Greenfield Foods Senior Football Championship Final

Magheracloone v Scotstown, Sunday, Clones, 3.30

 

Sunday’s Greenfield Foods SFC Final pits three-in-a-row chasers Scotstown against Magheracloone.

Scotstown are bidding to win a third straight SFC title for the first time since 1983-1985, while Magheracloone are in their first county final in seven years. Magheracloone lost after a dramatic replay against Clontibret in 2010, but their only SFC decider win came at the expense of Scotstown. This is a fifth consecutive appearance on this stage for Scotstown, while Magheracloone – beaten semi-finalists last year – have lost three finals since their famous 2004 success.

These teams have both taken the direct route to the final. Magheracloone were drawn in the preliminary round, but they have seen off Monaghan Harps, Truagh, Ballybay and Latton, via some late drama in the last two of those games, including two added-time goals in the semi-final. Scotstown eased past Killanny and edged through against Latton to reach the last four, where they needed a remarkable late comeback to draw with Ballybay first time out, before winning by three points in a replay six days later.

Scotstown have an impressive average score of over 20 points on their way to this final, with 9-54 in four games, while Magheracloone’s 4-55 gives them an average of almost 17 points. Magheracloone have the edge on the defensive records, having conceded just 2-47 (an average of 13.25 points) to Scotstown’s 3-57 (16.5 points).

Scotstown have long been top of the Senior Football League, while Magheracloone have recovered from a very sluggish start to eventually lift themselves clear of the relegation zone.

The Scotstown team for their semi-final replay showed four changes from last year’s decider, with William Carroll, David McCague, James Hamill and Dermot McCrudden coming in for James Turley (travelling abroad since after the first round), Orin Heaphey and injured duo Mark Duffy and Kieran Hughes, although the latter came on as a sub to help his side over the line.

Scotstown, of course, have a wealth of experience right through from Monaghan number one Rory Beggan, who was in fine form last time out. Team captain Dónal Morgan anchors the back-line, with plenty of support from the likes of Damien McArdle, Emmet Caulfield and the pacy Seán Mohan and Paul Sherlock, while Kieran Hughes should return to partner Frank Caulfield at midfield.

Conor McCarthy missed out on the 2016 SFC, but the tricky attacker has re-established his status as Scotstown’s marquee forward, with the help of fellow county men Shane Carey and Darren Hughes, who may switch between full-forward and a deeper role. Ross McKenna has remained an ever-present at wing-forward, while the likes of Orin Heaphey (Man of the Match 12 months ago) and Francis Maguire will also hope to be involved for Kieran Donnelly’s side.

Magheracloone have former county minor and Under-21 goalkeeper David Kirk, behind a defence backboned by James and Peter Ward, alongside Peter Lambe and the equally experienced Michael Jones and Peter Tuite. Paul McArdle was an Ulster MFC medallist with Monaghan in 2013, while Paudie McMahon, a county minor in 2015 and 2016, could be restored to a more attacking role after helping to turn it around last time out.

Gavin Doogan is Magheracloone’s driving force from the engine room, with support from Jamie Kieran, while Allan Kieran has emerged as a leader of the Mitchells’ forward-line, alongside a rejuvenated, in-form Tommy Freeman. Barry Kieran has made a rapid rise from minor football to senior, while James Lambe is another half-forward with pace to burn. Paudie Finnegan, Michael Metzger and Paudie Kirk will also be pushing for places under Francie Doogan, Keith Gilsenan and their former manager Dudley Farrell, who now joins them on the sideline.

Scotstown will be expected to turn their experience of county final day to their advantage, but Magheracloone have shown a never-say-die spirit to get here and they will be determined to take this one down to the wire.

 

Maguire Transport Minor Football Championship Division One Final

Carrickmacross v Killanny, Sunday, Clones, 1.30

 

Sunday’s Maguire Transport MFC Division One Final is a south-Monaghan derby between Carrickmacross and Killanny.

Killanny got a walkover to the quarter-finals, where they saw off Aughnamullen, before they won a derby clash with Magheracloone at the semi-final stage. Carrickmacross have had three narrow wins en route to this final; edging past Scotstown, coming from behind to oust Truagh and finishing strongly again to deny Castleblayney last time out. Killanny lost to eventual winners Inniskeen in the MFL Division One Cup semi-final, while Carrick ended up in the Shield section, where they lost their semi against Donaghduff Gaels, who went on to win that final.

Carrick will be looking for big performances from the likes of Karl McMenamin, Tadhg Callaghan, Tiernan McCourt and U-16 league winners Andrew Moore and Donnach Swinburne. Killanny, who also enjoyed U-16 success via a Division Three double, will be depending on Dean Connolly, along with Ed Walsh, Ronan Grimes and Daniel Leegan.

Killanny mentor Martin Burns reported a clean bill of health ahead of Sunday’s curtain-raiser in Clones, adding: “Preparations are going well, we’re focused and looking forward to it and we’re ready to go. It’s a local derby and there’d be a good bit of rivalry between the two clubs. It’s a good-hearted rivalry; the lads have all grown up together, they’ve played on the same school teams and they all know each other, so we’d be expecting a very close game.

Killanny ran out convincing winners when they hosted Carrickmacross back in the first round of the league, but Burns puts little stock in that day, saying: “We played Carrick early in the league, but we would be taking nothing from that game: Carrick will be a different animal at this stage.”

The club Youth Officer says Killanny’s first MFC Division One decider appearance since 1976 is the proceeds of several years’ work: “Killanny have been striving for the last number of years; trying to get up the divisions, so I suppose this final is the culmination of a lot of effort by a lot of people.”

Killanny captain Dean Connolly is looking forward to the final: “I’d know all the (Carrick) lads from growing up with them and playing schools’ football with them. We’re well prepared and we just can’t wait to get stuck in.

Connolly starred for the county minors this year and he hopes to use that experience to his advantage: “We were knocked out early enough this year unfortunately, but it’s still a help; you like to learn from it and bring some stuff back to the club”. He has also featured in senior football for Killanny and he agreed that has also been a learning curve in his development: “Yeah, especially at senior, it’s a lot tougher, there’s bigger hits and it prepares you well for going back to minor football.”

Carrickmacross mentor John McMenamin said his side had “a couple of niggles” in the run-up to the final, but he is delighted with how they have turned things around after a challenging start to 2017. “Preparations are going well, we’ve been training two or three nights a week and playing a challenge as well most weekends, so we’re very happy”.

McMenamin said the delay since the semi-final stage had been to Carrick’s benefit: “It has worked well for us as we had no manager in place until late, so our preparations were late starting, which would show in our early league form, but as time went on, we have been getting stronger all the time. Playing before the senior final is a plus as well.”

He feels the local derby element “certainly adds a bit of spice to it”, adding “I have a business in town and a lot of Killanny people come into me, so there’ll be a good bit of banter. The boys all know each other and it’s going to be a tough game.”

McMenamin says his players have “shown loads of character” en route to this stage. He elaborated: “The boys could have folded quite easily after the start to the league because some of the results were abysmal, but they knuckled down and when you work hard, it builds confidence and confidence builds character. We were six points down against Truagh with six minutes to go and eight points down at half-time against Castleblayney and we came out on top.”

McMenamin’s son Karl captains the Carrick team and he also spoke about his team’s spirit: “Tight wouldn’t be the word, we were starting to get worried in the Truagh game when we were six points down, but we lifted our game and ended up winning by two points and against Blayney we went in at half-time and heads were down, but we got a bit of motivation and we came back and got over the line again.”

Both McMenamins commented on the successful year their club has enjoyed, which saw their intermediate team win a championship title last Sunday. John said: “We made good ground last year and we’re happy with how things are going across the board”, with Karl adding: “From the intermediate team down the ranks, it’s lifted the whole club and we have a few U-16s playing with us who have boosted us as well.”

Like his Killanny counterpart, Connolly, McMenamin played for Monaghan this year and he said: “The county minor (experience) will stand to me; it’s going to be a big occasion and being captain adds to it, so hopefully we can get over the line.”

 

Latton have the chance to go top of the County Monaghan Group of Credit Unions Senior Football League when they host Castleblayney on Saturday, while the battle for semi-final places continues with Truagh v Ballybay.

 

A week after defeating Aughnamullen in the IFC Final, leaders Carrickmacross host the same opposition in the Monaghan Electrical Intermediate Football League on Saturday, when arguably the tie of the round is between Doohamlet and Blackhill, with the former hoping to maintain their hopes of a top-four finish and the latter playing for their place in the division. Tyholland and Cremartin, who could both either make a semi-final or be relegated, are up against Corduff and Inniskeen, respectively, while Toome can secure fourth place if they win at home to already-demoted Emyvale.

 

The penultimate round of the Eurotech Junior Football League is down for decision on Saturday, including a repeat of the recent JFC Final between championship winners Currin and table-toppers Seán McDermotts. Oram must win away to Rockcorry to hold onto their chances of catching either Éire Óg or Clones for fourth place, with the latter two teams meeting in Smithborough. Elsewhere, Drumhowan travel to Aghabog and Scotstown face Killeevan.