'The Intermediate race should throw up a few upsets this Saturday' - Adrian Hanlon

It’s all on the line this weekend in round 4 of the Intermediate championship as teams look to advance to the knockout stages of the competition while others are hoping to avoid the dreaded relegation play-off.  

Former Dungloe player and 2012 Donegal All-Ireland winner Adrian Hanlon is now playing with Na Rossa, and knows all too well what’s at stake this Saturday as his side travel to Milford in the hope of surviving in the Intermediate competition despite winning a Junior crown with the Na Rossa men last season.  

“It can be a struggle for us, especially when you have a couple of boys out injured,” he said.  

“I think if Na Rossa had a full team out, we would put it up to most sides, but that’s the unfortunate part about this level in that if you have any man missing at all, you’re going to struggle.  

“We have men away this weekend which is a blow, but to be fair, we’re only averaging six scores a game so I think for a team like us and a few others at this stage, you’re kind of preparing now for a relegation battle. We would be looking past Milford this weekend and focusing on getting boys back this weekend for a relegation fight.”  

Scrolling his way through the various fixtures this weekend, Hanlon points at a number of potential upsets that could occur based on the absence of players such as Caolan McGonagle who is still missing for his Buncrana side through injury.  

“I actually think Naomh Muire could be dark horses in this competition, I think they’ll actually beat Buncrana this weekend,” he said.   

“I remember we played against Naomh Muire earlier this season in the league and I think we actually caught them on the hop, but overall, I work down around that area, and I see and hear a few things that are really positive coming out of the club.  

“Of course, then when you play against them, they are a really well-organised side and I think they’ll have their homework done against Buncrana. Now if they had Caolan McGonagle fully fit and playing, it would probably be a different story but I actually think we could see Naomh Muire do a job this week which will advance them to the knockout stages.”  

Elsewhere in the competition, Division 1 side Malin are searching for two precious points that would see them climb the ladder up the table and comfortably stay in the top eight of the division.  

Despite already suffering defeats to Termon and Naomh Columba, Hanlon feels Malin can turn things around by getting one over on Bundoran this weekend at tips his hat for the Inishowen club.  

“It’ll be a tight game but I think Malin might just edge it because they're at home. Malin were always a top team in my view and you never got anything easy against them. I suppose not only having that Division 1 experience but holding their own in Division 1 is massive in this competition too.   

“It’s all going to be on the day, but I would just fancy Malin to edge it this weekend.”  

While Hanlon acknowledges that Termon should advance past Red Hughs to top the table, while Gaeil Fhánada hope to kick into the top eight by claiming four points if they can see themselves past Letterkenny Gaels this weekend, in terms of Burt’s match with Naomh Columba, he feels all will be on the line with many of the hurlers in the club returning to the Burt football team.  

“I think Burt will beat Naomh Columba this weekend,” he said. “If you look at Burt in terms of their defense, they’ve only given away 29 points in the championship. They might be a hard team to break down, I know they’re not getting as many scores on the board as they’d like, but they should have all their hurlers back this weekend which adds to their fight.  

“So, that’s going to lead it into an exciting final round because there’s nothing between the teams in terms of points and they’re all taking points off each other, so it’s going to be hard fought this Saturday evening.”  

With Termon, Buncrana, and Milford all guaranteed to advance to the next round, it leaves it for an exciting round 4 as the Intermediate championship kicks into gear.