Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Tier 3 Final
Antrim v Wicklow
Grattan’s GAA
Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan
Saturday, 30th May 2026 at 14:00
Antrim and Wicklow will battle for silverware this Saturday, 30th May, in the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Tier 3 Football Championship Final (Seamus Heaney Cup). The highly anticipated showpiece is scheduled for a 2pm throw-in at the neutral grounds of Inniskeen Grattan’s GAA in County Monaghan, with Eamon O’Connor confirmed as the match referee.
How They Got Here
Antrim’s Goal-Power Surge
After early-season setbacks against Monaghan and Armagh in the Ulster Championship, Antrim found a massive lease of life under the management team of Donal Laverty, Eoin Doherty, and Ciaran Browne. They found momentum by producing a 3-15 to 1-5 win over Wexford in their opening game in the Electric Ireland Tier 3 Championship.
They followed that up with a spectacular 2-22 to 2-08 point-taking exhibition against Carlow in the quarter-final at this same Inniskeen venue. Last weekend that excellent Antrim form continued with an emphatic 12-point semi-final win, dismissing Laois 3-19 to 1-13 at St. Peregrine’s in Dublin.
Captain Shea McLernon, Tiernan Lee, Shea McFarren, Shea McFerran, Joey Griffin and Conor McArt have been in blistering scoring form, driving Antrim’s high-octane offensive unit.
Wicklow’s Resilient Resurgence
Wicklow enters the final having shown tremendous grit and defensive resolve through their Tier 3 campaign. The Garden County served notice of their intent in this year’s championship with an opening win over Fermanagh and they followed that win up with victory over New York before securing their final ticket by outlasting a dangerous Waterford team in a tense semi-final arm-wrestle, ultimately edging it 0-11 to 1-06.
Midfielder Sam Goodbody, free-taker Josh Furlong, forward Harry Butler, and Odhran Cullen have formed the backbone of a Garden County squad that knows how to grind out tough results under intense pressure.
Tactical Battleground
This final presents an intriguing clash of styles. Antrim will aim to utilise the expansive Inniskeen pitch to replicate the high-scoring displays that tore apart Carlow and Laois. Wicklow, meanwhile, will hope to use their disciplined defence to choke the supply lines to the Antrim attack, relying on the accurate point-kicking of Furlong and Butler on the counter-attack.
It’s been an excellent campaign for Antrim and the Electric Ireland Tier 3 championship has breathed new life into a Saffron side who turned in some descent performances in Ulster without getting the results those performances deserved.
When I spoke to manager, Donal Laverty during the week he was delighted by his side’s campaign and feels the competition has brought his charges forward in leaps and bounds in their development and was looking forward to Saturday’s final.
“We’re just delighted to get the opportunity to represent Antrim on a national stage and to let people see the qualities these young men have as footballers. They’ve worked as hard as anyone over the past 5 months and we’re pleased that the fruition of all that work sees us reach the Tier 3 final and we’ll give our all to get a positive result on Saturday”
With national silverware on the line, expect a frantic, closely contested battle in Monaghan as both counties aim to cap off their minor campaigns with an All-Ireland title but results to date would suggest that the young Saffrons have the scoring power and knowhow to take the title back to North.
Route to the final
Antrim: Wexford 3:15 to 1:05 Carlow 2:22 to 2:08 Laois 3:19 to 1:13
Wicklow: Fermanagh 1:16 to 1:08 New York 3:18 to 0:12 Waterford 0:13 to 1:09
The Antrim Panel. Niall Quinn, Cillian McKenna, Shea McLernon (Captain), Bradan O’Donnell, Thomas Douthart, Conor McArt, Sionan McCormack, Dara Campbell, Tom Convery, Conall Wilson, Joey Griffin, Sean McPeake, Colm Kane, Shea McFerran, Tiernan Lee, Nathan Burns, Sean McMullan, Ruairi O’Connell, Dàire Thornbury, Cillian McDonnell.