THIS one could be put down as a clash between raw potential and gnarled experience. More often than not gnarled experience wins out, but there are times, like when the Kingdom's footballers came acropper against Down recently, that youth when given its head wins out.

Perhaps, it's unfair to constantly harp on about Crotta's youth and potential. Against Kilmoyley in the last round they gave as good as they got for long stretches and while in the end it wasn't enough, they showed enough to shake off any concerns about naivety that dogged them after last year's campaign.

Their opponents on the otherhand, while not totally devoid of young players like star forward James Flatherty for example, are far more experienced than their opponents. For all that, however, they've struggled to get into the swing of things in this championship. Good for stretches here and there, but listless at other times.

It's something which hasn't escaped the notice of their manager Thomas Fitzmaurice, but the Lixnaw man sees bright skies on the horizon for his men in the wake of their performance against Ballyheigue in last week's replay. "There were a few negatives in that first half. Those two sloppy goals that we gave away, those were the type of goals that we haven't been giving away all year.

"In that first half we were a bit hesitant, but in the second half we were much better. We really dominated possession and restricted Ballyheigue to just two points. Somebody told me that we had eleven scoring opportunites, however, that we didn't take. We need to work on that," he noted.

It also gave his men a much needed additional game and while that has come at the expense of a few injuries – Maurice Corridan and Paudie Lyons picked up knocks that leave their participation in question, while Paul Galvin picked up a groin injury during last Saturday's County SFC clash for Feale Rangers – it is something he views as a positive.

"Certainly the more games you get the better. A game, as you know, is worth way more to you than all the training sessions in the world, but you just don't know how the game will go until the day," he stated.

Crotta boss Paul Shanahan, who has a full panel of players to choose from, feels that there will be nothing between the sides on Saturday evening. "Any time we've played Lixnaw over the years it's been very close and you'd expect that again. There's always been a great rivalry between the clubs and maybe that's gone down a bit in recent years, but it won't be long coming back up when you face them in championship," he commented.

Like the other game this weekend this is a really hard one to call. Crotta probably have that little bit more exhuberence about them, a little more zip, but when the pressure comes on all too often the reponsibility falls on Shane Nolan to deliver the goods. Against a Lixnaw side who have some very good defenders – Maurice and Pat Corridan (who is back in training after his long term lay off), Brendan Brosnan and Trevor McKenna – they might struggle for scores. John Griffin and Steven Power would also be expected to have enough for Crotta's talented, if raw, combo of Richard Nolan and Sean Weir and while Lixnaw haven't been playing well or scoring freely you can't say that of Michael Conway and James Flaherty.

Despite their flaws, which game by game they are addressing, Lixnaw look the safter bet at this point in time.

Verdict: Lixnaw

- Damian Stack