AIB Ulster Club JFC semi-finals
Arva (Cavan) v Lisnaskea (Fermanagh) (Saturday, Clones, 1.30pm)
Blackhill (Monaghan) v Fintona (Tyrone) (Saturday, Kingspan Breffni, 4pm)
TYRONE and Monaghan clubs have shared six of the last nine Ulster Club JFC titles, and have once again presented strong contenders this year.
But one of them will fall at the semi-final stage when Fintona take on Blackhill at Kingspan Breffni Park.
The Farney champions were provincial winners in 2019, but first-timers Fintona are new to this level of competition.
However, they have looked assured in their preliminary-round win over Ballyhegan, followed by a quarter-final defeat of Drumaness.
Blackhill, after edging past Tyholland by a single point in the county final, were runaway winners against Rasharkin in their Ulster opener, and go into this last-four tie with momentum.
Ryan Courtney is a commanding figure at centre-back, and they have clinical finishers in Philip Donnelly and Darren McElroy, who shared in a 3-7 haul in the last round.
The Tyrone champions have their own consistent score-getters in Aaron McCarney and Conor McGillion, who thrive off the energy and creativity of youngsters Jared Brogan and Caolan Donnelly.
Blackhill manager Paudie Finnegan has had a close look at the strengths of his next opponents, and feels he has the men to do a job.
“We know that quite a few of their players are going to take some watching,” he said.
Finnegan watched his side coast to a 5-11 to 1-7 quarter-final win over Rasharkin, but said: “We would be happy with the scoreline, we had a good spread of scores, but we wouldn’t be happy with our performance, there’s a lot of things to be tightened up on.”
Cousins and joint-captains Ciaran and Ryan Courtney are among a clutch of survivors from the 2019 Ulster JFC winning team, bringing vital experience to another provincial challenge.
“When you get to these stages, experience is key, and we have a number of boys who have been there before.
“They’re valuable in coaching and bringing along the new boys, making them feel a wee bit at ease coming into these big games.
“They’re good role models for the new players, who are coming into a new experience.
“In fairness, some of these boys have a lot of miles on the clock, and they keep coming back, and that’s a testament to them.”
The Fintona players are looking forward to the next leg of their first provincial adventure, according to assistant manager John O’Neill
“This is completely new for Fintona, you're playing teams that okay you can watch a bit of video footage but you haven't played them before, you don't have a history and you don't know them inside out,” he said.
“We know Blackhill have come down the line, they've been down this track and will be going in raging hot favourites and I'm not saying that as an old classic line from a management team.
“This is a young team and this is about challenges and Blackhill are going to bring something different, we have to get our head around that. Every game is a new game, every challenge is a new challenge.”
The first semi-final of the day in Clones sees Cavan's Arva take on Lisnaksea of Fermanagh.
Both have had differing routes to the last four. The Breffni men were convincing 2-17 to 0-8 winners over Derry's Ballymaguigan in their quarter-final, but the Fermanagh men had to do it the hard way in their fiery clash with Na Rossa of Donegal.
An ill-tempered encounter in Letterkenny saw a flurry of red cards, including one for Na Rossa manager Declan Bonner and it was Lisnaskea who emerged with the win by the narrowest of margins, 1-9 to 2-5.
