Paul Mc Girr Quarter Final Preview

Friday 04.11.2016

Club

Paul McGirr U16 Club Champions Tournament Quarter Final Preview

A feast of football is in store in Gardrum Park, Dromore this Saturday when the first two semi-finalists in this year’s Paul McGirr U16 Club Champions Tournament will be decided in what is anticipated to be two highly entertaining quarter finals.

First up at 12:00 is the pairing of the free scoring Tyrone champions Killeeshil and a physical Crosserlough side from Cavan.  Killeeshil under a management team which includes triple All Ireland winner Kevin Hughes qualified after a very competitive Tyrone championship where they defeated favourites Dungannon and narrowly overcame Dromore in the county final.

They carry a very threatening forward line lead by Cormac Donaghy, Jason Doyle and the outstanding talent of the diminutive Tomas Hoy at full forward.  They are captained by inspirational midfielder Daniel Miller and will be going into the game in confident mood.  Their tendency to leak goals at the back is something their management team will have worked on ahead of Saturday’s game but their insatiable work-rate will give them every chance.

Their opponents Crosserlough are the riding the crest of a wave at the minute having won the double at both minor and U16 levels in Cavan this year.   A late penalty goal helped them secure victory over a strongly fancied Cavan Gaels to top off a tremendous season for the Cavan boys and key players Brandon Boylan, Peter Smith, Patrick Lynch and Edward Deveraux-Geilsenan will also be taking part in the St. Paul’s U18 tournament next month.

Second game of the day throws in at 2:30 with many people expecting it to be the game of the round. It pairs Derry champions O’Donovan Rossa and reigning champions Clann Eireann who are aiming to become the first club ever to retain the prestigious title.

This match is a repeat of last tear’s epic semi final when the Lurgan boys edged out their rivals by a point after a stunning game. That defeat that will provide extra motivation for the Magherafelt boys who have been regular visitors to the Paul McGirr Tournament over recent years.

The enigmatic Cormac Murphy was the hero of the county final defeat of a Bellaghy team who had comprehensively beaten them in the league.  Murphy who has been in fine form all year finished with 3-3 to his name in that game and is certainly someone that the Clann Eireann defence will have to come to terms with to have any hope of progressing.  Eoghan Hawe, Ciaran Shields and Cathal Martin are others who will be looking to make an impact on the game.

Clann Eireann conceded a late equaliser to Crossmaglen to the Armagh final, but they made no mistake in the replay cruising to a thirteen point victory.  According to joint manager Ryan Campbell a place in the Paul McGirr Tournament was a target from the start of the year. “The other coaches and I sat down with the boys in early February and we asked them to set themselves a target for the season.  Without
thinking for too long they came back with their desire to play in the prestigious Paul Mc Girr tournament. From then that was our target, and we knew it would take lots of hard work and dedication but we knew the boys were up for it. We could see the hunger in them.  From my point of view, I have watched Clann Eireann participate in the competition on numerous occasions. Having won the competition last year I knew it would be massive challenge but a great honour to try and lead another Clann Eireann team up to Dromore to compete in the Paul Mc Girr. Now that we’ve won the Armagh championship we are and delighted to be back in Dromore again we will try to play quality football and enjoy the experience and give our all to the competition in honour of the late Paul.”

Captain Tiernan Kelly at midfield will be looking to lead by example with himself, Ethan Kearney and Callum Magee all being survivors from the starting team of last year’s successful side.  This promises to be a fascinating encounter with both sides harbouring genuine hopes of annexing this year’s title and a large crowd is expected to witness an epic battle.

All proceeds from these games go to The Spirit of Paul McGirr Trust for their work with disabled children in Lusaka, Zambia.