IF RHODE ARE to finally break their duck in the Leinster club SFC, they’ll have to do it without two key players who are jetting off on a tour to Lebanon with the Irish Army this week.
Attacker Anton Sullivan and corner-back Jake Kavanagh will depart on their first tour with the Defence Forces on Thursday, ruling them out of Rhode’s Leinster semi-final against Louth champions Sean O’Mahony’s on Sunday, November 27.
Rhode boss Paschal Kellaghan confirmed that the pair will be absent for the last four clash.
“They’re flying out Thursday to the Lebanon,” Kellaghan told Midlands 103′s Brian Gavin.
“They’re two great players. I think Anton is having his best year in a Rhode jersey as (far) I can remember, and Jake has been phenomenal as well. But the two of them are going Thursday.
Kellaghan added: “There’s nothing we can do about it, they’re heading off. We wish them the best of luck and we’ll need to get two lads to step up to the plate for the week after next.”
The Village recovered from a poor start yesterday to wrap up a 1-12 to 1-9 win over Meath winners Simonstown in the quarter-final clash at O’Connor Park.
Kellaghan is confident his squad can step up to the plate in the absence of Sullivan and Kavanagh.
“We’ve a wonderful bench,” he continued. “There’s five or six guys coming off the bench most days and getting action.
“And then we’ve another 10 behind that – young lads there that aren’t getting a huge amount of football, but training very hard.
“It is difficult for them but they’re as important to us as any member of the team and the subs that come on. We’re trying to create something and, as I said before, we’re only taking (it) one game at a time. One game at a time.”
Rhode have made it to four provincial finals in the last decade, but will be on their guard against the Louth champions, who produced an upset by beating Kildare’s Sarsfields on Sunday.
O’Mahony’s were an intermediate club as recently as 2014, when they went on to win the Louth IFC and beat Ciaran Killkenny’s Castleknock en route to the provincial title.
“We’ll go back training together on Tuesday night,” said wing-forward Stephen Hannon.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board again and see what needs to be done and let PK (Kellaghan) and them do their work. We’ll come back and put the gameplan in action and please God come out with a win.”
The semi-final will take place in Drogheda, a venue Kellaghan has experienced as a manager before.
The former Offaly forward was in charge of Monsterevin in 2012, the year they were crowned intermediate champions in Kildare and Leinster. The provincial final took place in Drogheda.
“Again if we don’t get over Sean O’Mahonys we can’t chase this big dream. One day at a time, we’ve two down, two to go. Drogheda next is going to be very difficult.
“I went up there with Monsterevin in 2012. We won an intermediate Leinster and the final actually up there. (It was) a very high scoring game, four points to three. But we came out there with the win. We know the task that’s ahead of us.”
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