Formbook a reliable guide as senior championship reaches home straight

If St Mochta’s beat Dreadnots last night, the Louth senior championship semi-finals will be contested by the four teams that headed most pre-competition lists.

Many pundits named them as the quartet to advance, while the bookies had them top of the betting, with all of the other eight other contestants on, as they say, fancy prices.

Weekend quarter-final results were good for St Mary’s, Naomh Máirtín and Newtown Blues. Of this trio, Blues got the stiffest examination.

Roche Emmets belied their huge odds, giving a display that was even better than the one they turned in last year to beat O’Rahilly’s in the intermediate final. One point divided Emmets and the multiple champions.

Mairtíns raced into a seven-point lead, but were pulled back, with a hard-working St Joseph’s side drawing level. But another gap developed, and closing this one was beyond the Cluskey Park side.

Mary’s had it easiest of all in their joust with St Patrick’s. The outsiders stayed competitive for about 40 minutes, but after that, the title-holders were in strict control, in front by ten points in the end.

The intermediate championship will throw up its two finalists this weekend. The first of the two semi-finals has Dundalk Gaels and Mattock Rangers in opposition, and then Seán O’Mahonys come up against Hunterstown Rovers.

Back to the bookies. They make Hunterstown the clear favourites to take the title, while the team they meet on Sunday are the outsiders of four. O’Mahony’s are doughty battlers when it comes to the knock-out – expect to test the favs, and maybe even beat them.

In reaching the last four, the Gaels have left all of the league form behind them. They’re improving all the time, turning in their season’s best in their quarter-final defeat of Kilkerley Emmets.

Mattock are also on the improve, and for this match are expected to have their very best fifteen on show. This is a Bill or Ben, a toss between two sides who finished level when they met in the competition’s preliminaries.