For football fans in the county, this truly is the most wonderful time of the year as the eagerly awaited Football Championships get underway this evening with a pair of games in the Fairyhouse Steel Senior Football Championship and the Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship respectively.

Tickets for the games are available via the link: Football Championship Tickets

This date will have been circled in the diaries around Kilbride since the Competitions Control Committee (CCC) issued the fixtures and their date with Summerhill in Devenish Park, Dunganny marks the return of former kings of the Senior grade to the top table in Meath GAA and what a fixture they have to mark the occasion as the Anthony Moyles side take on the reigning champions.

Both sides enjoyed recent successes in the Leagues, with Summerhill claiming the honours in the Husqvarna Centre PR Coyne Division 1 Final and Kilbride bringing a difficult week for the club to an end on a high note when winning the Fusion Workwear – Print & Embroidery Division 3 title.

There is big news on the absentee front for both clubs with last year’s captain Ronan Ryan missing out for Summerhill after picking up an injury in that League final while Conor McWeeney who had a starring role in that Division 3 victory for Kilbride also misses out.

Summerhill came good last year but not after a poor group stage and this allied to the fact that they struggled to defeat Ballinabrackey on the opening weekend two years ago after they had beaten the same opposition in the League Final will be fresh in their memories. These events should have them sharpened up for this encounter but just a racehorse aimed for Cheltenham in March might not be at its sharpest for the opening race of the season, so too might they have room for improvement in the coming months, thus leaving them somewhat vulnerable against opponents who could be primed for the occasion.

Kilbride have enjoyed a remarkable few years, first by winning the Junior Championship and then last year by plundering the Intermediate crown. For a club who not so long ago were struggling to get out of the lower depths of the football grades, their renaissance has been built on years of hard work at juvenile level and this has been coming to fruition in recent seasons as crop after crop of promising young players have matured into top quality adult players.

The men from the ‘Hill will look towards the likes of Eoghan Frayne, Liam Shaw and Kevin Ryan in their full forward line to lead the charge and there is a most interesting selection at left half forward as Ross Ryan, better known as a centre back, makes an eye-catching appearance.

Quite how the Kilbride half back line of Finn White, Timmy Farrell and Andrew McWeeney fare will go a long way towards deciding their sides fate in this encounter. White was a star of the Meath U-20 side in 2025 and is an excellent defender while on the opposite flank McWeeney is an attacking threat down the left flank. Manning the central channel is team captain Farrell who willl bring his own brand of physicallity to the party and if, as the team selections indicate, he comes into direct opposition with his former Meath Minor teammate Adam McDonnell then this could be a most intriguing duel to watch.

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The second game in Group A sees Rathkenny who got relegated from the JM Food Services Division 2 Football League after a most disappointing campaign, coming up against St. Peter’s Dunboyne side who finished mid table in Division 1.

Rathkenny are rarely fancied by neutral observers to progress far in the Championship but the club from the north bank of the River Boyne are always capable of pulling off something special and if we rewind the clock back twelve months then not many would have held out much hope for them on the opening weekend of the Championship when they faced off against another side from the south of the county in the shape of Dunshaughlin.

But Rathkenny refused to read the script and with Keith Curtis in splendid form as he plundered 2-11, the Joey Farrelly managed side downed the reigning champions and set the Championship alight. Another forward to catch fire that evening was Luke Kealy and both men will need to be at their best if their side are to come away from Dunsany with a positive result. David Curtis misses out on this game through injury but younger brother Joey will line out at midfield alongside Christy Meade and if they can get on top in the aerial exchanges then it will be a huge advantage to the men in black and red.

There is no doubting that St. Peter’s Dunboyne have all the talent required to win the Championship but since the Keegan Cup last wintered in the village in 2018 they have fallen short of being real challengers on more occasions than they care to remember.

Will this be the season that they come good once more? Led by Shane McEntee and now under the management of club legend David Gallagher who took over from Ger Robinson over the winter, there is a wealth of talent among their ranks and while the absence of Jack Kinlough who misses out on a second consecutive Championship due to injury will be keenly felt, the likes of Seamus Lavin, Charlie Gallagher, Cathal Lacey and Robbie McCarthy are likely to spearhead their challenge.