Familiar foes to reunite in final four
Cathal Feely and his Boyle team-mates will be eyeing a return to the county senior football final when they tackle Pádraig Pearses in Saturday's semi-final at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Given the one-sided nature of their group encounter, few would have given Boyle much of a shot at downing their Woodmount-based foes in a rematch.
However, Pádraig Pearses’ below-par display against Michael Glaveys, despite winning comfortably in extra time, last time out and, to a lesser extent, Boyle’s professional display against Oran, has seen a degree of optimism emerge as far as the North Roscommon side’s chances are concerned.
Despite their ten-point victory, Pearses know that they got away with it against a wasteful Michael Glaveys side who will harbour huge regrets over their inaccuracy in front of goal.
Niall Murray’s charges know that a repeat display won’t be sufficient, but it says much about Pearses’ renowned spirit and battling qualities that they managed to take the game to extra time before emerging with a flattering triumph.
Jack Nevin has been a revelation in this year’s championship with his 1-2 proving pivotal against Glaveys. His pace from his new position of wing-back troubled Boyle in the group game.
Ronan Daly and Davy Murray showed all their experience in helping Pearses reach this stage, while Eoin Colleran and Paul Carey will cause any side danger. U-18 star, John Price, marked his first senior appearance with 1-1 off the bench as he could be a valuable option on Saturday.
Enda Smith made his first start of the campaign against Oran, while Luke McGrath’s return from injury has strengthened Boyle’s hand even further. Smith’s driving runs from deep were a noticeable feature of his side’s goals while Tadhg McKenna also hurt Oran with his raids down the left-hand flank.
Roch Hanmore grabbed a collector’s item of a goal during that win while Niall O’Donnell will aim to test Pearses’ middle third strength without Conor Ryan. Daire Cregg and Donie Smith possess the craft and guile to take over any game within the county.
Make no mistake about it, Boyle were flattered by the margin of their defeat against Pearses during the group clash in Strokestown. They will need to be 15 points better than what they were in that affair.
They have the players to trouble any team, but the odds favour Pearses’ know-how rather than the level of improvement required from Boyle in a relatively short amount of time.
Another rematch from the group stages.
Strokestown had a shot at victory a few weeks ago, but Niall Curley saw an extremely tricky 55-metre free fly just past the post. That encounter was characterised by Strokestown’s remarkable accuracy and their significant two-point threat.
St. Brigid’s only conceded ten scores in that affair but with six of those coming from outside the arc, Strokestown were able to keep St. Brigid’s honest. Damien Mulligan’s side were aided by a strong defensive showing on an afternoon when their rate of turnovers was unusually high.
However, St. Brigid’s attack looked far more convincing last time out against Roscommon Gaels, bagging 4-15, while Charlie O’Carroll, Mark Daly and Senan Kilbride (the latter two’s chances came in the same passage of play) coming close to further boosting the left-hand side of the scoreboard.
The reigning champions have been dealt a blow after Seán Trundle picked up a nasty ankle injury against the Gaels. With Paul McGrath and Eddie Nolan yet to see game time this year, St. Brigid’s have been forced to dig into their vast reserves. But Shane Cunnane’s return from his elbow injury is a boost.
Meanwhile, Strokestown look set to be without David Neary, who is travelling, while Shane McGinley was a notable absentee from their win over Castlerea. There were further concerns for Strokestown with David McDonnell, who had come into the team in Neary’s place, lasting just six minutes before picking up a knock. Keith Murphy should be commended for how he performed in the full-back line after dropping back but Strokestown would ideally want the attacker further up the field.
Seán McDonnell has endured his injury travails, but he produced a classy display off the bench last time out with Colin Compton, Colm Neary and Niall Curley impressing against Castlerea.
Strokestown have kicked 16 two-pointers across their four games, but they come up against a miserly St. Brigid’s side that hold the best defensive record out of the teams left standing.
Strokestown can give St. Brigid’s another stern test, but it is one the champions look equipped to come through.
A repeat of the teams’ opening championship game — one which St. Dominic’s won by 1-12 to 0-11, although they were comfortably the better side down in Tulsk.
That defeat would have stung everyone associated with Tulsk. They struggled to respond initially against St. Barry’s, with the sides deadlocked at 0-3 apiece at half time before Tulsk went up quite a few gears in the second half.
Their showing against St. Brigid’s also left some lingering questions but they produced by far their best display of the year against Creggs last time out.
The return of Padraig Scott and James Egan was a huge boost against an admittedly disappointing Creggs outfit. The Tulsk middle eight is the envy of many clubs, but they will need more from their forward line if they are to defy their underdog status.
Thomas O’Rourke has been the Player of the Year in the intermediate ranks while Daniel Connolly has made a sizeable difference since his return against St. Brigid’s.
Tadhg O’Rourke offers leadership in abundance, while Evan Flynn and Dylan Gaughan bring no shortage of attacking venom from deep.
Much like Pádraig Pearses, St. Dominic’s struggled to reach their optimum level after enjoying a dead rubber final group game. The Knockcroghery-based side were pushed all the way by Fuerty but their shooting efficiency will need to improve rapidly in a game where they dominated their opponents’ restarts but conceded far too many turnovers.
Eoin McCormack, Jack Lohan and Keith Doyle are in good form. Still, St. Dominic’s know that they will need a marked improvement in performance. But after being given their warning shot last time out, they get the nod to move a step closer to an immediate return to the senior ranks.
Another repeat pairing, although these sides haven’t squared off in the white heat of championship since last year’s county semi-final.
On that occasion, Éire Óg used their experience and know-how to edge past a St. Michael’s side in unfamiliar terrain.
Éire Óg come into this affair after a low-key 0-17 to 0-13 triumph over Shannon Gaels. Brendan Greene’s men always appeared to hold the upper hand in Abbey Park last time out but they came out second best in the midfield battle, something St. Michael’s will be aiming to punish once again.
Ronan Cahill stood out as he kicked three points in that quarter-final win, while Conor Cox is, unsurprisingly, his side’s top scorer in the championship, arrowing over 0-33 across the four games.
Cox has slotted six two-pointers in this campaign — a decent tally but well behind the astonishing 16 he had registered prior to last year’s semi-final. Yet, Éire Óg possess threats in Brian Greene and Jason Doory, although we have yet to see the pair catch fire at the same time this year.
St. Michael’s were forced to come through a gruelling affair with Kilmore, securing a 2-9 to 1-10 win after extra time in their quarter-final clash. They have yet to hit the heights of last year’s campaign but have arrived at the same destination.
Ruadhan and Fiachra Henry have led the way while the Oates brothers — Alex and Jeffrey — pack a punch up top. Goalkeeper Shane O’Dowd is a safe pair of hands while full-back Fiach MacConmara impressed last time out.
The Cootehall-based side will have gained invaluable experience 12 months ago, but Éire Óg are well-positioned to inflict the same fate once more.
Two teams that produced contrasting performances in their respective quarter-final victories.
Ballinameen kept their foot on the gas in seeing off Kilbride, while Kilglass Gaels were unable to keep the accelerator down in disposing of Boyle.
The North Roscommon side showed that they probably have the best forward unit in the championship, if they’re allowed to play.
Dean Casey was the conductor of the orchestra last time out, but the return of Ronan Garvin to top form after an injury-plagued few years, alongside the potency of Adam Dwyer, Peter Keane and Dessie Carlos in the full-forward line, ensures that Ballinameen have plenty of strings to their bow.
One can see why they have been scoring heavily, and a tally of 5-17, which included 5-16 from play, against one of their main rivals for intermediate honours should ensure that confidence is sky high in Ballinameen ranks ahead of Saturday’s encounter.
David Wynne’s raids up and down the right flank are another huge asset, but Kilglass will take some comfort from the way Kilbride were able to punch holes in the Ballinameen defence, especially earlier in the game.
The problem for Kilglass is that their second-half performance against Boyle raised more questions than answers about their credentials.
For 34 minutes, they were firmly in charge of their own destiny, leading by 2-9 to 0-3 before imploding and ending up lucky to survive by a point.
They have an impressive half-back line in Ciarán McHugh, Rory Conroy and Daniel Cox, and while Pierce Bolger has shown that he can shoulder most of the scoring burden, their lack of strength-in-depth might catch up with them.
A repeat of this season’s Tansey Cup final, which saw St. Aidan’s claim their first league silverware since 1999.
But Clann have responded impressively in this year’s Junior A campaign, winning all four of their championship games. They secured a comfortable 2-18 to 0-12 win over Western Gaels last time out with Dylan Sumner and Oisín Lennon lording the Castlerea skies by dominating both sets of kickouts.
Cian Fallon McGowan managed to kick five points — all from play — while Damien Duff’s ability to make off the ball runs will need to be curbed from an Aidan’s perspective.
Clann had the luxury of bringing Cathal Shine off the bench, with the veteran slotting 1-2 in the final quarter.
On the flip side, St. Aidan’s enter this contest without having played a championship game in September after St. Brigid’s C conceded their quarter-final.
But their dual stars got game time under their belts last Sunday when Four Roads lined out against Oran in the senior hurling championship semi-final. St. Aidan’s possess a sharp threat in attack as they finished the group stages, averaging just over 28 points per game.
Rory Coyle raided for 2-6 when these sides met in the league final while the likes of James Kelly, Gavin Meares, Gary Kelly and Adam Kenny will aim to build on their strong showings against Ballinameen in an earlier group game.
This is one of the toughest games of the weekend to call but St. Aidan’s youth and endeavour can help them go one step further after losing out at this stage last year.
