Cavan Senior Football Championship semi-finals: Castlerahan v Killeshandra (Saturday, Kingspan Breffni Park, 8pm)
AFTER reaching their first ever senior semi-final with a win over Lacken Celtic, Damien Keaney’s Killeshandra side will be aiming for another piece of history when they come up against title favourites Castlerahan.
It’s been a decade of progression for the Leaguers, who won the junior title in 2007 and the intermediate crown two years ago.
They also scored a significant psychological boost over Saturday’s opponents earlier in the competition. In round one they recorded an amazing 4-9 to 0-9 win against Castlerahan with Aaron Brady, Tomas O’Reilly, Paddy King and Daniel Luby finding the net.
Michael Reilly’s Castlerahan side have bounced back from that heavy loss though, and they issued a real statement of intent in their 2-14 to 1-8 win over Ramor United.
Cian Mackey, who scored two goals in that quarter-final victory, has been in inspirational form and it’s hard to see them suffering the same fate twice.
Killygarry v Kingscourt (Sunday, Kingspan Breffni Park, 4.45pm)
KINGSCOURT avenged last year’s final loss to Cavan Gaels by dumping out the champions in the last four.
The Gaels looked in the ascendancy as they drew level with five minutes to go, but the Stars showed their battling qualities and two Barry Reilly frees got them over the line.
The fact that they started quicker – racing into a 0-6 to 0-0 lead – went a long way to securing the win, and Niall Lynch will be hoping for similar tomorrow.
Killygarry may enter as underdogs, but they are certainly battle-hardened.
Ciaran O’Reilly’s side opened with a win over Crosserlough before falling to Ramor by three points.
Their round three match with Cootehill would span 160 minutes, before they would eventually come through by six points after extra time in the second fixture.
They have managed nine goals in those four games with Matthew McKenna (3), Brendan Murray (2) and Martin Reilly (2) all finding the net more than once, while Eoin Smith and Donal Thomas have also got in on the act.
That goal-scoring touch should trouble Kingscourt, but it shouldn’t be enough to stop the stars reaching another final.
