There are many questions to be answered in this new year in division 1B. Can Buccaneers keep up their good form and get a promotion back to 1A? Are City of Armagh dark horses for the title? Who’ll make the top four come the end of the season? Will UCC stop the rot and are Malone and Banbridge destined for relegation?
Buccaneers V Naas, Saturday January 14th, Dubarry Park, 2:30pm
Buccaneers will be keen to avenge their defeat to the Kildare men in the last game, especially since City of Armagh are on their tails in 2nd place.
Eddie O’Sullivan’s charges won seven out of their nine games in the first half of the season, putting them at the top of the table. They are a balanced side with plenty of talent across the backline and in the forwards. They won’t want a repeat result this weekend.
Naas, currently sit in 8th place, probably not where head coach Johny Murphy wanted to be at this stage of the season, but if we remember back to last year, they had a strong second half to their AIL campaign to earn a spot in the playoffs, where they eventually made the final, to be beaten by Shannon. The likes of Andrew Osbourne and Donal Conroy have had great seasons, they definitely have the squad to turn it around.
Highfield V St Mary’s College, Saturday January 14th, Woodleigh Park, 2.30pm
Highfield will be looking for more of the same when they play St Mary’s College for the second time in 7 days on Saturday.
The Cork men had a convincing 34-14 win over Sean Cronin’s side last week, putting them right behind them in the standings. In good form recently, they’ll hoping that will continue.
The south Dublin club will be aware of the queue of teams behind them in the table, all eager to jump over them as the race for the top 4 is already starting to heat up. Can they get a big result on the road?
Old Belvedere V UCC, Saturday January 14th, Ollie Campbell Park, 2.30pm
Old Belvedere finally got a win away from home in their last game, doing the double over UCC will be their next target.
Ollie Campbell Park has become a fortress this season. Ben Mannion’s team are unbeaten at home so far . They’ll be hoping that trend will continue.
UCC are on a slippery slope that has saw them lose their last six fixtures in the league. They were league leaders after the first four games, but now they find themselves in 7th and in danger of slipping further down the standings.
Old Wesley V Banbridge, Saturday January 14th, Energia Park, 2.30pm
Old Wesley are one of the teams very much in the playoff conversation at the moment and another win this weekend would only strengthen their cause.
They’ll be favourites heading into the game, but given Banbridge’s strong second half showing last week where they scored 26 points, they’ll know they have to be at their best to back up last week’s win.
Could Banbridge provide the shock of the round?
City of Armagh V Malone, Saturday January 14th, Palace Grounds, 2.30pm
City of Armagh will want to keep the pressure on Buccaneers at the top of the table.
They have been great anytime they’ve played at the Palace Grounds this season, making it very hard to see anything other than a City of Armagh victory.
Similar to Banbridge, Malone have really struggled this season. Can they turn things around?
