Do or die in Mourne County

By Shaun Casey

TWO heavyweight showdowns will take place in Páirc Esler, Newry this weekend as Down kingpins Kilcoo lock horns with Glenn while Carryduff and Burren cross swords, with all four eyeing up a place in the Senior Championship final.

Kilcoo are the team to beat in the Mourne County and have been for the past number of years, and Karl Lacey’s side will remain as the heavy favourites to retain their title as long as they’re in the competition.

They’ve gone about their business in a comfortable fashion this season, slaying all the challenges that have stood in front of them. Loughinisland were the closest team to the Magpies, and they were still three points adrift at the finish.

They breezed past Clonduff and Mayobridge to reach the semis and were missing Ryan Johnston the last day out but that made little impact on how the game played out or the final result.

Super-sub Sean Og McCusker was sprung from the bench and headed to the changing rooms with 1-2 chalked down beside his name, surely putting his hand up for a starting position this weekend.

Glenn, who reached their second successive semi-final by beating Bryansford, have a sprinkling of inter-county talent in their ranks, namely captain Shay Millar, goalkeeper John O’Hare and Niall McParland.

Stevie Clarke’s men, who won the Division Three league title earlier this year, lost out to Carryduff in the opening round but have bounced back in impressive fashion with wins over Castlewellan, Clonduff and Bryansford.

Carryduff haven’t reached the county final since 2020 and to end that waiting spell, they must battle past last year’s beaten finalists Burren.

Both teams are laced with quality, and both can make strong cases for being the second best team in the Mourne County.

Finnian Moriarty’s side have sailed through to the final four with comfortable victories over Bredagh and Ballyholland following that five-point victory over Glenn on the opening day of the campaign.

Leitrim native Cian Clinton was the chief marksman the last day out, kicking 1-4, all from dead ball efforts, while former Fermanagh midfielder Eoin Donnelly brings a wealth of experience to the side, as do the Guinness brothers Daniel and James.

Burren won’t be lacking for inter-county knowhow of course as they have a number of players involved in Conor Laverty’s squad, not to mention Armagh’s All-Ireland winning corner back and All-Star nominee Paddy Burns.

Liam Kerr, Odhran Murdock, Danny and Ryan Magill are among the best players in the county while goalkeeper and ex-Down forward Donal O’Hare has the experience of winning county titles which will be key as teams head into the business end of the competition.