THE final pieces of all-county silverware will be handed out in Antrim on Sunday with the U21 Football Championship finals down for decision.
The ‘B’ final in Ballymena is between Dunloy and Creggan, who got the better of Lámh Dhearg in the semi-final, while the ‘A’ decider will be a meeting between St Gall’s and Glenravel in Portglenone (both games midday throw-ins).
St Gall’s arrive into the decider buoyed by an impressive semi-final win over St John’s last weekend when goals from Niall Fallon, Padraig Murray and Daniel Quinn propelled them to an emphatic win.
The Milltown Row side has been in a rebuilding phase at senior level and a county title at this grade would be a shot in the arm regarding the development of the next generation of players who are graduating into the first team.
Glenravel were equally impressive in their semi-final win over Aghagallon with Daire Higgins, Colla Ward, Cormac McKeown, Niall Hynds, Shea Ó’Broin and Callum Higgins catching the eye and they will enter this game with hopes of a repeat of the 2021 final (then U20) when they edged St Gall’s.
Also on Sunday at Corrigan Park (1pm), Cargin begin their Ulster Senior Club Championship campaign when Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran are the visitors to Belfast.
The Erin’s Own men lost out to Derry’s Glen in previous years and came away from Celtic Park a little aggrieved last year when a red card for Tomás McCann before the break left them with a mountain to climb.
Ronan Devlin’s side needed extra time to come through against Portglenone in the Antrim final but their know-how in tight situations once again came to the fore as they found a way.
The same can be said for Errigal who turned it around late on against Donegal’s St Eunan’s in the preliminary round last week to win by two and Enda McGinley’s side has plenty of quality in the Canavans, Darragh and Ruairi, plus Peter Harte.
On Saturday (2pm in Toome), All Saints, Ballymena are in quarter-final action in the Intermediate grade as they take on Tyrone’s Derrylaughan who are managed by former St Gall’s and Antrim star, Kevin Niblock.
