Curraha and O'Mahonys likely to ease their worries

IFC RELEGATION PREVIEWS

Rightly or wrongly, so often, the big talking point within clubs when it comes to relegation play-offs, is not how do we get ourselves out of this situation but rather how did we get ourselves into it? writes Tom Gannon.

Much has been made of Navan O'Mahonys decline over the last decade or more, from being at the summit of Meath football in 2014/2015 to now battling for their IFC status.

When you look at it logically, Navan O'Mahonys are not a team that should be in this situation.

They were in a very competitive group but to go from an IFC final in 2024 to a relegation semi-final this year has plenty of lads in Brews Hill scratching their heads.

Ballivor haven't actually regressed that much from the team that made the quarter-final last year, but such is the competitive nature of the IFC that it's quite easy for a middle-of-the-road intermediate side to find themselves in a relegation battle.

Out of the four sides fighting for survival, Ballivor have, unfortunately for them, been drawn against the best in O'Mahonys at Cortown on Thursday evening.

Curraha's decline is arguably more dramatic than Navan O'Mahonys. They've had significant emigration issues, but the fact remains that this was a senior team 12 months ago.

This is a club that has produced players like James McEntee, Jack O'Connor, the Moriartys, Neil Shorthall, David Toner, Matthew Webb, players that have played at the very highest level.

At the same time, unlike O'Mahonys, Curraha's performance levels this year have not been good enough and it's no surprise that they find themselves in this situation where they face Bective in another relegation semi-final at Seneschalstown on Friday.

However, form suggests that the team in most danger here are Bective. They look a bit out of their depth in the IFC and they are probably favourites to go down at this stage.

They were drawn into a weakish group and they probably needed a result against Blackhall Gaels or Dunsany.

Curraha and Navan O'Mahonys have both experienced drastic declines over the last 12 months, but when push comes to shove, they both should have enough to see off their respective opponents in the IFC relegation semi-finals.