Second Minor Semi-Final Down for Decision

Saturday 5-00pm O’Cahan Park, Portglenone

The second of the Antrim Minor Football Championship semi-finals are down for decision this Saturday when St. Mary’s Aghagallon face All Saints Ballymena at O’Cahan Park, Portglenone  and like last week’s game between Rossa and Creggan, this one again looks hard to call.

I said in last week’s preview of Rossa and Creggan that it could go either way and indeed it took 20 minutes of extra time to separate the protagonists with the Shaw’s Road side emerging victorious and they will now be installed as firm favourites to win the Championship.

That prediction is unlikely to affect Saturday’s opponents and indeed both All Saints and Aghagallon recorded league wins over the O’Donovan’s but league form will have little bearing when it comes to Saturday’s Championship clash.

Only two points separated the sides when they met in round 5 of the league in Ballymena at the start of May with the lads from the County Armagh border winning that one on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-11 so on that form there doesn’t appear to be a lot between them and like last Sunday’s game it could be down to who wants it most.

All Saints were All Ireland Feile winners in 2014 but in the subsequent years that side has failed to measure up to the expectations that that excellent achievement created. This particular group were beaten by Rossa in the U16 final two years ago and a year later the Feile winning group surprisingly lost to Erin’s Own Cargin in the South West U16 Final.

Their form in the early part of this year’s minor league was patchy but they seem to have run into a bit of form late in the league with a good away win to Rossa and that form has carried into the Championship with wins over St. Gall’s and Tir na nOg.

Aghagallon have turned in some good performances in the Minor League and are a side who have shown continued progress from U14 through to minor. They went on to finish fourth in the Minor League, two places above Saturday’s opponents while in the Championship they have defeated neighbours Glenavy in the quarter-final after receiving a bye against St. Enda’s.

Both sides have been drawn in what is clearly the softer side of the draw and neither have been severely tested but Saturday will surely provide both with a big test and a true indication of where they  stand at present.

Jack Lenehan, Seamus Donnelly, James Lavery and Vincent McConville will carry a strong scoring threat for the Lough Shore side and they will start Saturday’s semi-final as favourites against a Ballymena side who will look to Aaron Montgomery,  Rhys O’Mullan, Ryan McGarry, Shea O’Brien, Kavan Keenan, Matthew Downey, Ronan Laverty and Cory Lyttle for inspiration.