Massive games ahead for big guns on the edge

Seconds out, round two. There's still some way to go in the race for qualification for the knockout rounds of the SHC, but already the teams who slipped up in round one will be in fear of slumping to a second successive loss.

One of the 'big contenders' hoping to avoid a second slip up is Kiltale and they face a difficult test against a determined Longwood who will also hope to get back on the horse at Dunganny on Thursday evening.

The loser of this contest will find it tough to get back into the reckoning in Group A as Kildalkey and Ratoath already look nailed one for the top two spots. After round two Longwood will still have to play Ratoath, while Kiltale will have to take on Kildalkey and they both will have to take on a rejuvenated Blackhall Gaels side.

Kiltale looked well below par when losing by 10 points to 14 man Ratoath. Their dual players have had a tough week since then with two football games in the bank, so their energy reserves will be tested.

However, with key attackers like Jack Regan and Peter Durnin not involved in football Kiltale might just have too much firepower for a Longwood side that were blown away by understrength Kildalkey.

The clash of Na Fianna and Trim in Dunganny on Friday night is the other expected close match-up in round two.

Both sides should be good enough to advance from the group, but whoever wins this one will put themselves in a really strong position.

Trim's dual players face the same predicament as the Kiltale lads as they played league semi-finals and finals in football in the last week.

Na Fianna opened their campaign with a decent win over Navan O'Mahonys, but with several players due back from injury for Trim the 2024 finalists should have enough to prevail.

Dunderry's clash with Killyon is another contest that could be tight and should draw a decent crowd for the first game of a triple header in Trim on Sunday, starting at 3pm.

There were definite signs of improvement from Dunderry in their loss to trim in round one. Last year they were beaten by 32 points by their town neighbours, whereas two weeks ago the deficit was just six.

Killyon only managed to hit nine points when they were beaten by 19 points by Kilmessan, so it could be a perfect opportunity for Dunderry to get a first win and stay in the hunt for a quarter-final spot.

It is hard to see any of the other three games being as close at the aforementioned ones.

Kilmessan should be comfortable against Navan O'Mahonys in Trim on Thursday, while defending champions Ratoath and hotly fancied Kildalkey will be far too strong for Blackhall Gaels and Clann na nGael respectively in the closing two games on the card at Trim on Saturday.