IFC Crystal Ball

ST MICHAEL'S v DUNDERRY Right old royal scrap promised here. Both sides badly need to win. We put the mockers on Dunderry by predicting they'll win the title. Burdened down they were ambushed by Gaeil Colmcille in the opening round. However, St Michael's lost out to Carnaross. A second defeat for either side would mean the players involved could start planning their summer holidays. St Michael's appear to be suffering more than most from emigration. Daithi Regan is one of the players they are bringing back from England for games. Hardly ideal. Dunderry can take advantage. Verdict - Dunderry. LONGWOOD v BALLINABRACKEY No doubt there were mixed emotions in Ballinabrackey about Chris O'Connor's demotion from the senior county panel. Now at least he can concentrate showing Seamus McEnaney just how wrong he was to leave him out. Longwood, who last won the IFC in 1942, could only must four points against Ballinlough. It looks like their long wait in exile will continue for another year at least. Verdict - Ballinabrackey. CORTOWN v BALLINLOUGH Ballinlough stumbled against Na Fianna in round one and demolished Longwod in round two. Which side will show up for this one? All the evidence suggests that Vinny Ryan's side can cause real damage here especially if they can get regular ball into players like Ken Rothwell. Little for Cortown to cheer about so far. They might derive some scant consolation from the fact were defeated by two strong sides in Ballinabrackey and Na Fianna, but it's still not looking good for them. Verdict - Ballinlough. ST ULTAN'S v CLANN NA NGAEL This correspondent took considerable stick for predicting Clann na nGael would be relegated. Maybe it drove them on to greather things? Something has lit a fire under them. Two wins from their opening two games already indicates they won't make the drop. Well we do get the odd, very odd, prediction wrong!! St Ultan's chalked up an impressive victory over St Colmcille's in their only game played so far. Despite their difficulties with emigration few teams know better how to dig out a win at this level. Verdict - St Ultan's. CASTLETOWN v ST COLMCILLE'S Castletown raised a few eyebrows with some spirited displays against Clann na nGael and Moynalvey only losing both games by a point. Castletown appear to have upped their game quite a bit compared to recent years and are not as easily overcome as many might have expected. St Colmcille's are a young promising side, but they have to start delivering. Maybe they rely too much on Graham Reilly? They'll get nothing easy here, but they should just shade it. Verdict - St Colmcille's. GAEIL COLMCILLE v CARNAROSS Was Gaeil Colmcille's shock defeat by Syddan in the last round a once-off or a symptom of a deeper malaise? We should know the answer to that question at the end of this game. This will be a stern test for Gaeil Colmcille, just about as stern as it gets. Carnaross may not be the force they once were, but they still clocked up 1-15 in their win over St Michael's in the last round. An impressive haul that indicates they have considerable firepower. Gaeil Colmcille can clinch this one. Verdict - Gaeil Colmcille. RESULTS First round Clann na nGael 0-12, Castletown 1-8; Moynalvey 1-10, St Colmcille's 1-8; Gaeil Colmcille 1-11, Dunderry 0-10; Syddan 2-10, Carnaross 2-10; Ballinabrackey 1-12, Cortown 1-5; Na Fianna 2-10, Ballinlough 1-10. Second round Moynalvey 2-7, Castletown 1-9; St Ultan's 3-7, St Colmcille's 0-16; Syddan 0-9, Gaeil Colmcille 1-4; Carnaross 1-15, St Michael's 1-10; Ballinlough 0-11, Longwood 0-4; Na Fianna 2-14, Cortown 1-6.