Derry
Here’s one for you. Take a club team with Chrissy McKaigue, Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan. Now try to imagine how they would ever be considered the underdogs in a game.
That’s what’s happening this Sunday. The Derry county board have left the finest wine to last as Slaughtneil do battle with All-Ireland finalists Glen at 6pm on Sunday in Owenbeg.
Glen have the favourites’ tag and with Conor Glass, Ethan and Jack Doherty and Emmet Bradley, they have huge star power themselves.
It will be a busy weekend of activity for Chrissy McKaigue all in. On Saturday, he is part of the Ardboe management team, under his new Derry coach Gavin Devlin, when they take on Errigal Ciaran, managed, as fate would have it, by new Derry manager Mickey Harte’s son, Mark. Who was a Tyrone team mate of Devlin.
Mayo
Just outside the town of Castlebar, but all the same with their own distinct identity, Breaffy GAA are celebrating their 70th year on the road this year.
How they would dearly love to stamp it with a Mayo title. Next door to them, Castlebar Mitchells have no fewer than 31 Paddy Moclair Cups to their name, five behind the market leaders, Ballina Stephenites.
With no lack of big men, Matthew Ruane assisting Aidan and Conor O’Shea, they lost four county finals in the last decade. A key component of that team was goalkeeper Rob Hennelly but he has taken his long-range kicking talents to Raheny in Dublin.
A shock win over last season’s champions Westport has left everyone reassessing where each team is left on the pecking order. Breaffy will hardly need much geeing up when they face Castlebar in the semi-final this weekend in Charlestown, while Ballina face Knockmore in the other semi-final.
Kilkenny
In fairness to Kilkenny, if there’s a big club hurling game on,I t rarely goes outside Nowlan Park.
This Sunday will be a treat for all in the county as the county senior semi-finals are going back-to-back.
O’Loughlin Gaels and Bennettsbridge throws in at 1.15pm, with a stonking-looking headliner of Ballyhale Shamrocks against James Stephens at 3.15pm.
Last year after Brian Cody stepped down as Kilkenny manager, the Stephens’ manager Seamus Dwyer put a call through to ask if he might serve as a selector with his club. He answered to the affirmative.
After just one from the opening four games of the campaign, the season was turned around. They ended up in the county final where they lost 1-21 to 2-11, to Ballyhale, as it happens.
Now, Dwyer has passed on the reins to Cody and he has squeezed a serious return out of lesser-known lights outside of the county such as Niall Brassil and Luke Scanlon. The headliner on Sunday is nothing short of tantalising.
Down
It’s hard to imagine what the county of Down and the area of Kilcoo was like in 1917 when they won their first county title. But from then on they established an early dominance in the county, hoovering up four-in-a-row between 1925 and 1928.
From their win in 1937 came a long, hard winter however until they made it back onto the podium in 2009.
Since 2012 they have been in every county final, losing just once to Burren in 2019. The same club provides the opposition this Sunday in Newry. In the last decade Kilcoo have beaten Burren in four finals and the two sides have little time for each other.
Given the atmosphere of the semi-final against Clonduff, many will be watching this with a grim fascination to see if any flashpoints go off.
However, this is surely the only county final in Ireland to feature a current intercounty manager who will get minutes on the pitch at some stage, in Conor Laverty.
Limerick
It’s semi-final time in the Treaty county, and there’s enough Cinderella Stories to go around the place.
Doon face Na Piarsaigh on Saturday at 3pm, and Kilmallock have Patrickswell in the other game 24 hours later, both hosted by the Gaelic Grounds.
And what we are looking at here is a domination of the John Daly Cup since 2010 of three of the four teams, with Doon as the interloper.
In 2010, Kilmallock claimed the title and have three more since.
Na Piarsaigh won their first title in 2011 and soon became the dominant team in the county, adding further titles in the odd years of ’13, ’15, ’17 and ’19, while now they are on a roll of the even numbers, winning last year and 2020.
Patrickswell, with Hurlers of the Year sprouting out of all directions have won it most recently in 2016. Doon have featured in losing finals in 2020 and 2018. Time to deliver.