KERRY, ROSCOMMON AND Liverpool will all definitely have representatives in this year’s AIB All-Ireland intermediate and junior club football finals after today’s semi-final action.
Ardfert of Kerry and St Croan’s of Roscommon will square off in the intermediate final while John Mitchel’s of Liverpool are safely through to the junior final. But Kerry’s Brosna and Tyrone’s The Rock must replay after they drew today in Ballinasloe.
Eight years after they won the All-Ireland intermediate club title, Ardfert will be back competing for that crown next month. The North Kerry club, who also won the All-Ireland junior football title in 2006, were narrow victors today over Down’s Warrenpoint in Portlaoise.
A goal by John Egan was the crucial score for Ardfert in the match at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise. It helped Ardfert lead 1-4 to 0-5 at the break and they held off Warrenpoint in the second-half to get over the line with a 1-8 to 0-10 victory.
Their opponents St Croan’s were also narrow victors in Kingspan Breffni Park. They were in front by 0-9 to 2-0 at half-time and held on in the second-half to become the first Roscommon club to contest an All-Ireland final at this level.
In the junior semi-final, it finished all square after extra-time between Brosna and The Rock in Ballinasloe. In a tight and tense clash, it finished 0-9 to 1-6 at the end of normal time and both sides only raised a single white flag each in extra-time.
Liverpool’s John Mitchels, who lost the final at this grade in 2009, returned to the decider with a three-point success over Westmeath’s Moate in Páirc Tailteann in Navan.
Results
All-Ireland IFC club semi-finals
Ardfert (Kerry) 1-8 Warrenpoint (Down) 0-10
St Croan’s (Roscommon) 0-14 Sean O’Mahony’s (Louth) 2-7
All-Ireland JFC club semi-finals
Brosna (Kerry) 0-10 The Rock (Tyrone) 1-7
John Mitchel’s (Liverpool) 1-9 Moate (Westmeath) 1-6
