The Junior Championships have a relatively young look to them this year. Patrick Robinson destroyed all before him last year, but sensibly has decided to concentrate on the books this season and has given everyone else an opportunity to win!
There is a decidedly rural feel to the 2013 Championship, and the key will be to keep mistakes to a minimum, build up a lead where you can and make it to Sunday. Alas, this can only happen to 4 players unfortunately.
There are 3 players returning from last year, unsurprising given how hard it can be to qualify given the standard of Junior players around the country. The top half of the draw would on surface appear to be more cut and dried, while the bottom half of the draw is definitely the tougher section, and there are landmines wherever you look!
In the top half there are 3 St Bridget’s players in the first two matches. Naturally the odds would favour one of them to reach the Semi-finals. The draw to qualify from Kildare was treacherous to say the least, Owen Farrell doing particularly well for a young man unused to this level. The odd man out is Lough Owel’s Keith Nolan, a member of the Lough Owel team that performed well at last year’s scramble. Qualifying was distorted in Westmeath as it was moved to Lough Owel, a course whose natural climate appears to be set to “windy” and thus gives the home player a head start. All the same you have to take everyone on their merits, and I’d imagine Keith will his opponent some headache’s. Surely one of the Bridget’s contingent will hope to replicate the form shown by Kevin Reid last year as he reached the final – I’ll plump for Owen Farrell to make Sunday, but I’ve been wrong in the past!
I’ll get quickly to point for the next semi-finalist. Patrick Maher of Erry would fancy his chances of doing well should he get to Sunday on his home patch; however the draw has not been kind to him. He plays Ruairi Fortune of St Pats, who I know has travelled at least once to play the two host venues, and that kind of commitment in this grade normally means one of two things: confidence, or determination. Brendan McMahon is a decent young player from Westmeath. He experienced heartbreak in last year’s championship, as disqualification for both himself and his opponent stopped him in his tracks. Hopefully that experience will stand to him, and his knowledge of Tullamore should give him some leverage over his Navan opponent, Anthony Gibney. I strongly fancy Brendan to make the Semi final.
The bottom half of the Junior draw has some super matches. I’m struggling to believe that there are only two juniors qualified from Dublin, and that one of them is John O’Keeffe, a very competent player in the not too distant past. His match against Alan Leddy will be a belter, but Alan is quite useful himself, and I expect him to replicate his run from last year to reach the semi-final (at least). Alan Byrne should be able to test Leddy in the quarters’, provided he overcomes Granard’s Tom Kelly, but I don’t think he’ll make Sunday.
The final quarter is so evenly matched it is really difficult to pick out who will progress. Logically Michael O’Connell should fly through two games on home soil, but he needs to remain calm and play each hole as it comes. If he does this, he’ll make the semi-finals. But there will be pressure on him, and while it might be a bit much for Clive Byrne to do, if Collinstown’s Stuart Tarleton can get past current Louth Junior Matchplay champion Mark Molloy (Channonrock) then he can push Michael close.
When all is said and done though I think it will be Owen Farrell (St Bridget’s) against Brendan McMahon (Kilbeggan) in the first semi-final, followed by Alan Leddy (Navan) v Michael O’Connell (Tullamore) in semi-final #2 on Sunday morning. I can envisage a Westmeath Offaly duel in the final, with the Kilbeggan man my slight favourite for the title.