Whatever the results, this weekend’s U21 Football finals will see both the A & B titles end up in the city. It will be take your pick for the neutral supporters as both finals have been fixed for 12 noon on Sunday, depriving spectators of the opportunity of taking in both games.
Both finals involve teams from the city with St. Gall’s hoping to retain the trophy they won last year when they take on St. Brigid’s in the A final while the B decider is also an all city clash with Rossa facing Gort na Mona at Woodlands
U21A final
Sarsfields 12-00pm Sunday
St. Gall’s v St. Brigid’s
Last year’s championship winners, St. Gall’s are one step away from retaining the trophy they won last year when they face St. Brigid’s in the final in a game that is likely to be fiercely contested.
The Milltown side recorded a big win over St. John’s in the opening game of this year’s championship with 9 points separating the sides at Corrigan and it was another city rival, St. Paul’s who were put to the sword in the quarter-final when St. Gall’s defeated St. Paul’s 2-21 to 0-7 at Milltown.
The West Belfast side had home advantage again in the semi-final and were given a much stiffer challenge by Kickham’s Creggan but emerged with five points to spare over the South West side at De La Salle Park.
St. Gall’s got off to a flying start at Milltown to sow the seeds of victory and it was Niall Fallon who did the damage as he rattled the Creggan net twice in succession in the early exchanges.
The visitors struck with a double of their own in the period leading up to half time through Ronan McGuckian and Anton Martin and there was only a point separating the sides at the change of ends.
The Kickham’s levelled matters through Conor Johnston on the restart but St. Gall’s regained the initiative and the impressive Fallon raced through the visitors defence and saw his shot on goal rebound to Callum Walsh who finished to the net.
Despite a strong effort from the visitors it was St. Gall’s who would push on to win by five at the finish and they will go into Sunday’s final in confident mood.
Niall Fallon, Daniel Quinn, Dubhaltach MacCrabhagain, Ethan Walsh and the P Og Murray are the men who could provide a serious scoring threat on the Stewartstown Road and will need close attention.
At the same time as St. Gall’s were facing Creggan, St. Brigid’s were taking on another South West side, Aghagallon at Pairc na nGael and had to overcome the challenge of a good St. Mary’s before advancing to Sunday’s final.
If the Musgrave Park side win this year’s final then they will surely look back to their opening game where they came from 10 points down at the break to stage a remarkable come-back
Erin’s own seemed to be in a strong position at the break when they led 3-05 to 0-04 as they looked forward to the assistance of the elements in the second period.
Cargin, following an impressive win in the opening round of the under-21A championship, started this quarter-final as favourites as they played hosts to St Brigid’s with the weather and the breeze assisting the visitors in the opening half.
What happened in the second half was truly remarkable. Niall Duffy, JJ Higgins, Brian McGarrath, Ruairi McErlain, Joe Logan and a goal from the penalty spot from Issac Robinson completed a remarkable comeback for the Musgrave Park side.
St. Brigid’s were on the road again as they travelled to meet an Aghagallon side who had impressed themselves with wins over Portglenone and St. Enda’s and they certainly put it up to the visitors in a tight semi-final.
The visitors produced a powerful second-half display to claim victory over Aghagallon in a keenly contested encounter, pulling away in the closing stages after the sides ended the first half level, with 3 points each.
Niall Duffy found the hosts net, 3 minutes into the second half and Joseph Logan moved them four ahead with a point but EJ Loughran hit three on the bounce for St. Mary’s to bring them right back into the game.
Right corner-forward, Joseph Logan was the man who got the Musgrave Park side over the line as he kicked four more points and with Niall Duffy, JJ Higgins and Ruairi McErlain will lead their challenge against St. Gall’s.
This one looks to have all the ingredients to make it a great final and it could come down to the side that wants it most but I give a tentative vote to the Milltown Row side to retain their title.
U21B Final
12-00 Woodlands
Rossa v Gort na Mona
O’Donavan Rossa and Gort na Mona cross swords in the U21B final at Woodlands and both sides have been impressive in their journey to Sunday’s decider.
The Rossa journey has been shorter than that of Sunday’s opponents but no less impressive with the O’Donovan’s only making their bow in last weekend’s semi-final after receiving a walk-over against Lamh Dhearg in the quarter-final.
Their opponents in last weekend’s semis, Sarsfield’s had a quarter-final win under their belts after victory over St. Mary’s Rasharkin in Dreen with the ‘Paddies’ making the short journey over the fence from their Stewartstown Road changing rooms.
Rossa went into the game as an unknown or at least, untested quantity but showed enough in their win to suggest that they will be serious challengers to Gort na Mona on Sunday.
Diarmaid Rogan, Corey Walsh, James Aughey, Liam McEnhill, Setanta McDonnell, Conall Short, Joseph Mulholland, James Aughey and Daire Morgan all impressed in a strong Rossa line-up as the Shaw’s Road side ran out 0-13 to 0-9 winners over their neighbours.
Their opponents in Sunday’s final, Gort na Mona have endured a more difficult route to the Woodland’s decider with a good victory over St. Joseph’s Glenavy in the quarter-finals and a tighter win over Tir na nOg in last weekend’s semis but this could stand them in good stead.
The Gorts have had the benefit of home advantage in their quarter-final win over Glenavy where they were impressive in their 2-12 to 0-10 victory but were pushed to the wire in their win over the Whitehill side last week.
A dominant final quarter where they scored 1-3 proved to be the difference in this exciting and high scoring U21B semi-final as Gort na Mona overcame the challenge of a good Tir na nOg side at Enright Park last Sunday.
Manus McMullan, Keelan McCann, Ciara MacGiolla cheara, Daire Keenan, Ruairi O’Scollain, David McKeown, Conor Scannell and John McIlroy were all to the fore as Gort na Mona looked to be gaining control but it took an excellent save from Aaron Farrely to deny Ryan Clarke as the visitors threatened a comeback.
Tarlach Enright missed last week’s game through suspension and at the time of writing it is not known if he will be available for Sunday’s decider and he would certainly be a big boost for the Mona Bye-Pass side.
The all-weather surface at Woodlands could be another factor but I would expect both sides to adapt well to the pitch and in what could be a close final Rossa might just edge it but it could go either way.