Copyright irishmirror
For a long time the Leinster club football championship was unpredictable. Now it is uneven. Dublin dominates. End of story. Thirteen of the last 16 Leinster club titles have ended up in the capital, whereas there was a 26-year period, from 1976 to 2002, when six different counties, Laois, Meath, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow and Carlow shared 20 provincial titles between them. Five of those counties have representatives in the opening weekend of the Leinster SFC club championship, Summerhill aiming to bridge a 23-year gap to Meath’s last title; Athy hoping to end eight years of hurt in Kildare; Baltinglass a 36-year stretch to their solitary provincial title. That was the beauty of the club championship back then. Great teams rather than clubs with great budgets could win it. One thing the championship still has, though, are rare meetings between cross border rivals such as Athy’s fixture with Baltinglass. The towns are only 14 miles apart. Has the distance between them and the Dublin champions shortened? We’ll have a better idea after tomorrow’s game. Watch out for Summerhill this winter, though. The Meath champions have Eoghan Frayne on form. They play Killoe tomorrow. Avoid that banana skin and they could travel far in this championship. This is the sixth clash between Na Piarsaigh and Ballygunner in 14 years , the Waterford side leading the head-to-head by three games to two. More relevantly, they have won the last three meetings, by six, five and four point margins, respectively. Dominant in Waterford, their three Munster and one All-Ireland title is a slight underachievement considering how many chances they have had to add to their legacy. O’Keeffe, Mahony and Hutchinson sound like an accountancy firm. In reality, they are Ballygunner’s go-to men when they need inspiration. That’ll be the case tomorrow, Na Piarsaigh are battle-hardened following their county final win two weeks ago, whereas Ballygunner have not played since the first week in September. Whatever about rustiness, this still feels like an inter-county game, irrespective of the crests on the players’ shirts. The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship stage is set for an intriguing encounter as Newbridge take on Dunloy, each arriving with momentum behind them. Newbridge won back to back titles in Derry; Dunloy ended an 89‑year Antrim senior title drought. The key battles will centre on Newbridge’s ability to dictate tempo versus Dunloy’s ambition to disrupt and counter‑attack. Better known for their hurlers, Dunloy possess real flair. Providing their appetite was not sated with their county title success, they could surprise one or two in Ulster. The last major county hurling final of the year sees defending champs Loughrea face off against eight-times winners St Thomas, continuing a rivalry that has defined the county’s hurling landscape for over a decade. This pair has history: St Thomas’ claimed their breakthrough county title over Loughrea in 2012, and more recently, in 2022, the teams drew the first final before St Thomas’ prevailed in the replay. Remarkably, St Thomas’ have never lost a Galway SHC final. But Loughrea have - losing eight out of ten deciders this century. Both teams enter the 2025 decider in fine form. St Thomas’ powered past Craughwell 4‑18 to 0‑19 in the semi‑final, with key contributions from Eanna and Darragh Burke. Loughrea, meanwhile, overcame Turloughmore 1‑17 to 0‑15, relying on performances from Shane Morgan and Darren Shaughnessy. Padraig Pearses, aiming for back-to-back county titles, saw a six-point half-time advantage evaporate last week, Brian Stack’s last minute equaliser rescuing St Brigid’s, who showed resilience in the drawn match. Key battles will define the replay. Pearses’ midfield duo, Conor Ryan and Ronan Daly, are central to their plan, while Adam McGreal and Ronan Daly’s long-range scoring in the first game demonstrated their ability to strike quickly. If Pearses avoid the lapses that allowed Brigid’s to claw back in the first game, they’ll be partying tomorrow. Leinster club SFC Old Leighlin (Carlow) v Portarlington (Laois), Saturday, 6.15pm (RTE 2) Summerhill (Meath) v Killoe Young Emmets (Longford), Sunday, 1.30pm Baltinglass (Wicklow) v Athy (Kildare), Sunday, 1.30pm (TG4) Munster club SHC Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) v Ballygunner (Waterford), Sunday, 3.30pm (TG4) Ulster club SFC Newbridge (Derry) v Dunloy (Antrim), Saturday, 6pm County finals Galway SHC: St Thomas vs Loughrea, Saturday 6pm Roscommon SFC replay: Padraig Pearses vs St Brigid’s, 2.30pm Waterford SFC: Rathgormack vs The Nire 2pm Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond .
