Club action continues in the Intermediate and Junior Football Championships this weekend, as well as the first of this year’s Minor Football Championship Finals.
McElvaney Waste & Recycling Intermediate Football Championship Round 2A
Currin v Rockcorry, Sunday, 1.30, Smithborough
Inniskeen v Tyholland, Sunday, 6.00, Blackhill
The first two IFC semi-final places are up for grabs on Sunday.
First up is Currin v Rockcorry in Smithborough. These teams currently occupy the relegation places in the IFL, but they made light of that to beat Cremartin and Emyvale in the first round of the championship. One of Currin’s two league wins to date came against Rock, but injury has once again robbed them of Jack McCarron.
Niall McKeown, Fergal McGeough, Mark Daly, Mark Thornton and Mark McGuirk should play key roles for 2015 Ulster JFC winners Rockcorry, while Currin will need big performances from the likes of Dick Clerkin, Stephen Smyth, Ciarán McCaffrey and Paul Rudden.
Later that evening, two of intermediate’s form teams meet in Blackhill, namely Inniskeen and Tyholland.
Inniskeen haven’t lost since June, with their eight-match winning run featuring championship victories over Killanny and Donaghmoyne, while Tyholland are just a point adrift of the top of the league with a game in hand, having seen off Aughnamullen in their IFC opener. It’s been honours even in these clubs’ meetings this year, with Inniskeen edging the most recent earlier this month.
Inniskeen will be looking to Dónal, Paul and Ronan Meegan, Matthew McKenna and Anthony Keenan to lead the way, with Karl O’Connell, Dermot Coyle, Ronan McNally, Gary McQuaid and Brian McArdle among the main men for Tyholland.
McElvaney Waste & Recycling Intermediate Football Championship Round 2B
Aughnamullen v Donaghmoyne, Friday, 8.15, Inniskeen
Corduff v Emyvale, Saturday, 5.30, Drumhowan
It’s last-chance-saloon time for the other four teams in IFC action this weekend, starting with Friday night’s back-door tie between Donaghmoyne and Aughnamullen in Inniskeen. Donaghmoyne have led the way in the IFL throughout this year, but following their loss to rivals Inniskeen in a fiery championship encounter, they have fallen to back-to-back league defeats, including one against Aughnamullen, who saw off Killanny in the last round, having lost out to Tyholland.
Both teams can call on star county minor attackers: Donaghmoyne’s David Garland and Aughnamullen’s Micheál Bannigan. Donaghmoyne will need Pádraig Donaghy, Francis Markey, Ronan McDonald and Stephen Finnegan on form, with Shane Conlon, Kevin and Seán Sheridan and Chris Keenan key to Aughnamullen’s chances.
Emyvale and Corduff clash in Drumhowan on Saturday.
Corduff haven’t played in the championship since losing to Donaghmoyne back in July and they have been yo-yoing around the bottom half of the league all year, but two of their five wins have come in tight games against Emyvale, who are four points ahead in the table. Emyvale lost to Rockcorry in the first round, but the finished strongly to edge out Cremartin last Saturday.
Emyvale will be hoping to get the most out of Ryan McAnespie, Daniel McMahon, David McAlister, Gregory Devlin and Karl McQuaid, while Corduff will need Pádraic Keenan, Jason Hand, Keith McEnaney and Ciarán Brennan at their best.
Universal Graphics Junior Football Championship Round 3B
Clones v Drumhowan, Friday, 8.15, Emyvale
Éire Óg v Toome, Saturday, 5.30, Cremartin
The JFC semi-final line-up should be completed by Saturday evening. Clones and Drumhowan put their hopes on the line under Emyvale’s floodlights on Friday night.
Having lost to Blackhill, wins over Corduff and Aghabog have kept Clones in the hunt, while Drumhowan saw off Aghabog and Toome, only to also fall short against the three-in-a-row runners-up.
Colm Lambe and David Millar were among the absentees for Drumhowan last time out, but the former returned in their win over Corduff last week and they are specialists in this competition, with four victories in the last decade, and they also have Kevin Mooney and Darren Duffy in their ranks. Clones are without county man Fintan Kelly, who is still in New York, but they have been in prolific form and they will hope Adrian Alford James Mealiff, Fabian Beggan, Colm Connolly and Eoin McQuaid lead them through.
Toome and Éire Óg meet in Cremartin on Saturday. Toome have recovered from losing to Drumhowan to dump Killeevan and Scotstown out of the JFC, while Éire Óg hammered Killeevan, before being edged in their derby against Seán McDermotts. Éire Óg hold the edge in their league meetings: a win and a draw and 5-24 scored to their opponents’ 3-28, but Toome are on a high after JFL Cup wins over Blackhill and the Seáns.
Both teams are powered by promising young forwards, including James Wilson and Frank Connolly for Toome and Dermot Gleeson and Michael Tierney for Éire Óg, so this game could be a shoot-out. Gary Wilson, Seán McMahon and Ryan Murphy also have plenty to offer for Toome, as do Éire Óg’s Ronan Cassidy, Darach McCluskey and Conor Leonard.
Maguire Transport Minor Football Championship Division Three Final
Latton v Seán McDermotts, Sunday, 5.45, Aghabog
Latton and Seán McDermotts contest a minor final for the second time in recent weeks at Aghabog on Sunday.
Latton won the league decider between these teams by a single point, just weeks after falling to their only defeat of the year so far by two points against the Seáns, so a close encounter is again on the cards. Latton saw off Tyholland on their way to this final, while the Seáns got the better of Cremartin.
Dylan and Liam Quinn, Conor McCabe and Niall Maguire should be to the fore for Latton, with the Seáns depending on the likes of Aaron McNally, Ryan McElvaney, Patrick McPhillips and Ryan Connolly.
Scotstown host Castleblayney in the County Monaghan Group of Credit Unions Senior Football League on Friday evening. Leaders Ballybay host Truagh on Saturday, when two of the other fixtures are also repeats of recent championship clashes (Monaghan Harps v Clontibret and Latton v Magheracloone) and the remaining game sees Carrickmacross attempt to build on last week’s win when they take on Doohamlet.
The Gerry’s Prepared Veg. juvenile football competitions are reaching the final stages at all levels. 11 of the 12 Under-12 Football League Finals will be played in a bumper schedule this Saturday, starting at 11am. There are six games to be played in Clones, with another five in Blackhill, while the one remaining final goes ahead in Latton on Sunday and there are also a couple of Under-14 Football League Finals down for decision this week. Check fixture list to confirm full details.
By cshalvey Fri 2nd Sep
