Rathkenny should continue their Leinster journey
The ability to translate opportunities into scores is always a useful ability for any football team - and Rathkenny have certainly displayed a certain ruthlessness in front of goals in their Leinster Club IFC campaign so far.
In the first round they won 1-14 to 0-4 as they pushed aside the feeble challenge of Naomh Eanna. Granted, the Wexford side were much weakened because of number of their regulars were on a stag outing that weekend!
In their next outing Rathkenny did it again. They hit 3-11 as they defeated Kenagh, conceding a modest 1-10 on the way to a quarter-final victory at Pearse Park a few weeks ago.
Can they maintain such a scoring rate in their next outing against Scoil Ui Chonaill at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday, 1.30pm? It would be quite an achievement if they did because the Dublin intermediate champions will allow Rathkenny the kind of latitude or opportunities they fashioned against Naomh Eanna and Kenagh.
Not that Rathkenny shouldn't go into into Saturday's showdown with anything but total confidence in their ability. Sure, Meath teams at all levels appear to struggle against Dublin opposition these days, but there are reasons for believing this could be an exception to the general rule.
Rathkenny in their march to a Meath IFC crown and in their Leinster campaign so far have displayed a resilience that is admirable. It was evident, for example, in the win over Kenagh in the way they bounced back to way with a certain panache after falling behind with goals from Oisin Cummins Fuller, Aaron Johnson and Eoghan Heavey going a long way to securing the win.
Scoil Ui Chonaill displayed considerable battling qualities themselves in defeating Roche Emmets last time out. They won what was evidently a testing, demanding contest, 1-12 to 1-11 and that is sure to sharpened them up for the visit to Navan.
The Dublin side have players such as Ryan Keane and Colm Geraghty who can punish defences themselves but there is every reason for believing Rathkenny can push on and continue their amazing, remarkable adventure.