S.W. U23 Football Final
Dunsilly 12-00pm Sunday
Tir na nOg v All Saints
The South West U23 Cup final this Sunday brings together familiar foes when Tir na nOg take on All Saints at Dunsilly in what promises to be a tight encounter.
The development competition was introduced this year to give football to players who have been on the fringe of their senior sides but have not seen a lot of action but both of Sunday’s finalists will field sides backboned by senior players.
The sides met in the group stages earlier in the year at Whitehill with All Saints coming from behind to pip the Randalstown side by two points but that victory came at a price with the Ballymena side losing Shea O’Brien to a broken wrist.
Despite that loss Tir na nOg qualified for the semi-finals as runners up and last Sunday they travelled to Crumlin and overcame group B winners, St. James Aldergrove in a tight game that required extra time to decide.
Aaron McNeilly was their star performer on the day and it was his late scoring salvo that saw the Whitehill side through but he is just one of a number of established division 1 players who will backbone a strong Tir na nOg side.
Eamon Og McAllister, Ciaran O’Neill and Daryl Fagan have performed at the highest level this year and played their part in keeping their side in division 1 while Oliver McAtamney and Emmet Murray are others who have seen plenty of action in the top grade.
All Saints have been going well in the U23 Cup and have embraced the competition from the start with a number of players who saw little action during the league returning to their ranks.
They were unbeaten in the group stages and proved too strong for St. Enda’s in their semi-final in Ballymena last Sunday and have a number of senior regulars in their side including Patrick Ferris, Sean O’Callaghan, James McDonnell, Ciaran Campbell and Ronan McKillop, who scored 1-4 against the Hightown side.
There might not be too much between these sides on Sunday but despite that defeat at Whitehill the Randalstown side will start as slight favourites but this one could go either way,
