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IN one big league table between Division One and Division Two, just three spots would hypothetically separate Glenn and Bryansford, who get the 2026 Morgan Fuels Down Senior Championship underway on Thursday evening. Glenn survived the trapdoor at the bottom of the Division One league table while Bryansford sealed promotion from Division Two, finishing level on points with league champions Rostrevor. But recent championship campaigns have gone in different directions for the two clubs. Glenn have been a consistent championship team that have sailed under the radar, contesting back-to-back semi-finals in ’23 and ’24 before exiting at the quarter-final stage last season. Bryansford, who reached the quarter-finals in 2024 and lost out to Glenn by five points, just avoided relegation to the Intermediate Championship in 2025, beating Liatroim convincingly in the playoff final. They haven’t contested the final four of the SFC in a decade. Mark Copeland, who managed Aughlisnafin to the Junior Championship decider twelve months ago, says his side are looking forward to challenging themselves against Glenn. “The most impressive thing about Glenn is that they were reaching those semi-finals from Division Three. They’ve gone from Division Three to Division Two to Division One and secured Division One status this year so they are well prepared for the championship. “They’ve played a full season there in Division One and took a few scalps along the way in maintaining their Division One status and Stevie (Clarke) has them well setup and well prepared and I’m sure they are relishing another opportunity in the championship.” Can Bryansford, a team that operated outside the top tier in the league this season, take some confidence from Glenn’s rise and championship displays over the past number of years? With the likes of score-getters Rian Magorrian and Danny Savage at the attacking end of the pitch, Copeland believes that his side have the attacking quality to at least give them a fighting chance. “I think we have the squad of players to test ourselves,” Copeland continued. “Obviously we’ll be in Division One next year but now, to see where we are in comparison to those teams that are in Division One in the championship. “I think we have strong enough firepower up top to really test teams, it’s just weather we can really hold our defensive structures in place to stop other teams from scoring but certainly, in terms of firepower, I think we can compete with those teams.” Read more: Portaferry lay down marker as Ballycran and Ballygalget pick up wins on the road in Down SHC After a long but successful league campaign, Copeland’s men are fighting fit and ready to go for the championship campaign. He hopes to have everyone available to call upon as they travel to Liatroim this evening. “We’ve very fortunate,” the Bryansford boss explained. “I’d say that Thursday will be the first time that I’ve had a full complement of players to pick from, bar the couple of long term injuries we’ve had from the start and the middle of the season. “We’ve picked up a couple of ACL injuries and MCL injuries so they’ll miss out but it’s probably the first time this year where we have a panel of 30 odd players to choose from.”