The quarter-finals of the Senior Football Championship takes place this weekend and it all kicks off with Gaoth Dobhair against Sean MacCumhaills on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams are quite familiar with each other, they’ve been drawn against one another often enough in the championship.
It looks like Sean MacCumhaills are on an upwards trajectory. They’ve performed well, especially over the last three games where they’ve played very well.
Oisin Gallen is back on the pitch and they’ve a lot of the young lads playing well, with the likes of Conor McGinty and Sean Martin.
They also have Jamie Keegan who is performing well, they’ve a lot of good players and they’re probably the form team going into this match.
Gaoth Dobhair have had the championship tradition for many years and they got to the final last year. Even though it’s quite a young Gaoth Dobhair side, they have that experience.
There’s not much between these two teams but I fancy Sean MacCumhaills to get over the line and get into a semi-final.
St Eunan’s and Dungloe will take to the field for the second quarter-final at MacCumhaill Park on Saturday night.
Dungloe are without Conor Greene who picked up an injury. The one area that they couldn’t afford to lose a player is the inside forward line and Conor was that player for them.
He took a lot of pressure off them and he could win his own ball, he was a real handful in there but he’s out.
Niall O’Donnell is back from America and he’ll probably be involved which is a massive boost for St Eunan’s.
With Niall back, St Eunan’s will definitely fancy their chances. With himself and his brothers, Shane and Conor, there’s a good spine to the team.
There’s a lot of good quality in the St Eunan’s side and they have a lot of things going for them. They maybe haven’t been firing on all cylinders but it’s knockout football now.
I think they’ll be a real threat for this championship and think they’ll get over the line on Saturday.
I think the loss of Conor Greene and the fact they don’t have a prolific scorer, Dungloe might come up short but it will go down to the wire.
Naomh Conaill and Kilcar will meet at Father Tierney Park and it’s probably the one match that Kilcar didn’t want to get in the draw.
They put up a good show in the group stage in Towney but without the likes of Patrick McBrearty, Mark McHugh and Matthew McClean, it’s a big ask for them against a really strong Naomh Conaill squad.
When you see Jeaic Mac Ceallabhui coming off the bench and kicking 1-2 in the last game and that experience of playing inter county football over the last number of years.
They have Finnbarr Roarty, Shea Malone and Max Campbell, three of the best young players in the county and have been for a couple of years now.
You also have the experience of Ciaran Thompson, Charles McGuinness and Brendan McDyer in there so they’ve a good blend of youth and experience.
There’s no doubt that they’re the favourites to win the Dr Maguire Cup again. I think they’ll have too much for Kilcar on Sunday and I expect them to get into another semi-final.
In the final quarter-final of the weekend, St Michael’s and Glenswilly will face-off at O’Donnell Park which is another interesting game.
These teams are well used to each other down through the years. The difference in Glenswilly’s win over Termon was Michael Murphy again.
Michael has been key for them and how St Michael’s deal with the threat of him will be critical.
Glenswilly have a lot of good young players coming through as well and they will go in as favourites I feel.
St Michael’s had a massive performance against Four Masters in the preliminary quarter-finals, none more so than the performance of Michael Langan.
I think St Michael’s will need that type of performance again this weekend.
Apart from that aerial dominance in the middle of the park where Langan can secure that primary ball, his kicking ability is second to none.
He’s probably the best two-point shooter that we have in the county and that could be huge on Sunday afternoon.
It’s a fascinating game that will definitely go down to the wire. But with the form that Michael Murphy has been showing to date, I think Glenswilly will get over the line in a tough encounter,
Intermediate Football Championship
The Intermediate Football Championship semi-finals take place this weekend, with all four clubs involved coming from the Inishowen area.
It was heavily tipped in favour of an Inishowen team coming out top when you saw the sides in the championship.
In the group stage, Buncrana was the team really showing form but ultimately Carndonagh defeated them in the quarter-final, coming from a deficit at half-time to win it.
They face Malin now on Sunday and it’s a real local derby. Malin are the last team to play in the Senior Championship from Inishowen and they’ll have one eye on getting back up there.
This is a massive game and a difficult one to call. But with the win over Buncrana and the return of Conor O’Donnell, I’m edging it towards Carndonagh reaching an Intermediate Final.
Burt will face Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin in the other semi-final and it’s difficult to see the consistency with both teams.
It’s a tough one to call but I think this game will go down to the wire. If Caolan McColgan is unavailable for Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin then the pendulum may swing in Burt’s favour.
But I think it might possibly be the Muff outfit and Carndonagh meeting in the Intermediate Final.
Junior Football Championship
My own club Na Rossa will meet Letterkenny Gaels in the Junior Football Championship semi-finals.
Aidy Glackin’s side have been hot favourites to win this championship from day one and that probably doesn’t change.
Na Rossa is 50 years in existence, and we’ve had our own difficulties over the last couple of weeks in terms of off-field issues and having a few players missing through injury.
It’ll be a real championship affair but Letterkenny Gaels are the favourites. Our lads will certainly be up for it and I’m looking forward to that challenge.
Urris and Naomh Ultan meet in the other semi-final and both teams have been patchy in their form.
Urris probably didn’t expect to get to this stage but they have done very well. Naomh Ultan put up a big performance against Naomh Brid last time out.
It’ll be another exciting game but I expect Naomh Ultan to get over the line and set them up for a junior final in a couple of weeks time