Ballinderry may have charted a difficult course into Saturday’s All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship Semi-Final against Kerry and Munster champions Austin Stacks at Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore (1.00pm) but manager Jarlath Bell is only too well aware that a mammoth challenge now awaits his side.
Ballinderry had only a point to spare in overcoming Derrylaughan in the Ulster Semi-Final (0-9 to 1-5) before squeezing past Cavan champions Arva in the Final but while Bell acknowledges that his side could find the going tough, he believes that their recent outings will stand them in good stead when the heat is applied.
“There is no doubt that we have had difficult matches to date but you have to expect that when you are in the pursuit of trophies,” points out Bell.
“We have found the going tough in our last two matches and we know that Austin Stacks will be awaiting us. They will have done their homework so we know what to expect.”
In contrast to their opponents’ difficult Championship journey to date, Austin Stacks have been largely untroubled with their most straightforward exercise coming in the Munster Final when they triumphed by 7-7 to 0-2 against Tipperary champions Aherlow.
The Kerry champions had the match sewn up by half-time when they led by 1-5 to 0-0 before going on a goalscoring spree after the break that left their opponents thoroughly dishevelled.
The match was over as a contest by half-time but given the hard core of experience within the Austin Stacks line-up it can be taken for granted that they will be stepping on the gas again come Saturday.
Austin Stacks have quality all over the park with Cian Purcell, Paddy Lane, David Kirby and Joe O’Connor among their key players. Lane is a prominent member of the Kerry minor side while O’Connor is an imposing midfielder who has been making considerable progress with the Kerry senior team of late.
Dylan Casey is expected to make a return to the side from injury and he should prove a valuable asset while they have considerable strength on the bench.
For their part, Ballinderry have sharp marksmen in Ruairi Forbes, Ryan Bell, Conor O’Neill and Darren Lawn while Derry senior county player Gareth McKinless is the ace in their pack.
McKinless, who has considerable experience with Derry, can spark the side given his invaluable work rate and overall movement and he could well be at the core of his team’s attacking mechanism.
Shea Crozier and Charlie Crozier are among other Ballinderry players who are capable of chipping in with scores when required but it will take a sustained overall team effort if the team is to come up trumps in this daunting test.