McGilligan duo eye dual celebration

THE McGilligan family is hoping to celebrate a possible double feat today.

When Banagher line out against Cavan representatives Mullahoran in the Ulster Club Intermediate Football Championship semi-final at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh (5.00pm), Brian Og McGilligan will be a key figure at midfield alongside veteran Mark Lynch.

Just last Saturday McGilligan’s father Brian Snr was very much engrossed in the jubilations when the 1993 Derry team that lifted the All-Ireland senior football title for the only time in the county’s history marked the silver anniversary of that achievement in considerable style at the Tullyglass House Hotel, Ballymena.

Tonight, McGilligan snr will be at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh to see if his son can help Banagher take a stride towards what would be be a fourth triumph this year as they have already won the Division Three league title, the Neil Carlin Cup and the Derry Intermediate Championship.

They may have had to wait 66 years for the latter honour to come along but this has only served to sharpen Banagher’s hunger for additional silverware.

The McGilligan-Lynch midfield partnership forms the axis of a Banagher side that has been impressive this year, throwing off the shackles of history to surge into the record books at long last.

But in Mullahoran they will be facing a robust, strongly focused side that created quite a stir in winning the Breffni county intermediate title. The Cavan outfit play a fast, direct brand of football that has seen them claim some notable scalps and they are unlikely to be fazed by having to face a Banagher side that is on the trail of even more success.

In the other Ulster club intermediate semi-final, St Enda’s, Glengormley will be hoping to build on their impressive feat in winning the Antrim title when they meet Tyrone champions Tattyreagh in the second game of the Atheltic Grounds double bill (7.00).

Under the guidance of former Antrim boss Frank Fitzsimons, St Enda’s have flourished this year with players such as Peter Healy, Odhran Eastwood, Joe Maskey and Ruairi Scott to the fore.

In overcoming Doohamlet at the quarter-final stage, St Enda’s made a further statement of intent as to their potential.