Both of the county’s intermediate champions, hurling and football, are in action on Sunday, January 20. Oranmore /Maree travel to Parnell Park, Dublin to face Ulster holders St. Gall’s while An Spidéal also face Antrim opposition, Naomh Éanna, in their penultimate tie in Navan on the same day.
Both games throw in at 2pm on January 20 and we could be looking at an unprecedented Antrim-Ulster double with the All-Ireland intermediate finals in the respective codes to take place at Croke Park on the weekend of February 9-10.
St. Gall’s face a stiff test as they head to Parnell Park on Sunday to face Oranmore/Maree of Galway but it is a game that they are capable of winning and under the guidance of Mickey Culbert the Milltown side certainly will not be making the journey to Dublin just to make up the numbers.
After a poor start to the Antrim division 2 league this year the Belfast outfit have shown steady improvement as the season progressed culminating in Antrim and Ulster championship success.
CJ McGourty in action against Swatragh in the Ulster semi-final. A big performance from CJ will be vital if Gall’s are to advance on Sunday
A storming finish to the league saw St. Gall’s climb the table to finish second to a strong Ballycastle side but it was in the championship that they really came to life. They began that championship campaign with victory over city rivals, Gort na Mona in a bad tempered encounter at Corrigan at the end of August which saw them emerge with five points to spare.
Five days later they took on Oisin’s on a Friday night under the floodlights at Quinn Park, Ballymena and certainly didn’t get it all their own way during a very competitive first half. St. Gall’s found something extra however in the second half to run out winners by eight points and Mickey Culbert’s men were starting to show a bit of form.
They were drawn against St. Enda’s in the semi-final and repeated their league double success over the Glengormley side running out winners by six points to set up a meeting with surprise packets, Kickham’s Creggan in the final.
The Staffordstown Road side had played their hurling in division 3 of the ACH League and after a good run early in the year their form had dipped dramatically come the end of the season where they failed to gain promotion with Clooney Gaels and Cathaoir an Ri piping them for the promotion places.
Mickey Culbert the St. Gall’s manager hoping to lead his side to an All Ireland Intermediate hurling final
Come the championship however and the return of key players Kickham’s hit a rich vein of form which resulted in them beating Armoy, Rasharkin and Cathaoir an Ri to reach the final and despite their division 3 status they certainly presented St. Gall’s with a formidable hurdle in the decider.
In a real thriller of an Antrim final St. Gall’s produced a strong second half performance to overcome the challenge of Kickham’s Creggan in a tough uncompromising Intermediate Hurling Championship final at a windy Hannastown. Playing with the breeze in the opening half, Kickham’s dominated the first half exchanges.
Creggan were to rue a number of bad misses in the opening half but still led by 0-10 to 0-4 by the 25th minute and looked to be heading to the dressing room with a fairly healthy lead. St. Gall’s had been on the back foot for a time but CJ McGourty landed a much needed free and when Jackson McGreevey got on the end of a Mark Napier cross in the 28th minute to finish to the net from close range the Milltown men were right back in contention but still trailed by four at the break.
During the second half St. Gall’s slowly wore down their opponents with CJ McGourty leading the way. They went on to win by two points in an excellent final which quite literally could have gone either way with CJ McGourty collecting the Saffron Gael man-of-the-match award.
It was now down to Ulster and a meeting with Fermanagh champions Lisbellaw and the Fermanagh side certainly put it up to the Antrim men but second half goals from Sean McAreavey and Mark Napier sealed the deal.
CJ McGourty led the way with 0-8 (4 frees) with Karl Stewart and Kieran McGourty amongst the St. Gall’s scorers as they ran out 2-19 to 1-16 winners to book a semi-final spot against Derry champions Swatragh at Owenbeg.
St. Gall’s looked in control against the Derry champions at half-time as a Conor Burke’s goal helped them to a deserved 1-11 to 0-7 lead at the interval.
However, on the restart Swatragh took the game to their opponents with five unanswered points with the brilliant Eoghan O’Kane proving a handful while Ruairi Convery was deadly accurate from the placed ball as they reeled in the Antrim champions.
O’Kane and Karl Stewart exchanged goals for their sides and a late major from Fintan McGurk looked to have sealed a dramatic one-point win for the Derry side, but Tomás Ó Ciarain’s late pointed free sent the game into time added on.
In extra-time, St Gall’s were the better side and a goal from CJ McGourty finally put the game beyond Swatragh after an absorbing 80-plus minutes of Championship hurling to set up a meeting with Keady of Armagh.
In the Ulster final St Galls claimed their first Ulster Intermediate Hurling title since 2009 with a 2-12 to 0-11 win over Keady, Lamh Dhearg at Pairc Esler. CJ McGourty hit the opening goal five minutes before the half-time break and despite losing Jackson McGreevy to a second yellow card inside the first ten minutes of the second-half, the Milltown side remained on the front foot and a second goal from substitute Sean McAreavey ensured the title would be heading to Milltown Row.
St. Gall’s carry a wealth of experience within their ranks and a number of this side are no strangers to appearance on the big stage and that experience could stand to them on Sunday. Joe McDaniel at full-back captains the side and the no nonsense defender will relish the challenge.
Sean Burke, Niall O’Neill and Justin McGreevey are all excellent defenders and Aodhan Gallagher has been outstanding in the sweeper role all year. Karl Stewart, Kieran McGourty and Tomas O’Ciaran add a wealth of experience and know how in attack but it is in CJ McGourty that the Milltown side could have a decisive edge.
McGourty has provided the vital scores in St. Gall’s journey through Antrim and Ulster, scoring an important one in extra time against Swatragh and again coming up trumps in the opening half against Keady with the goal that would ultimately see them through.
Mickey Culbert brings a wealth of experience of his own to the table having led St. Gall’s footballers to a lot of Antrim success and had a spell as Antrim football manager and he has brought that experience and knowhow to the Milltown hurlers.
He raised a few eyebrows in the Ulster final, replacing goalkeeper McGreevey at half time because he felt his replacement P McCaffrey could cause the Keady defence problems with his long puck outs and his assessment proved spot on.
Who will start in the number one jersey on Sunday remains to be seen but whatever side takes to the field are in with a fighting chance against an Oranmore/Maree side who were regarded as under achievers in Galway prior to this year’s impressive championship success.
The Galway men have a number of county panellists within their ranks and will certainly take some beating but if St Galls can get off to a good start and are firing on all cylinders then they are capable of making it through to the All-Ireland final in the second week of February.
St Galls v Keady: C McGreevy, S Morrison, J McDaniel, A Hannaway, N O’Neill, S Burke, J McGreevy (0-01)J Hopkins, C Stewart (0-01), C Burke, K McGourty (0-01), T O’Ciarain (0-03f), C McGourty (1-05,0-04f), A Gallagher, M Napier (0-01). Subs: S McAreavey (1-00) for M Napier, P McCaffrey for C McGreevy, A Healy for J Hopkins, M Donnelly for S Burke