Decision time in semi-finals

Decision time in semi-finals

26 September 2018

THERE are GAA championship semi-final showdowns all the way this weekend.

The action gets underway on Friday night at Pairc Esler in Newry when Darragh Cross face Liatroim in the first of the Parador Lodge IFC semi-finals at 6.45pm. This will be followed by the Morgan Fuels SFC last four encounter between derby rivals Burren and Mayobridge at 8.15pm.

Twenty-four hours later at the same venue, Bredagh and Saul lock horns in the IFC at 5.30pm and at 7pm champions Kilcoo take on Warrenpoint in the SFC.

The Darragh Cross v Liatroim clash is a tough one to call. 

Both teams play in Division 2 with Darragh enjoying the better of results and are sitting just outside the top four with games in hand. Inconsistency has plagued Liatroim all season and they are precariously perched fourth from bottom with three league games left to play.

Darragh beat Liatroim in the league 3-13 to 0-13 back in August and also accounted for Atticall, Drumgath and Bredagh in the championship, while Liatroim lost to Atticall, but saw off Dundrum and St John’s in the Championship.

Darragh will look to Matty Hardy, Oisin McConvey, Shane Murray, Lee Morrison, Marcus Miskelly and Michael Monan with Liatroim banking on big games from P J Davidson, Conor and Ruairi McCrickard, Gerard McAnulty and Liam Middleton.  

Darragh seem to have the edge in experience and their exciting attacking formation should be too much for Liatroim to handle.

The Burren v Mayobridge SFC clash is expected to be an intriguing affair with no quarter asked or given.

Paddy O’Rourke’s side sit proudly at the top of the ACFL Division 1, but lost both league games this season to Mayobridge, who are six points behind the leaders with a game in hand.

Burren have been impressive in beating Loughinisland, Carryduff and Castlewellan to get this far with Mayobridge accounting for An Riocht, Saval and Clonduff.

Burren are a solid all-round side and can rely on Donal O’Hare, Liam Kerr, Paudie Poland, Ryan Treanor, Cathal Foy and David McEntee to take and make scores.

Benny Coulter has Mayobridge purring again and in Ryan Brady, Cathal Magee, Caolan Gallagher, Conleth O’Hare and Kevin McClorey he has potential match winners who will all need stopping if Burren are to progress.

Bredagh are expected to see off Saul in the IFC on Friday night, given they play in a higher division.

However, Saul are just one more win away from lifting the Division 3 title and a win over Glasdrumman in their last game on October 13 will see them promoted as champions.

On their day, Bredagh are a match for anyone and should have too much power for Saul. However, Donnan Ritchie’s side showed against a fancied Ballymartin outfit that they fear one one and if they can repeat that sort of display then Bredagh may watch out.

Bredagh will look for big efforts from Donal Hughes, Tommy McElroy, Donal McKegney, Michael Robinson, Conor Francis and Owen Costello with Saul relying on Adam King, Cathail Arnold, the Harney brothers, Caolan Magee and Rory Mullen.

Unfortunately, star player Pierce Laverty will miss the game as he headed off to Australia on Sunday to take part in a week-long series of Aussie Rules trials.

Following this game, Kilcoo will continue in their bid to make it seven-in-a-row when they face Warrenpoint.

Kilcoo have again arrived at this stage of the competition with a minimum of fuss and it’s going to take an exceptional side to wrestle the Frank O’Hare Cup from their grasp.

Ryan and Jerome Johnston look to be flying again after an injury-interrupted season and they have the perfect foils in Conor Laverty and Ceilum Doherty with Paul Devlin directing affairs in and around the middle of the park.

The Branagan brothers are also expected to have a massive impact on the game as they set about taming Joe Magee, Aaron Magee, Ross McGarry, Ryan Mallon and Ryan and John Boyle. 

There is also a county final to look forward to on Sunday when Portaferry and Ballycran battle it out for the Senior Hurling Championship title in Ballygalget at 3pm.