The winter month are time again for all the admin staff of our 2,500 clubs to sharpen their pencils and prepare all the relevant reports and edit the rousing addresses for the AGMs and conventions.

Balancing books and developing innovative fundraising policies will be the biggest headaches facing secretaries and treasurers throughout the country (and farther afield no doubt!)

There will be a very different set of problems facing the committees of Kilmurry Ibrickane, St. Galls, Portlaoise and Corofin clubs as they continue their quest for the Andy Merrigan Cup. Problems I know that any club secretary in the country would be glad to have.

There is a lot of work involved in preparing these teams for their February semi-finals and although the chores may be pleasurable for most club members involved they can prove an accumulative burden for the club.

Finances will undoubtedly be boosted by gate receipts but there will be quite an expense incurred in the coming weeks and those just past. Lights for training, heating, travel, food, physio bills, training equipment or perhaps a new kit are just some of the added expenses of a prolonged season.

There may need to be fund raising events organised. This will require much debate and tact as we are now in the most financially unstable period of the year (January) for the regular Gael in Ireland not to mention the recession.

Are the club training facilities adequate? What damage will the winter training do to our wet pitches? Can the club afford to travel to better facilities? What can we do to assist in the team preparation? What can we afford? What is reasonable? What price success?

These are the questions being asked by the committee. The manager and coaching staff will be asking different questions. Yes, they have all been here before within these past six years but none of them have won it during that period. Teams and management may have changed but the failings of recent years will be fresh in the minds of all those who were involved and they will all feel that they have learnt from the past.

Of course Corofin are the one team who will be carrying the fresher wounds following last years semi-final defeat though the fact that they were beaten by eventual winners Kilmacud Crokes will have softened the blow somewhat. Running the eventual winners to two scores is something that Gerry Keane and his backroom staff can build on. It will be easy to convince the team of their capabilities but the hard work is in having them ready to play to their potential on the day.

At this stage Corofin cannot spring any surprises. We have watched them perform over the past two years and there will be plenty of footage from which St Galls will be able to draw up a fairly accurate portfolio on their opponents. A predominant feature of the Galway team is their ability to physically grind their opponents into submission. They have strength and size all over the field but more so around the middle third where they have the power to mix it with any opponent. What they lack in pace they make up for in their robust tackling. The ability to score 4-27 in their last two outings speaks volumes about their forward division and just looking at the likes of the Burkes, Alan and Damien, and county colleagues Kieran Fitzgerald and Kieran Comer you know that they are serious contenders. Whether or not they can wipe out last years bitter memories and emulate their magnificent win of '98 will depend a lot on which St. Galls team appears for the semi-final encounter.

Undoubtedly this bunch of lads from Milltown has serious potential and I would say that they probably are the most talented team left in the competition. Talent alone does not win All-Ireland titles and I believe that St Galls now have that added component of grit that is a pre-requisite to success.

Before the championship began in Antrim there was talk of this team pushing for honours. What people didn't know was how much did the team really want it. It wasn't too long before the answer was given and following their county success you had that feeling that this team could really open up in Ulster if they prepared right.
Their preliminary round game away to Cavan Gaels was, in my opinion, the occasion when this team proved to themselves and others that they had the stomach to go all the way. Leaving Breffni Park victorious after a physically bruising extra-time battle with the Cavan champs (who were confident to of progressing) was a major boost to this St Galls team. They had just won a game that in previous years they may have left behind them. Although this is their third time to win Ulster there has been that feeling of always underachieving.

Corofin's recent scoring barrage will not worry St Galls. They will firstly point to the talented defence and midfield that they will put on display come February - Sean Kelly, Anto Healy, Andy McClean, the powerful Aodhan Gallagher and Sean Burke. (It is unfair to pick out individuals in this team because they are all talented players). Secondly they will point to the fact that Corofin put up these scores of 2-13 and 2-14 against poor defences. Thirdly, they will point to a forward line that will potentially outscore and other forward line in the country. Kevin and Kieran McGourty with Terry O'Neill in the half-forward line feeding into an awesome full-forward line of Rory Gallagher, CJ McGourty and Kevin Niblock. The full forward line alone has major scoring potential though it is their excellent team play and movement that creates frequent scoring opportunities for players from all over the field.

Rory Gallagher's colourful and chequered career should never detract from the fact that he is a very gifted player and is always aware of where the goalposts are. He is hitting form at a good time for St Galls (and perhaps Fermanagh?) and is obviously enjoying being part of a flamboyant forward line. CJ McGourty and Kevin Niblock are confident, strong players with an abundance of talent and will be major assets to Antrim in coming years.

Lenny Harbinson seems to be pressing all the right buttons at the control panel for this team. He seems to have given this team a little more defensive bite yet at the same time has not restricted their natural tendency to attack.

An intriguing contest but I expect St Galls to shade it by a few points.

I know that statistics can be deceiving when it comes to evaluating different opponents. This is because the data is gathered explicitly from results alone and does not take into account the quality of the opposition, weather conditions, team selections or several other mitigating factors. It is dangerous therefore to make predictions on stats alone. Having said that, looking at the stats for Portlaoise (and knowing the quality of some of their players) I would expect them to cause Kilmurry Ibrickane a lot of bother.

Their scoring to date is highly impressive (hitting 21 goals in championship games to date). Throw in a scores-against average of 1-08 and it makes healthy reading for any Portlaoise fan. Seven Leinster titles now in the bag they will certainly fancy their chances of emulating their 1983 success when they lifted the Andy Merrigan. With Bruno McCormack, Barry Fitzgerald, Aidan Fennelly, Colm Byrne and young Craig Rogers on board you couldn't bet against them.

While the committees of all these clubs will be keen to get back to normal duties and finish with all the end-of-year administration I have a feeling the executive members of St. Galls and Portlaoise will have to wait until St Patrick's Day before they can draw a line under the 2009 season. Tweet

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