Croke Park looms ever closer for Milltown/Castlemaine and Dromid
ALL roads lead to O’moore Park, Portlaoise on Sunday as two Kerry and Munster champions get set to face Ulster opposition in their bids to reach the All Ireland Junior and Intermediate club finals respectively.
In the first game (throwin 2pm) Dromid Pearses face Tyrone and Ulster champions Derrytresk in the All Ireland junior club semi-final. In the second game Milltown / Castlemaine face off against Derry and Ulster champions Craigbane in the All Ireland intermediate club semi- final ( throw- in 3.30pm).
Milltown / Castlemaine are reporting a clean bill of health for the fixture, while Dromid Pearses should also be at full strength according to their manager Michael Anthony O’connell.
“We have two on the injury list and I think both should be okay. Niall O’shea has recovered from the knee injury he got over in Birmingham and Denis ‘Shine’ O’sullivan picked up a calf injury in the South Kerry Final. They should both be okay, however,” he told The Keryman this week.
The South Kerry side will face a significant pyschological burden in facing a side from Tyrone. In the last two meetings between Kerry clubs and Tyrone opposition, the Kerry clubs have been beaten – Spa lost out to Cookstown in the All Ireland intermediate final of 2010, while Duagh lost out to Greencastle in the 2007 junior decider.
They will look to Finuge’s experience of beating Stewartstown Harps in the 2005 All Ireland Junior Final for inspiration, however.
Milltown / Castlemaine, meanwhile, won’t have it easy against Derry outfit Craigbane – in the last two years the Intermediate championship has been claimed by a side from Ulster – Cookstown in 2010 and Lisnaskea of Fermanagh last year.
“Ulster have been more dominant in the last few years so this game between the champions of Ulster and Munster is a real crunch tie,” Milltown / Castlemaine manager John Fintan Daly commented this week.