Chronicle Crystal Ball

Kiltale v Gaeil Cholmcille: When it comes to a club ready to harvest a rich crop of emerging young talent there are few better examples than Kiltale. They now have a coterie of youngsters who have become accustomed to winning trophies at under-age level. Some of them are ready to make the next step up and join established, yet youthful performers such as Mark O'Sullivan and Peter Durnin. Emigration is the only threat to all that good work. Gaeil Cholmcille are also looking to the future having achieved some notable under-age success in recent times. Consolidating their place in the senior ranks made it a good year's work in 2009. Brendan Murray, Denis O'Neill and Michael Foley form the core of a decent side yet Kiltale should still prevail in this contest. Verdict - Kiltale. Na Fianna v Rathmolyon: An intriguing sub-plot of this first round tie is that brothers Tommy and Christy Cosgrave are likely to be on opposite sides. Tommy in the green of Rathmolyon and Christy in the black and amber of Na Fianna. On their day Na Fianna can carry a real threat as they showed in the 2009 campaign when they achieved a shock victory over Kiltale. Against that, they can be very inconsistent as displayed in the way they lost their first three games in the SHC last year. Rathmolyon will be without Mike Cole for the first round, at least, and Gary Cole. They will need a player like Kevin Fagan to be at his best. If Na Fianna find some early fluency and confidence they can edge this derby. Verdict - Na Fianna. Trim v Kilmessan: There was a time when these two sides regularly met in Jubille Cup finals. Kilmessan have continued to enjoy the good times while Trim have endured more of a depression than a recession. Now they are looking to put together a young team that can take them back to the Promised Land for the first time since 2001. That may happen in the next few years. For now though Kilmessan possess too much craft and experience. Nicky Horan is unlikey to feature because of a broken finger picked up with Meath yet his team should still prevail. Verdict - Kilmessan. Longwood v Clann na nGael: Reaching the knock-out stages of the SHC last year was a real boost for those involved with Clann na nGael. Alfie Devine can look to players such as Gary Mangan and Mark Geraghty to help take it a step further. Last year's IHC winners will be without Mickey Burke, sidelined with a hamstring injury. Both sides could be diverted by the fact that a sizeable contingent of their players will be needed by their respective football teams. With the likes of Mangan and Mark Geraghty around, Clann na nGael are well capable of digging out a victory here against Cyril Maguire's team. Verdict: Clann na nGael. Dunboyne v Killyon: Dunboyne's recent league victory over Kildalkey could be a signal that they have put last year's defeat in the final behind them? That they are ready to push on from here. They also defeated Trim and Killyon in the league, but then again they didn't lose too many last year still fell at Bechers Brook. At the time of writing they had no major injury concerns. For a variety of reasons Killyon, who have a few injury problems, have not managed to make a significant impact in recent years and appear to lack a player or two of real quality. It all points to one outcome. Verdict - Dunboyne. Navan O'Mahonys v Kildalkey: The tie of the opening round and if we get the same kind of drama as when the sides met in last year's quarter-final we should be in for quite an encounter. On that occasion Kildalkey sneaked it after a lengthy period of added time was played with O'Mahonys, and some observers, wondering where the extra minutes came from. Johnny Gorry has a potential match-winners in Ciaran Dunphy. He will punish teams who give frees away easily which, sources say, Kildalkey have shown a tendency to do in recent league games. Pat O'Halloran will be looking for his team, again captained by Mairtin Doran, to make an immediate impact on their first defence of the title. Apart from Padraig Geoghegan, the team should be the same as last year with the talented Paddy Conneely likely to feature more. Despite that, O'Mahonys can cause a surprise here. Verdict - Navan O'Mahonys.