Strokestown face arduous Allen Gaels test
Kieran Kilcline (left), seen here lining out for Roscommon Gaels against Pádraig Pearses in the 2024 Roscommon senior football final, will be in the Allen Gaels colours for Saturday afternoon's Connacht intermediate football semi-final against Strokestown at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: INPHO
Strokestown will have their sights on a place in the Connacht Club Intermediate Football Championship final when they entertain Leitrim champions, Allen Gaels, in the last four at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park on this Saturday at 1.30 p.m..
A month will have passed since the ‘Town’s hard-earned county success against Éire Óg, so there has been ample time for Pearse McGinley’s charges to prepare for this game.
While Strokestown — having won the Fahey Cup three ago — didn’t exactly swat aside every team they played in the race for the Jamesie Murray, making up for the disappointment of last year’s final loss against Elphin was the only currency of any value to the Black and Amber this year.
With that pressure cooker now extinguished, they should be able to kick on and enjoy a good provincial campaign.
Where it takes them, who knows, but facing an Allen Gaels team that also banished the heartbreak of losing the 2024 Leitrim decider — where they blew an eight-point lead late on against Melvin Gaels — should give them a fair indication of where they’re at.
Allen Gaels have been Roscommon’s equivalent of St. Croan’s in this year’s Junior A championship. The closest any team got to them in Leitrim were Gortletteragh in the opening round, and that was an eight-point victory for Allen Gaels.
They made light work of the challenge of St. Patrick’s Dromahair by 3-16 to 1-7 in the final to banish the doubts of 12 months earlier when Melvin Gaels grabbed three late goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The addition of former Roscommon Gaels player, Kieran Kilcline, to their team has done them no harm and he makes up a potent full-forward line alongside Ciarán McMorrow and Ciarán Walsh.
Former Shannon Gaels and Roscommon coach, James Deane, is part of their management set-up, while joint captain Adrian Sorohon is a teacher in Strokestown, so they’ll have the inside knowledge to know exactly what the Roscommon champions will bring to the table.
Kilcline, Radek Oberwan, Caleb Duffy, Karl Foley, Brian Mulvey, Arek Oberwan and Adrian Sorohan were superb during the Drumshanbo-based side’s ruthless dismissal of St. Patrick’s Dromahair.
So Strokestown have been forewarned about the dangers of taking this particular Leitrim outfit for granted but, crucially, they have enough experience to ensure that complacency doesn’t become a factor next Saturday afternoon.
Midfield remains a concern, however, and having to play Colm Neary there in the final against Éire Óg wasn’t ideal, but if Strokestown can gain any sort of parity around the middle third, they certainly have the firepower up front to reach the final.
Shane McGinley, Keith Murphy, Kevin Finn and Diarmuid McGann are proven score-getters, while David Neary, Seán Mullooly and captain Colin Compton, who has alternated more between the half-back line and midfield this season, bring a wealth of big-game know how to their side’s defence.
The word on the ground is that Allen Gaels are the strongest intermediate team to emerge from Leitrim in some time. Consequently, they’ll quietly fancy their chances, but, it appears, that they haven’t met a team of Strokestown’s calibre.
If the Black and Amber are in the mood, and win enough ball around the middle third, they can overcome a difficult test and book their place in the final against Kilmeena or Coolaney/Mullinabreena.
