The Intermediate Football Championship gets underway this weekend and once again this looks as if it may well prove to be the most competitive of the championships in the county.

A number of teams will fancy their chances of coming away with the title although it will be hard to look past the Division One teams in the competition when picking an overall winner.

The Intermediate Championship includes four teams from the top division and they will all rightly feel that they have a good chance of claiming the spoils.

After a very impressive league campaign, Kinawley will likely enter the championship as favourites.

The Brian Borus came flying out of the blocks and were the main challengers to Derrygonnelly for a long period of the season at the top of the table.

They did tail away towards the end of the campaign but manager Mark Monaghan will have been delighted with a top four finish and they will now be setting their sights on the championship, with a game against Enniskillen on Saturday evening.

Kinawley have a good blend of youth and experience and will look to the likes of Niall Bogue, Shaun Doherty, Conor Murphy and Ruairi Corrigan to lead their bid for honours.

Both Lisnaskea and St Pat’s will also fancy their chances with the pair to meet in the quarter-finals of the competition.

St. Pat’s enjoyed a good finish to the league as they secured a mid-table finish away from the play-offs at the bottom and they will be aiming for a championship run.

Eamon Maguire, Pat Cadden and Cameron McBrien all providing a scoring threat and if they get over the first hurdle they will be a real threat.

Lisnaskea disappointed in the league and face a relegation play-off but they will now look to put that behind them and manager Kevin O’Rourke will be hoping that his side can go one better than last season when they were beaten in the final by Belcoo.

Irvinestown are another serious contender for the title and begin their bid against Newtownbutler on Saturday.

Sean Donnelly has plenty of quality to call on in the likes of James Duffy, Gary Maguire, Ronan Ormsby and Liam Murphy and if they hit form they will be hard to beat.

That’s not to say that the four Division Two teams can be discounted.

Enniskillen enjoyed a good league campaign and will be looking to continue building with a team backed by their Ulster Minor Club winning side. With the experience of Richard O’Callaghan and Ryan McCluskey they will provide a stern test for any opposition.

Bellanaleck were impressive during the league before hitting a poor patch towards the end. They finished in the top four though and any team that boasts talent such as Che Cullen, Lee Cullen and Kane Connor are a side to be reckoned with.

They will play Maguiresbridge in the quarter-final and although the ‘Bridge did not have the best of league campaigns, they are a side who can cause problems with Ciaran Corrigan and Daniel Teague key men.

Newtown will be underdogs in their meeting with Irvinestown but they have plenty of championship pedigree in their ranks in the shape of James Connolly, Brendan McBrien and Shane Leonard and will feel that they have the tools to put a run together in the championship.