Feast Of Football In Paul McGirr Tournament

Friday 11.11.2016

Club

Gardrum Park Dromore is set for another feast of football this Saturday afternoon with the remaining two quarter finals of the Paul McGirr U16 Club Champions Tournament taking place to see who will join Magherafelt O’Donovan Rossa and Killeeshil in the semi final draw.

First up at noon Derrygonnelly Harps and recently crowned Donegal champions St. Eunan’s Letterkenny go to battle and it is a game that is very hard to predict a winner from. Having won the league and championship double in Fermanagh this Derrygonnelly side under the watchful eyes of Roger McGovern, Aidy Leonard and Anthony Greene and will come into Saturdays clash with a real winning pedigree. They progressed to the Fermanagh final with comprehensive wins over Brookeborough and Kinawley, in the final the Harps were pushed to the limit by a strong Enniskillen side eventually coming out 1-11 to 2-06 winners in a game marred by an ugly on field fracas at the final whistle that left a bad taste on Fermanagh’s showpiece County Final day. Debhan McGovern and Aaron Jones will be the men given the main the job of curtailing the St Eunans scoring threat. Ronan McHugh, Leigh Green and Gareth McGovern make up a strong Derrygonnelly half back line with all three notable tight man-markers but also having the ability to break forward at pace to take a score if needs be. The midfield battle will be key to this game and the Harps duo of Oisin Smyth and Jack Love are both dominating players who are both fine fielders of the ball, they will be coming up against a strong St Eunans pairing of Shane O’Donnell and Conor McKinney who will look to stifle the Harps around the middle. The Derrygonnelly attack have really blossomed this season, forwards Darragh Burke and Rian McGovern have had fine seasons while points from Gavin McGovern in the County Final win over Enniskillen are still being talked about by many neutrals throughout the County. Full forward Michael Glynn is an exceptional footballer, the Ballinamallard United soccer starlet was to be the hero with a late goal in the Championship final and a personal tally of 0-6 in the Division 1 League Final, his battle with St. Eunan’s James Kelly will have a significant effect on the outcome of the game.

A high scoring St Eunans side also come into the competition as County league and Championship winners with some very impressive performances put in this season to date.  St Eunans will come into the game with huge confidence, their management team of Pauric Ryan, Sean McIntyre, Joe Higgins and PJ Kelly have created a well balanced and settled team, Buncrana Cup representatives Eoin O’Boyle who also operates as goalkeeper and captain, and Peter McEniff are key components to the side, while up front Conor O’Donnell, Darragh Ellison and Shane O’Donnell have been in scintillating form all season and Padraig McGettigan was the hat-trick hero of the county final. St. Eunan’s come into the competition on the back of a county final win last weekend following a thoroughly deserved 5-09 to 0-14 victory over Sean MacCumhaills. Both teams were defeated by hosts Dromore in last season’s competition and will be hoping for a better return this year, St. Eunan’s will be slight favourites to go through but fatigue may play a part against a fresher Derrygonnelly side.

The second game at 2:30 will see neighbouring counties Antrim and Down face off in the guise of St. Brigids and Warrenpoint. The Down lads have already played a game in the competition having come through the preliminary in impressive fashion with a five point victory over star laden Monaghan champions Aughnamullen. Wing forward Eoin Byrne put in a man of the match performance with a 2-04 tally and will be certainly one the south Belfast lads will have to watch out for. Shea Madden is an imposing figure at full back and along with Peter Sweeney will be tasked with keeping tabs of a free scoring St. Brigids forward line. The midfield pairing of Ruairi McCormack and Eoin O’Hare provide a constant supply of quality ball to a forward line including Byrne, Conor McLaughlin, full forward Aaron McBurney and the diminutive hard working Kohree Hourican.

St. Brigids are perhaps the most physical side in the competition and came through a tough Antrim competition defeating St. Pauls, Lamh Dhearg and a highly fancied Erin’s Own Cargin in the county final. The upcoming south Belfast club are returning to the competition having performed superbly in reaching the final in 2014, going down by the minimum margin to Burren in one of the best games of football ever witnessed in Gardrum Park.   The Joe Brolly managed side have been racking up big scoreline’s and playing with a swagger that you would associate with their manager. Ryan Brolly at centre forward has been the playmaker for the team all season and Callum Webb will be looking to emulate the footsteps of his brother Peter who was the star turn in the 2014 side. Tom Dunford is another forward that Warrenpoint will be looking to keep close tabs on, while the athletic St. Brigids midfield pairing of Peter King and Peter Henvey have been in dominant form all season. At full back Conor Slevin while not the biggest of defenders is a great reader of the game and a motivational leader of a strong defensive line. The combative Cormac Barr looks likely to given the unenviable task of limiting the influence of Eoin Byrne and this battle will be central to the outcome of the game. A large crowd is expected for this game with a fascinating contest in store as both teams seek to be the final team into hat for the semi final draw which will take place immediately after the game.