Who will make their move on the opening night of Round 2?

Moving Weekend, the crucial second weekend of the Meath Club Football Championships is upon us. An opportunity for clubs who failed to pick up two points on the opening weekend to strike back and remain in the Championship and also a golden chance for teams who did the business in Round 1 to make a strong claim for securing their spot in the knockout stages with a round to spare.

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

The Group A game in the Fairyhouse Steel SFC this evening pits newly promoted Kilbride up against a Rathkenny side that have been around this particular block many times. Kilbride showed well for forty minutes against Summerhill but eventually the reigning county champions overpowered them and the ‘Hill pulled away for a comfortable victory on the scoreboard.

Rathkenny endured a difficult campaign in Division 2 of the Football League and ended up getting relegated but they put that poor form behind them when playing out a highly entertaining draw against St. Peter’s Dunboyne on the opening night of the Championship.

The confirmed absence of Conor McWeeney for a long spell after he picked up an ACL injury robs Kilbride of some magic in their forward line but their inside line of Josh Harford, David O’Leary and Warren Rogers is still good enough to give them a scoring platform should they receive enough service. For that to happen, they will have to win a lot more possession around the middle third than Kilbride were able to do against Summerhill.

Predicting Rathkenny games is akin to a fools errand. Few would have given them much hope on the opening rounds of the 2025 and 2026 Championships but they came out and turned in two magnificent performances when defeating Dunshaughlin and drawing with St. Peter’s Dunboyne respectively. Those performances came as underdogs which possibly suits them but this evening they will go into the game against Kilbride as favourites. Will that sit lightly upon their crown or will it weigh heavily?

Joey Farrelly and his management team have named Sean O’Hare at top of the right but it would be one of the greatest surprises in this round of the Championship were the excellent defender to actually play as a right corner forward. It would be no surprise to see him drop back into a defensive role as one of many positional switches from the team named.

Donal Keogan was at his imperious best against St. Peter’s Dunboyne and he is named at full back for this encounter. Should he line out there he will be in direct opposition with Kilbride sharpshooter David O’Leary and were Keogan to shut him down then it would go a long way towards seeing his side move on to three points after two games and be in with a great chance of making the quarter-finals once more.

The game in Ratoath promises to be a game worth keeping an eye on as Dunshaughlin who looked very impressive when taking care of Simonstown Gaels take on Donaghmore/Ashbourne came out on the wrong end of a low scoring affair against Gaeil Colmcille.

The depth of the Dunshaughlin panel will be well tested this year as now they are without both Ruairí Kinsella and Conor Gray who are both long term absentees with ACL injuries. The loss of Kinsella wasn’t notable on the opening weekend as Aaron Murphy had a day of days in their attack and he looks like a player ready to up his game this season but it is unlikely that he will fire another dozen points again this evening.

To that end he will require more from the supporting cast in attack where he has the likes of Luke Mitchell and John McDonagh who can both be red hot on their day. If this trio, along with Conor Duke who is named at midfield can all get somewhere near their top form then Dunshaughlin are likely to hit a tally that will be hard to beat.

Way back in 2007 when Donaghmore/Ashbourne escaped from the Intermediate grade, few would have predicted that the Keegan Cup still wouldn’t have wintered in their clubhouse. The fact that the Senior Final will this year be played on their home patch will surely be an added motivation for them to get back to the days of challenging for the title but on the evidence of the Round 1 defeat to Gaeil Colmcille’ the ‘Moors have a long road ahead to get there.

In almost every match prediction since the Rule Enhancements came into being in 2025 it has been said that the midfield battleground will prove key and whoever gets on top here will likely win the match. The reality of this doesn’t always meet the perception but the feeling is that this could well be the case in Ratoath this evening and it must be said that Donaghmore/Ashbourne are very strong in this area with the likes of Bryan Menton and Jamie Browne while Thomas McGovern and Evan Quinn will be alert to every breaking ball.

There is no doubt that Timmy O’Regan will need to see his side put up a much bigger total than the 1-09 they mustered agains the Kells side and to this end they will need the attacking sexted to hit their straps and a big showing will be required from the likes of Andy Tormey, Michael O’Sullivan and Zach Thornton if this is to happen.

This evening’s two Fairyhouse Steel SFC Games as well Ballivor vs Oldcastle in the Meade Farm IFC are live on Clubber. Click to purchase the stream or an annual subscription.