Athlone v Tubberclare (Tang, Saturday May 15, 7pm )
This is the meeting of two teams whose confidence will have been boosted by their opening round win. Athlone might enter the game as favourites but will be well aware that last year’s intermediate champions will be no pushover. Both sides have injury worries ahead of the game. Fergal Wilson, as if he hasn’t had enough of injury, suffered a nasty hand injury in Westmeath’s challenge against Clare and is very unlikely to play any part. On the Athlone side Gary Quinn is ruled out through suspension while Dermot McManus is still out with a broken arm. Dermie Bannon is edging close to match fitness following a lengthy knee injury but Saturday’s game might come a bit too soon.
Both sides have plenty of quality up front so it should be an entertaining game to watch. Ian Coffey, Connor Elliot, and Francis Spollen will take plenty of watching by the Athlone defence.
Athlone will need to improve our point-scoring, having only managed three against St Loman’s. It’s unlikely that we will manage three goals against Gary Connaughton.
Both managers being Roscommon men, know each other well and, like both sets of players, will be keen to earn the bragging rights. It promises to be a close encounter and we in Athlone will be hoping that, with the right attitude, we might have a few points to spare.
St Loman’s v Maryland (Moate, Sunday May 16, 1.30pm )
This is a game last year’s beaten finalists desperately need to win. Maryland however were more than impressive in their demolition of Kinnegad in the opening round. Finbar Egan has gelled them into a finely tuned unit who work hard for eachother. They also have plenty of punch up front which always gives a team a good chance.
However I expect a Lomans backlash and provided they can match the Maryland hunger and workrate I expect The Saints to squeeze through.
Corralstown/Kinnegad v Killucan. (Cusack Park, Sunday May 16, 5.30pm )
Both sides lost their opening game - Killucan were unlucky against Tubberclare, while Kinnegad could have no complaints against Maryland. Like any derby game this is difficult to call. Kinnegad looked rudderless for long periods against Maryland, but their two sending offs did not help their cause. David Kilmartins absence leaves a void they will find difficult to fill. Killucan have the potential to cause upsets and they will fancy their chances in this encounter. On this occasion however I am giving Kinnegad the nod. If there is to be a draw in this round I think it will be in this game.
Garrycastle v The Downs (Moate, Sunday May 16, 3pm )
Garrycastle showed in their opening win against Tyrrellspass that they are still very much the team to beat. The Downs drew with Castledaly but may have to plan without John Smith who has been out of action in recent weeks. Hard to look beyond the reigning county champions in this one.
Tyrrellspass v Mullingar Shamrocks (Cusack Park, Sunday May 16, 7pm )
This has the potential to be the clash of the round between two sides with a bit of history. Shamrocks scraped through their opening game against St Malachy’s but were less than impressive. Provided they can up their performance I expect them to get the better of the men from the tidy village.
New rules come in to force on Saturday
A number of new rules come into force this Saturday May 15. Some of the rules are relevant only to football, others specific to hurling while a number are common to both codes. The following is a summary of the new rules.
Football only
1 Hand pass- If a player hand-passes the ball with an open hand, there must be a definite underhand striking action.
2 Penalty kicks- All penalty kicks will now be taken from 11 metres out.
3 Kick-outs- All kick-outs will be taken from the 13 metre line.
4 Line balls- Must be kicked from outside the white line.
5 Illegal charge- It is illegal for a charge to be made on a player taking a free or sideline kick.
6 The bounce- A basketball-like bounce is not a foul.
Hurling only
1 Puck-outs- the penalty for pucking out the ball from outside the small rectangle will be a throw-in on the 20 metre line, instead of a free-in from the 65 metre line.
2 Handpass- The ball must be released and struck with a definite striking action of the hand.
3 Penalties- All players must remain outside the 20 metre line and the arc until the ball has been struck and the three defenders on the line must not move off the line until the ball is struck.
Both hurling and football
1 Restarting play- if play is stopped by the referee to allow an injured player to be treated, play will now resume with a free to the team that was in possession. However it will not be permitted to score from such a free. If neither team is in possession then play will resume with a throw-in.
2 Throw-ins- must take place a minimum of 13 metres from the sideline.
3 Advantage- A referee will now signal advantage by raising his arm.
4 Extra time- will consist of ten minutes per half only.
5 Boundary lines- a player deliberately going outside the boundary line of the pitch to gain an advantage will now be punished with the concession of a free rather than just a caution.
6 Shoulder- A charge is now defined as ‘shoulder to shoulder’ rather than side to side.
Overall there is nothing too radical in the changes and I would welcome them all. In particular the advantage rule is long overdue. This should result in more scores from play which has to be welcomed. There was nothing more frustrating than having the goal at your mercy only for an over fussy ref to whistle you back for a free-in. Hopefully that will now be a thing of the past.
Taking a penalty from 11 metres instead of 14 metres will make them a lot easier to score and will therefore be more of a deterrent. Allowing an open-hand hand-pass is also common sense. Trying to implement a closed fist-pass would only lead to frustration.
It will be interesting to see how they are policed in this weekend’s round of club championship games.
