Naomh Mearnog's intermediate Championship Prospects

And were back. Its been a long time in waiting, but were back with both hurling and football championships due to start in the coming weeks.  The opening weekend of championship gets underway with the hurlers travelling to near neighbours Fingallians on July 18. This promises to be a ding dong affair, with both teams wanting to lay down an earlier marker in group 2. The Mearnog's boys were in impressive form in the opening league games, but unfortunately due to covid this league has now been cancelled. An opening round draw with former senior side Setanta at home was followed up with a comfortable win away to Peregrines. The team managed by Gary Deloughrey, is made up of a fine mix of youth and experience. The goalkeeper Bobby Smith is only 19 and looks like the real deal. The corner backs in Tom Cosgrove and Mark O' Callaghan are also quite promising and both are effective and efficient in possession. Other young talents on the team include Dublin U20 star Tommy Kinnane along with midfielder and free taker Shane Kavanagh. Mix this with the work horse at centre forward  that is Dermot Keevney and the experienced Niall Cafferkey and this team you would think has the potential to win this championship outright . With home games against st marks and st judes to come this team would fancy their chances of topping this group . In terms of tactics this team is very industrial in terms of using the open spaces and getting the ball in quickly to their full forward line. With Chris Farrelly, Mark Phelan and Shane Warren inside they are capable of racking up big scorelines, while also defending from the front.  This team has huge amounts of skill, pace and power and combine that with self belief in their ability will take a great deal of stopping. Fingallians will have their work cut out even with home advantage on their side. Personally I fancy Mearnog's  to take the points after a tough battle. I just see this side having great potential and while no games are one easy, I see this side having the right amount of promise and attitude to be able to truly express themselves. The 2 home games afterwords along with the home fans will play a huge part in the success of this team going forward. I urge everyone to get up and support this fantastic group of lads, as they truly deserve recognition and most importantly success. Welcome back to the club season and I for one will not be taking it for granted ever again. Let the games begin. stevesports@NaomhMearnog2020.com