A Night of Contrasting Emotions Lies Ahead

If the action on Thursday was the appetiser for the weekend, then this evening we move onto what can only be described as a very tasty looking menu of action with the second of the Fairyhouse Steel Senior Football Championship and Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship Relegation Playoffs as well as the first Meade Farm IFC Quarter-Final and a Coolrite Junior B Football Championship Semi-Final with all games throwing in at 20:00.

Tickets for the games including the newly available Weekend Pass are available via the link:  Football Championship Tickets

In the Relegation Play-Off fixtures played on Thursday, Kilbride came strong in extra-time to see off Na Fianna, winning out by three points while in Martry, Ballivor came from behind at half time to secure their Intermediate status for 2027 as they defeated Drumbaragh Emmets by two points.

Skryne plays host to the Senior meeting of Simonstown Gaels and Seneschalstown and both clubs are familiar with this stage of the competition.  The North Side Blues survived on this evening twelve months ago when eventually prevailing in a penalty shootout against Meath Hill and for Seneschalstown it is a stage of the Championship that they are all too familiar with over the last eight seasons or so.

When the two sides met in the JM Food Services Football League Division 2 Final back on the twenty-fifth of July, they would have been looking at getting off to a positive start in the Championship a fortnight later but for Seneschalstown defeat was their lot in Donore as St. Colmcille’s kept them at bay and Simonstown Gaels found Dunshaughlin too hot to handle despite a brace of goals from the penalty spot by goalkeeper Ben Hoey.

From there the seasons somewhat unravelled with Seneschalstown rueing hitting eighteen wides in defeat to Ballinabrackey before being overpowered by Wolfe Tones.  For their part, Simonstown suffered a trimming in Round 2 from Gaeil Colmcille and then another hefty loss followed against Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the concluding round.

Of course, some events put sport into perspective and in advance of that Round 3 game against the ‘Moors, football cannot have been to the forefront of minds in Simonstown following on from the sudden death of their clubmate and Junior players Conor Ahern, somebody whose loss will be felt for a long time to come.

A decade on from the club winning its first ever Keegan Cup, Simonstown are still heavily reliant on some of the key members of that side with their half back line still reading the same as the trio of Brian McGrath, Brían Conlon and Níall Kane link up on a regular basis.  Conlon and Kane were centre back and left half back respectively on that side while McGrath came on as a replacement.  Also, still in the same position a decade on is Shane Gallagher at left corner back while Robbie Burlingham is back in goals.

There is no doubting the class of these players and they provide a rock that their club can build upon along with Padraig McKeever who remains the fulcrum of the attacking unit.

There is also plenty of promising young talent within the Simonstown ranks through the likes of Will Byrne, Oran Meade and Aaron Farrelly in their attack and when these sides met in the Championship two years ago, Farrelly lit up a poor game when landing 1-03 and generally causing mayhem in the Seneschalstown defence whenever the ball went in his direction.

Based off their initial selections two weeks ago, there are likely to be nine starters on both sides this evening that started that game in Walterstown.

The two Cathal’s, Finnegan and Hickey have often been the go to men to get Seneschalstown out of the mire but with Finnegan still working his way back to full fitness after effectively having two years on the sidelines with successive ACL injuries and Hickey serving the second game of a two match suspension picked up in the Ballinabrackey game, they are going to need others to step up to the plate.

Dylan Keating was their best player in the game between these two sides in 2024 as per the Meath Chronicle report and the diminutive attacker was once more their leading threat in that defeat to Wolfe Tones in Round 3.  Seneschalstown will need another big showing from Keating and in addition to him the likes of Alan Mulvany and Cian Commons will also need to be at their best in attack for David Hosie’s side if they are to pull through and preserve their status as the second longest serving senior side in the county, a record that stretches all the way back to 1968.

In defence, Seneschalstown have some promising players, and it would be no surprise to see Ronan Conneely picking up Ben Hoey and then Simon Rooney and Woodley Nicholson picking up the threats of Farrelly and McKeever.  If these duels come to pass, then their outcomes will prove crucial in deciding who returns to their dressing rooms at the end of the evening relieved and who will be dreading the prospect of another game to come.

The opening game in the Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship Quarter-Finals in Castletown sees Meath Hill return to the scene of that penalty shootout twelve months ago when they face off this evening against another Navan side, this time in the shape of O’Mahony’s.

Everybody remembers the last time these sides met as it took extra-time to separate them in what was an epic final just under two years ago in Páirc Tailteann.

Meath Hill, who are this year managed by Magheracloone man Paudie Finnegan, came through the group stages of the competition in impressive fashion, winning all three games by an average margin of just over 6.5 points per game, something that is all the more impressive given that their attacking talisman Gary Breslin picked up an injury on the opening night of their Championship that ruled him out of their remaining group games.

In his absence Pierce McGrath has come into the full forward line and the Hyrox lover has brought a different dimension to the inside line of the attack, with his ball winning ability proving crucial and the likes of Cormac Sheehy and Jack McMahon feeding off him.

As-ever, Dominic Yorke is a reassuring presence for Meath Hill between the uprights and there are few if any in the county who are better than him in the Intermediate grade and in their defence, Patrick Matthews, James Mooney and Andrew Monaghan form an impressive half back line with Mooney’s driving runs forward being a notable feature of the side.

O’Mahony’s fell to an opening round loss against St. Patrick’s in Walterstown but bounced back in a very impressive manner in Round 2 when recording a twenty-four point victory over Longwood before coming out on top in a tight encounter against their fellow Navan side, Bective.

The Nugent brothers, Eoghan and Cormac have emerged as real talents in the O’Mahony’s attack and their emergence has somewhat lightened the load on Robbie Keeleghan in the forward unit.  This evening will be a stiff challenge for them but on recent evidence, both are more than capable of causing a plethora of issues for the Meath Hill rearguard.

Niall Higgins transferred into the club last year, but an injury picked up when on duty for his native Roscommon against Meath in the All-Ireland Championship ruled him out of contention for much of the remainder of the year.  His addition to the side this season has been a big boost as he has formed a formidable partnership with Aodhan Mallon.

Jamie O’Reilly is another of the next generation of O’Mahony’s players who is coming through, and the 2024 Minor has nailed down the role of goalkeeper.  Meath Hill will look to put his kickout under pressure and if Higgins and Mallon can get the better of Ryan Owens and Jack Slavin then it will be a big step towards qualifying for the last four for the town side.

The Relegation Play-Off sees Blackhall Gaels taking on Bective and both sides will approach this encounter with nervous anticipation.

Blackhall got off to a decent start on the opening weekend when drawing with Dunsany in Summerhill, but their Championship got away from them over the next two rounds when losing out to Moynalvey and Meath Hill by eight and nine points respectively.  The final round loss to Meath Hill was probably their most disappointing showing as they could only muster 1-07, a tally that should it be repeated, would be highly unlikely to win any game in these play-offs.

They have a relatively small playing pool and over the course of a Championship where the dual players are in action every weekend, that takes its toll but they will come into this game confident of taking down Bective, something that will be fuelled by memories of the 2-09 to 2-07 victory over the men in green and white on the opening weekend of last year’s Championship.

Luke Jennings fired five points that day in St. Loman’s Park and if he and Liam Jennings can hit top form then they are more than capable of causing plenty of issues for the Bective defensive unit.

Bective come into this game off the back of some decent showings with both St. Patrick’s and Navan O’Mahony’s given difficult moments, but they will certainly have regrets as to how the end game of their Round 1 meeting with Longwood went in Boardsmill.  After trailing by two points at half time, an early second half goal from Tristan O’Neill brought them into the lead and when Con Smith landed a free at the start of the fourth quarter to push them two to the good, it looked as though Bective might push on.  The opposite happened though as they failed to score for the remainder of the game and Longwood came back to win by five points.

The aforementioned Smith is the key man in the Bective attacking unit and he is always capable of racking up a match winning tally on his day.  He is no one man show however and Cathal McConnell, David Donnelly and Marty Mulhall are all effective attackers while Mark Dowdall is a resolute and gritty presence at centre back.

Can Blackhall’s dual players find it in them to go again and pull off the victory that would preserve their Intermediate status, thus avoiding a second relegation for the club in five days after their hurlers dropped down from the Loman Dempsey Property Consultants SHC B or will Bective find a way to convert promising performances into a victory?

Having originally been fixed for Dunshaughlin, the match has now been switched to Martry due to the LGFA Senior FC Semi-Final taking place in the venue.

The fourth and by no means least game on the bill this evening is the meeting of Kilmainham and Boardsmill in the semi-final of the Coolrite sponsored Junior B Football Championship at 20:00 in Cortown.

Kilmainham are on the redemption trail after losing their Junior A status at the end of the 2025 season and to date they have been looking impressive after coming out of Group B with an unbeaten record thanks to victories over Drumconrath and Kilmainhamwood following on from an opening round draw against Moynalty.

There is a lot to admire about how Kilmainham have reacted to last year’s relegation and they looked impressive when topping what was a very competitive group, with Kilmainhamwood and Moynalty being fancied by many observers as potential winners at the outset of the championship.

Michael Hoey was a member of this year’s Meath U-20 panel, and the young attacker has been in excellent form so far, bringing a youthful exuberance to an attack that also features the ever-reliable Dylan Morgan.  Player/Manager Mickey Newman operated at midfield these days and he brings that bit of cuteness to the table that he always had and in defence Jamie O’Sullivan, Seanie Mahon and the ageless Harry Newman are all showing well.

Boardsmill came into the final round of Group A knowing that they needed a big victory over Eastern Gaels in Dunderry and to hope and pray that Cortown defeated Clonard if they were to qualify for the semi-finals on score difference and this is exactly how events transpired as Clonard missing a series of late opportunities to salvage a draw against Cortown and the ‘Mill recorded a twenty-four point winning margin over bottom of the table Eastern Gaels.

Two men who have been around the block a few times are James McNally and John Rafferty and there is little doubt that the two men have spent countless hours plotting and planning a way to upset the odds and take Kilmainham down but have they the tools at their disposal to do so?

Jack Bird is a tough nut to crack at full back and if he can limit the influence of Dylan Morgan on the scoreboard to three or four points then that will be a good starting point and in the half back line Sean Newman may be given the task of picking up Hoey.  Again, how the influence of Hoey is limited will prove crucial to how this game plays out.

Neil McLoughlin is a key operator in the half forward line and he along with Stevie Gibbons and Cathal Wall will need to be at their best if the ‘Mill are to strike a knockout blow to Kilmainham.

Fairyhouse Steel Senior Football Championship Relegation Play-Off

Simonstown Gaels vs Seneschalstown.  20:00.  Venue:  Skryne

Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship Quarter-Final

Meath Hill vs Navan O’Mahony’s.  20:00.  Venue:  Boliden Tara Mines Park, Simonstown

Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship Relegation Play-Off

Blackhall Gaels vs Bective.  20:00.  Venue:  Martry

Coolrite Junior B Football Championship Semi-Final

Kilmainham vs Boardsmill.  20:00.  Venue:  Martry

Thursday’s Results

* After Extra-Time