The weekend of All County Football League Finals gets underway this evening (Friday) with two appetising encounters on the cards in Sean Newman Park and in Castletown as the Tommy Dowd Oil sponsored Division 3A and 3B Finals take place.
The finals are all ticket and are priced as follows.
- General Admission – €10
- Student/OAP – €5
- Children U-16 accompanied by an adult attend for free.
Tickets for all finals can be purchased via the Meath GAA App which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play Store.
In Sean Newman Park, two clubs from opposite ends of the county meet with Kilbride looking to add the Division 3A title to the Division 3B League which they won last year when beating Moylagh, who St. Brigid’s form an Independent Team with at juvenile level, in the decider.
Having lost out to Kilmainham in the Tailteann Cup Final earlier this season on an evening when their radar in front of the posts went awry, Kilbride who are managed by Leo Turley (the 2003 Keegan Cup winning manager with Blackhall Gaels) will be looking to make amends for that defeat. On the week when their honorary President Mena Geraghty passed to her eternal reward it would be a big boost for the club from the south of the county to pick up some silverware.
St. Brigid’s contested the Meath Cleaning Supplies Premier Football Championship Division 8 Final last weekend, losing out to Slane in a nail-biting encounter by one point and they will be hoping to fare better on Friday evening and add to the Balreask Bar, Restaurant & Guest Accomodation Junior B Football Championship which they won in 2022.
Meath Senior panellist Michael Flood has been released to play in the final as he gets much needed game time in advance of the Tailteann Cup Final in two weeks and he lines out in his customary centre back berth for the Ballinacree outfit. Cian Blake was exceptional in last weeks Premier Championship Final at centre forward and he lines out here at top of the right in an all Blake full forward line which also includes his brother Jack and cousin Joseph. This trio are all match winners in their own right and it will be fascinating to see how Kilbride attempt to contain them.
Andy McWeeney and Timmy Farrell are an impressive young midfield pairing for Kilbride and how St. Brigid’s counteract them through their partnership of David Gibney and Darach Geraghty will go a long way towards deciding the destination of the Cummins Cup. Finn White lined out for Meath Minors in 2022 and he will operate this evening from left half back. A player who has a noted ability to get forward and chip in with scores, he looks set to be a key player for Kilbride not only this evening but for many seasons to come while in Ronan O’Leary they possess an excellent full back.
Castletown has been something of a happy hunting ground for Slane over the last twelve months with some big victories there for the club at both adult and juvenile level and the Boynesiders will be hoping for more of the same when they take on Cortown in the Division 3A Final at 19:45, with this competition also sponsored by Tommy Dowd Oil.
Indeed when these sides met last year in the Junior B Football Championship, the game also took place in Castletown when Matt Tully inspired Slane to a vital victory en route to contesting the final later that season.
A club that has struggled in recent times, Slane have been putting in a huge amount of work at juvenile level in an effort to revitalise the club and that work is beginning to come to fruition, as evidenced by their progression to contesting Division 2 of the LMFM Minor Football Championship last year, having started the season off a couple of divisions lower.
Cortown are another club who have found the going tough in recent times and like Slane have steadily slipped through the grades from Senior to Junior B but come into this final knowing a victory could be the major boost they require as the club look to climb back through the ranks once more.
Hugh Staunton impressed many observers in last years Championship and he will be one of their key men around midfield in Castletown along with Daragh O’Halloran who anchors the defence from centre back and up front they will look to the accurate Tommy Smyth to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Slane possess one of the best long range free takers in the county in goalkeeper Darren Berrill and he will punish any indiscretions from Cortown, something of which they are all too familiar with following a Championship meeting in Rathkenny a few years ago. Eoin Feeley brings a wealth of experience to the half back line at centre back while up front Podge McGowan who was a brilliant underage talent will be a key operator from his right corner forward berth.
