Inside Track: Finding the intermediate winner as difficult as ever

If St Mary’s and John Mitchel’s are the stand-out teams in senior and junior, the intermediate championship remains the bear-pit it has always been. Any one of a half-dozen teams has a realistic chance of coming out on top.

Given how they led the league from start to finish, six points clear of their nearest rivals at the final count, Dundalk Gaels would probably be a solid fancy. But the Ramparts will be contesting senior, thanks to their 2024 championship success.

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And to illustrate how hard predicting the intermediate winner always is, Gaels weren’t among last year’s leading fancies, but got a run going to earn a win over Hunterstown Rovers in a replayed final.

Hunterstown competed in this year’s senior league, and fared only moderately. However, they hadn’t county star, Ryan Burns, to call on, nor one of the Leinster Championship-winning under-20 side, Michael Reid.

Mattock Rangers, always a force to be reckoned with, came second in the league, and were involved in a play-off with Seán O’Mahonys last weekend, fighting for a place in next year’s senior league.

They’ll have supporters, the same as Kilkerley Emmets, St Bride’s and Stabannon Parnells, all of these sides having done well enough to make the top half when it came to the split in the league.

St Kevin’s are capable of better than their league performance would suggest – with an injury-free squad to call on, Young Irelands could have a say.

Clan na Gael are the team with most at stake. They are due to play in the junior league next season, but if they finish in the top two in their group, their place in the 2026 intermediate league will be assured.

And if the Castletown men were to really defy the odds by bringing home the Séamus Flood Cup for the first time, the prize would be enormous, a place in next season’s senior championship.