​GAA: The business end of the Down Championships begins

​There’s a bit to go yet with every side hoping to have three games left to play. The ultimate objective for seven of the eight remaining teams ​in the Senior championship is to knock kingpins Kilcoo off their throne, while the Magpies will be doing everything in their power to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“Everybody's trying to beat Kilcoo,” said Burren manager Jim McCorry after his side booked their place in the quarters with a win over Loughinisland a couple of weeks ago.

“A lot of people will put teams like Burren, Kilcoo and Mayobridge and Clonduff into the quarter-finals automatically, but when we saw that draw (against Loughinisland) we knew it was going to be a tough game and that was super preparation going into the quarter-finals. So, it's where you want to be, but you have to earn your right to be in there.”

And McCorry was right in his predictions of who the other contenders would be.

"You have Clonduff and Mayobridge pushing hard and you have Carryduff who again will be pushing hard in the Championship.

“So, you have all those top teams pushing hard and just to get away with this one tonight, I suppose the beauty of it is you get two weeks now so you have a wee bit of time for the knocks – and there are a lot of knocks – and injuries to get cleared up within the squad.”

The other hopefuls that McCorry wasn’t to know at the time are RGU Downpatrick and surprise package Glenn.

One manager who knows what to expect from Kilcoo is Mayobridge boss Steven Poacher, as his side were beaten by them in the second round.

“Kilcoo are a fantastic side,” said Poacher. “They've been in the last three Ulster finals. They're a very experienced group. Karl Lacey has re-ignited them this year. They play a very fast counter attacking brand of football and Newry really suits them as a team. Some of the older brigade have slid away and they've brought in a lot of young lads, the likes of Chrissy Rooney, Sean Og McCusker, Macdarragh Hynes. They've added a fierce amount of pace and Shealan Johnston is playing really good stuff for them as well at the minute.

“So Kilcoo are still the benchmark and the kingpins of Down – unfortunately for everyone else. It's up to someone else to step up to that level. We played them the last day and we were obviously bitterly disappointed with our performance but we learned an awful lot from the game as well.”

There’s still plenty of football left to be played however, and here's how it looks for the teams left standing in the Senior and Intermediate Championships.

Morgan Fuels SFC Quarter Finals

​Burren v Ballyholland

Burren took revenge on CPN who knocked them out of the competition last year, by beating them in the first round and four goals against Loughinisland – with 18-year-old Dara Mussen impressing Burren manager Jim McCorry - was more than enough for the St Mary’s side to sail into the last eight.

Ballyholland had a terrific league campaign and have carried that through to the Championship. Despite a valiant effort, they lost their first round match to Loughinisland to go into the losers’ pool but had an emphatic 4-11 to 0-7 victory over last year's Intermediate winners Saval in Round 2 and then sank Longstone 3-8 to 0-6 last weekend to reach the quarters.

Clonduff v RGU Downpatrick

Clonduff and Downpatrick will meet again after the Yellas beat RGU 2-12 to 0-11 a couple of weeks ago.

That win sent Clonduff straight into the quarters as they beat Bredagh in their opener, while Downpatrick, who just about made it past Saul in the first round by a solitary point had to fight once more for their place last weekend. They did so by beating neighbours Castlewellan 1-14 to 3-4 and so live to fight another day.

Kilcoo v Carryduff

Kilcoo have their eyes firmly focussed on claiming their twenty-first Frank O’Hare Cup and their fifth in a row, but there are a few more games to go yet and Division 1 winners Carryduff will be out to avenge their first round 1-13 to 0-10 defeat to the Magpies this weekend.

The champions breezed past Mayobridge in Round 2 giving them a break before this fixture, while Carryduff beat Saul in the losers round and then Loughinisland last week to book their quarter-final place.

Glenn v Mayobridge

Glenn, who were relegated to Division 3 this season, have come a long way in the Championship as one of the surprise packages to reach this stage of the competition.

A two-point victory over Saval in the opening round put them in the winners pot and then an emphatic 1-17 to 2-8 win against Longstone was more than enough to earn Glenn their place.

For the Bridge it's been a mixed bag, but Steven Poacher's side showed that they deserve to be exactly where they are. They saw off Bryansford, who were relegated to Division 2 in the league, with a comfortable 3-10 to 1-4 victory in Kilcoo and then a lacklustre performance against the reigning champions heralded some doubt as the Magpies sailed into the last eight unbeaten while Mayobridge had to regroup and fend off Warrenpoint. That they did in Pairc Esler on Sunday with a goal by their captain Shane McNamee the difference in their 1-11 to 0-10 victory.