Junior B Hurling final
St. Enda’s: 4-00pm Saturday
Loch Mor Dal gCais v All Saints
Both these sides went into last Saturday’s semi-finals as underdogs but neither bothered to read the script as a Ciaran Neeson inspired All Saints overcame the challenge of Latharna Og while Ruairi Bannon and Murtagh Moran scored the goals that sank Ardoyne.
The introduction of the Junior B championship a few years back was initially looked upon with some scepticism but in reality has provided a realistic opportunity for those taking part to gain some silverware. This year Saturday’s finalist will both advance to the Junior A competition where they will be joined by teams from division 3 and chances of success look a lot slimmer.
That’s for another day however and the respective management of Loch Mor Dal gCais and All Saints are unlikely to have cast an eye in the direction of the A championship as they concentrate on a Junior B final that can define their season.
There appears to be little between the sides from what we saw last Saturday. Both sides were impressive as they cast aside the mantle of underdogs to overcome the challenge of Latharna Og and Kickham’s and both camps will have gained confidence from their respective victories.
Saturday’s opponents met at Falls Park in the league back on the 20th June with All Saints emerging victorious on a score-line of 3-17 to 2-18 in a high scoring and entertaining game of hurling.
Loch Mor Dal gCais’ Ruairi Bannon who scored 2-2 in his side’s win over Ardoyne 
Ciaran Neeson who has been All Saints top scorer this season
As I eluded to in last week’s preview of the semi-final, league results count for little when it comes to championship hurling and that opinion was born out by the results from last Saturday’s semi-finals.
Loch Mor Dal gCais have made steady progress since their formation back in 2013. The club was formed to introduce hurling and Camogie to the lough shore area and has made steady progress to reach their first senior final this Saturday.
They have a superb goalkeeper in Bailey Graham and his massive puck-outs were a feature of last Saturday’s duel with Ardoyne and put his side on the front foot nearly every time he hit one and it is certainly something that All Saints will have to deal with.
Aaron Monaghan, Gerard Pickering Jnr, Conor Jones and Paul Molloy were excellent in defence against Ardoyne with Molloy weighing in with a couple of long range points. Martin Braniff and Cormac Dwyer form a hard working mid-field partnership and both are capable of getting scores.
In attack Ruairi Bannon and Murtagh Moran carry a real goal scoring threat with Bannon hitting 2-2 against the Kickham’s and Moran getting their other major while Darragh Turley in the other corner has given All Saints plenty of problems in the past and will take careful watching.
Like Loch Mor, All Saints will take a lot of heart from their win over Latharna Og and will feel they have enough in store to shade Saturday’s final but their opponents will be thinking along similar lines.
Darragh Turley can be a match winner on his day for Loch Mor Dal gCais 
Ciaran Cassley, a reliable keeper for All Saints all season
Ciaran Cassley in goals is a reliable keeper and his form this year has inspired confidence in the men around him. Chris McAfee at full-back and Luke O’Rawe at centre-half provide a strong spine to a defence where youngster Kevin Brady and the experienced Colum Neeson have been consistent.
Vinny Esler and Gary Miskella are hard-working and combative mid-fielders while in attack Ciaran Neeson, Damian Gillan and Conal Little will provide the greatest scoring threat. All Saints will be contesting their third Junior B final in four years having won the trophy in 2018 and lost to Larne in the final in 2019 so they will know what it takes to succeed at this level.
I know it’s a bit of a cliché but the team who rises to the occasion on the day will emerge as winners and this one can certainly go either way but in a tight contest the opportunity of lifting a first trophy at this level could be the catalyst to edge it in favour of the Lough Shore men.