Gaelic Games

GAA previews: Canavan brothers aiming to help Errigal Ciarán to All-Ireland club final

Munster champions Dr Crokes will be well aware of the threat of Tyrone sharpshooters Ruairí and Darragh while Cuala are favourites to see off Coolera/Strandhill challenge

Con O'Callaghan in action for Cuala during the Leinster club final win over St Mary's Ardee. The Dublin full forward will be aiming to help his club thwart he ambitions of Connacht champions Coolera/Strandhill. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho
Con O'Callaghan in action for Cuala during the Leinster club final win over St Mary's Ardee. The Dublin full forward will be aiming to help his club thwart he ambitions of Connacht champions Coolera/Strandhill. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho
Gordon Manning's picture
Gordon Manning
Sat Jan 11 2025 - 06:00
Saturday
All-Ireland club senior football championship semi-finals

Dr Crokes (Kerry) v Errigal Ciarán (Tyrone), St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge, 3pm (Live on TG4): Newbridge or anywhere, at this stage Dr Crokes and Errigal Ciarán just want to get the game played. This semi-final has been fixed on three different occasions now – the initial match in O’Moore Park was postponed last weekend, then the refixture for the same venue had to be moved midweek from Portlaoise to St Conleth’s Park instead. But if everything outside of the white lines has changed, the key difference-makers inside them have not. Ruairí and Darragh Canavan are critical to Errigal Ciarán – if Dr Crokes stop the brothers then the Kerry side should win. It’s true Ruairí didn’t score in the Ulster final against Kilcoo and Darragh managed just 0-1, but that was a dog of a game where 1-8 was enough for victory. That tally is unlikely to be enough against Dr Crokes, so Errigal Ciarán will need the Canavan brothers firing. Dr Crokes have experienced footballers throughout the pitch in the likes of Shane Murphy, Fionn Fitzgerald and Tony Brosnan. Both teams will want to dictate the terms of engagement – mission number one for Dr Crokes will be to freeze out the Canavan brothers. Verdict: Dr Crokes

Errigal Ciarán's Darragh Canavan: Will pose a major threat, along with his brother Ruairí, when the Tyrone champions face Dr Crokes in Newbridge. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho
Errigal Ciarán's Darragh Canavan: Will pose a major threat, along with his brother Ruairí, when the Tyrone champions face Dr Crokes in Newbridge. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho

Coolera-Strandhill (Sligo) v Cuala (Dublin), Breffni Park, Cavan, 5pm (Live on TG4): Back to Breffni. Or, more accurately, finally Coolera-Strandhill and Cuala will make it to Breffni. Cuala are still seen as 1/3 favourites by the bookies and Coolera-Strandhill’s big challenge remains trying to devise a plan that curtails Con O’Callaghan. Coolera-Strandhill do not need or want this game to become a shoot-out, because the Sligo champions won’t come out on top in that scenario. However, they demonstrated in holding Ballina to 0-9 in a Connacht semi-final that they have the ability to shut out teams. The worry would be that Cuala get an early run of scores and force Coolera-Strandhill to chase the game. With that in mind, Strandhill will try keep it tight early on – but Cuala should have enough quality all over the field to eventually wear down the Sligo champions. Verdict: Cuala

Sunday

All-Ireland club junior hurling championship final: St Lachtain’s (Kilkenny) v Russell Rovers (Cork), Croke Park, 12.30pm (Live on TG4) – Kilkenny and Cork clubs have largely sliced and diced the All-Ireland junior hurling championship between them since its inception for the 2002-03 season. Some 11 junior finals have been won by Kilkenny clubs over the years, while Cork outfits have claimed six. To say the counties have owned the competition would be an understatement. Russell Rovers are back in the final having lost to Kilkenny’s Conahy Shamrocks in 2020. That hurt should surely drive them on here, but St Lachtain’s were All-Ireland intermediate champions as recently as 2010. On their way to this final, in their five games (Leinster JHC & All-Ireland semi-final) the Kilkenny champions scored 17 goals while Russell Rovers netted eight in three matches (Munster JHC & All-Ireland semi-final). Chances are we’ll see more green flags at Croke Park on Sunday. Verdict: St Lachtain’s

All-Ireland club junior football championship semi-final: Kilmurry (Cork) v Naomh Pádraig, Muff (Donegal), Parnell Park, 2pm (Live on Spórt TG4) – Naomh Pádraig were comprehensive victors over Tara in London last weekend, running out 4-10 to 1-8 winners in a fixture originally due to take place in December but which was postponed because of Storm Darragh. Kilmurry will have had a good look at Naomh Pádraig last weekend and much will depend on how the Donegal side recover from their trip to London. Kilmurry displayed incredible steel in their Munster final win over Firies of Kerry in December. Cormac Linehan’s side finished the game with 13 men but were able to hold on for a 1-10 to 0-9 victory. Having lost the 2022 Munster final to Fossa and the 2023 decider to Listowel Emmets, it was a sweet victory for Kilmurry. They should enter this game fresh and still riding the crest of that wave. Verdict: Kilmurry

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Mattie Kenny: the Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry boss and former Dublin manager led Cuala to two All-Ireland senior club titles in 2017/18. Photograph: Inpho
Mattie Kenny: the Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry boss and former Dublin manager led Cuala to two All-Ireland senior club titles in 2017/18. Photograph: Inpho

All-Ireland club intermediate hurling championship final: Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry (Galway) v Watergrasshill (Cork), Croke Park, 2.30pm (Live on TG4) – Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry boss Mattie Kenny knows a thing or two about All-Ireland club final days – having managed Cuala to senior titles in 2017 and 2018. He now hopes to lead his home club to an intermediate title, but the Galway champions face a difficult task against a free-scoring Watergrasshill outfit. Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry beat Rathnure at the semi-final stage, but the Wexford champions had two men sent off during that contest. Watergrasshill have posted some big tallies on their way to this final – 2-20 against Wolfe Tones na Sionna, 1-20 against Cashel King Cormacs, 1-21 against Carey Faughs. Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry scored 0-19 against Tooreen in the Connacht final and registered 2-19 against Rathnure. Watergrasshill’s Adam Murphy scored 1-40 over his last four championship matches, and the Cork side appear to have more firepower than their Galway opponents. Verdict: Watergrasshill

All-Ireland Club intermediate football championship final: Crossmolina Deel Rovers (Mayo) v Ballinderry (Derry), Croke Park, 4.30pm – postponed