth place by way of score difference but lost out in the final four to Kildavin/Clonegal.
Grange
Ceilum Darcy says his side want to “go as far as we can,” adding that Ballinabranna are “in a very tough group, but we’re going to go at it as hard as we can.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? “It depends on how our group goes,” Darcy said. “Our group is probably the tougher side – now, there’s some good teams on the other side as well – but it depends on how our group goes in my opinion.”
Paddy Hickey
Peter Cleere and John Murphy
Grange are expecting to have a squad almost identical to 2024, but one or two players are still nursing injuries.
Grange finished with five wins from seven games in the round robin but lost out to Éire Óg in the Division 2 semi-finals.
Ballinabranna Hopes for the Championship: “It’s hard to know; sure, any of the teams at Intermediate could win it or get relegated – that’s how tight this championship is,” Kieran Pender said. “Our goal is to try and qualify for the knockout stages and see where that takes us.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? “The Intermediate Championship is just too tight to call,” Pender said. “It could come down to score-differences and one-point games; all those teams are capable of winning it and just as handily could end up in a relegation playoff – including ourselves.”
Padraig Murphy
Niall Barrett Players in/out: Kevin Healy of the Carlow County coaching team has transferred in from Wicklow, while the Tullow club are also adding some youth to their squad in the form of Adam Cleary.
St Patricks held their own alongside six senior teams in Division 1, winning two of their seven round robin games.
Kildavin/Clonegal Hopes for the Championship: “Last year we got to the Intermediate semi-final, so you’d love to try and better that,” Murphy said. “But at the start of the Championship your main goal is to get out of the group. This is a very hard championship; there’s eight teams there that’ll probably all have the same goal, so we just want to get out of the group and get to the knockout stages.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? Murphy tipped Clonmore as “the team to beat”, saying they “put in a very good performance at Senior last year.”
Liam Roberts Manager: Willie Hickie
Barry Hickey and Ricky Byrne are both expected to miss the entirety of the Intermediate Championship through injury, while Daryl Roberts has moved abroad.
Having finished top of the table with six wins from seven, Kildavin/Clonegal made it all the way to the Division 2 final where they came up short against Éire Óg.
St Patricks Hopes for the Championship: Roberts says his team are focusing on “getting out of the group” for now and will “take it game by game” after that.
If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? Roberts tipped Clonmore and St Patricks as the favourites, citing their experience playing Division 1 football earlier this year. “That’s a big step up,” the Kildavin/Clonegal captain said. “Everyone else is sort of playing catch-up.”
Tommy Morris
Colm Beck and Scott Treacy will make their return to the squad having been abroad, while there will also be a sprinkling of youth promoted from the minor panel.
It was a League campaign to forget for Naomh Eoin as they finished with just two wins from seven games in Division 2 before dropping into the relegation playoffs.
Éire Óg Hopes for the Championship: Paddy Doyle says his side will be aiming to “be competitive, give it our best shot and go as far as we can.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? “The Intermediate Championship is fairly competitive, anyone could win it on any given day,” Doyle said. “Clonmore coming down from Senior won’t be too bad and Éire Óg won the Leage, so they’ll both be very competitive.”
David Duffy
Alan Kelly Players in/out: New additions to the squad such as Rory McCaffery, Martin Carroll and Eoin Doyle are expected to have a big impact.
Ballon won six from seven in the round robin and will play Division 2 football next year having beaten Rathvilly to win the Division 3 final.
Clonmore Hopes for the Championship: Shane Duffy says that “people might have different expectations” following Ballon’s JFC victory last season. “I feel a lot of us are confident that we can do well this year; we’ve a good group of lads, we’ve worked hard all year, so I think we can do well.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? “Kildavin/Clonegal were on the verge last year, and Tullow (St Patricks) are always a strong team – it’s tough to know,” Shane said.
David Mulvaney
Podge Fogarty
A number of players have been called up from the Minor panel, including Darragh and Conal Cullen, Darragh Byrne, Odhran Keating and Evan Fitzachary. These additions will be needed to help plug the holes left by Oisin Doyle and Jimmy Whelan who are both sidelined with injury issues while Robbie Bulmer has moved abroad.
Like St Patricks, Clonmore held their own alongside six senior teams in Division 1, winning two of their seven round robin games.
Ballon Hopes for the Championship: Captain Mulvaney says his side’s goal for the Championship “like anyone else, is to try win it – but that’s easier said than done.” If your club doesn’t win the championship, who do you think will? “You’d have to look at Kildavan/Clonegal from being in the final last year,” Mulvaney said. “But you’ve also Ballon coming up there this year with momentum from winning the Junior ‘A’; but any one of eight teams can win the Intermediate Championship – I don’t think you could call a favourite.”
