Ones to Watch: Six Kildare Championship games you should keep an eye out for this weekend

The Kildare club football Championships are now in full swing and with things hotting up following the completion of the Prelims and Round One things are starting to get serious for all concerned.

Among a sea of fixtures at Senior, Intermediate and Junior, what are some games you should keep a special eye out for this weekend?

Celbridge vs Athy - A Championship litmus test

This game does what it says on the tin and will be a key indicator for both sides in regards to this year’s Senior Football Championship.

Celbridge disappeared in their game with Johnstownbridge and I think the negatives that can be taken from their loss of a seven-point half-time lead far outweigh any perceived positives from turning around a five-point second-half deficit to draw. They collapsed and needed a last-minute equaliser to avoid a loss, but the beauty of this format is that they can dust themselves off, go again, and react after their disappointing opener. It is however out of the frying pan and into the fire as they face, for this writer’s money, the most impressive SFC team so far, Athy. 

The men in red have looked slick and dangerous in their two Championship outings so far with their young contingent revitalising their contendership status. That being said, question marks remain surrounding the level of competition that Athy have faced to this point and Celbridge will present their first look at a team that will be competing at the sharp end of this competition. This game will be both informative and ought to be a cracker.

This game takes place on Saturday, August 23 at Cedral St Conleth’s Park with throw-in scheduled for 2pm

Nurney vs Monasterevan - A relegation Semi-Final?

It is never fun writing about the grim realities of relegation but this fixture is looking both of these sides in the face and telling them that it could be now or never to step up. The two Group D opening day losing sides are among the favourites to go down and one’s victory over the other could (should) save them. 

Nurney were allowed back into their game with Suncroft and should never have been, but they still managed 0-14 with free-kicks and two-pointers getting them there. Monasterevan were well adrift of Leixlip and we’ll know a lot more about where they are from this game. There is little to say beyond wait and see and, dramatic as it sounds so early in the year, this is a date with destiny kind of fixture.

This game will be tense and could be low-scoring, but will be highly dramatic with the future of both clubs at stake.

This game takes place on Friday, August 22 at Round Towers GAA with throw-in scheduled for 8pm.

St Laurences vs St Kevin’s - Key ties in a wide open Group C

This choice is in essence a two-parter with all Group C Round Two action being must see this weekend.

Kilcullen’s brilliant victory over St Kevin’s blew this group wide open while Larries completed an expected victory over Two Mile House later in the weekend. Larries ended up in this situation following their somewhat shock defeat to Ellistown in the Prelims and now face a stern Kevin’s side to try and progress to the knockout stages after naturally being placed as one of the contenders having just come down from Senior last year.

I don’t think any team has had an easy outing with St Kevin’s and that shouldn’t change here, but Larries must see this as a chance to put together a complete performance against a Quarter-Final standard Intermediate team. I think they’ll meet some resistance and this could again be another cracker involving Kevin’s.

Kilcullen and Two Mile House will both see their fixture as a must win. A local derby in which both teams were before a ball was kicked listed as the two weaker teams in the group, this should be box-office in one way or another.

St Kevin’s vs St Laurences takes place on Friday, August 22 at Manguard Park, Hawkfield on Pitch 2 with throw-in scheduled for 7:45pm

Kilcullen vs Two Mile House takes place on Sunday, August 24 at Manguard Park, Hawkfield on Pitch 1 with throw-in scheduled for 1pm

Maynooth vs Sarsfields - Can Sarsfields also pass the Maynooth test?

Before Sarsfields face Naas in their final round Group B clash in the opening weekend of September, they must first pass the stern challenge of Maynooth which the champs came through last week.

Sarsfields were questioned by Raheens themselves but ran rampant late on and perhaps their scoring surge will be enough to shake them up further for this fixture. Buzz around The Sash has cooled since their league final defeat to the SFC holders, but they are going to be in the mix and this game is a great chance for them to put down a marker against a strong side.

Conversely, this is a great opportunity for Maynooth to score a major win. For all Sarsfields’ strength, they don’t have the firepower of a Kirwan, Beirne, Sinkey frontline and Maynooth will be grateful for that fact. This is a key game for both and should be worth seeing.

This game takes place on Sunday, August 24 at Cedral St Conleth’s Park with throw-in scheduled for 2pm

Milltown vs Rathangan - An IFC glamour tie

This is yet another Championship litmus test. This time at Intermediate level with a pair of 2024 semi-finalists facing off and two teams that have improved further since their final four exits last year. 

Rathangan blitzed Ellistown and Milltown came through a tough Straffan test to both move to two points. These sides will likely progress out of their group regardless of this result but there is great belief to be taken from a scalp against a fellow contender early on.

This game is being recommended for obvious contextual reasons, but in truth the main draw here is that this could be a brilliant watch for anyone that tunes.

This game takes place on Sunday, August 24 at Manguard Park, Hawkfield on Pitch 1 with throw-in scheduled for 2:30pm

Ballymore vs Kill - Can anyone beat Grange?

The final fixture in this hectic weekend of Kildare Championship action pits two key players in the JFC against one another with two Group A teams on two points. Grange look hot favourites for this year’s Championship but it’s a whole lot easier to look like winners than to become them.

That is where these two come in. Last year’s IFC relegated team vs 2024’s losing finalists, Ballymore vs Kill represents a great opportunity for both teams to ignite their season and their surge towards challenging this year’s heavy favourite. A big win for either here could be huge to their confidence and in turn their prospects.

This game takes place on Sunday, August 24 at Manguard Park, Hawkfield on Pitch 2 with throw-in scheduled for 4:15pm

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