BOTH Clann na nGael and Glengarriff will bid to secure their spots in the semi-finals of the McCarthy Insurance Group Confined Junior B Football Championship this weekend.
On Friday evening, at Clondrohid (7.30pm), Group 1 table-toppers Clann na nGael take on Group 2 runners-up Araglen in the first of two quarter-finals.
The Scorchers, under manager Mike O’Brien, impressed in the group stages, as they beat Garnish (3-7 to 0-12), Muintir Bháire (1-12 to 0-8) and Castlelyons (0-16 to 1-7) and built up momentum heading into the knock-out rounds.
ADVERTISEMENT
Of the teams that played three games in the round-robin series (there were only three teams in Group 3), Clann na nGael have the best defensive record, conceding an average of 0-10 per game.
Robbie McQueen has kicked 0-12 in their three games, including 0-9 in the latest win over Castlelyons, while Paddy McCarthy is proving to be a constant scoring threat too. Damien Fernandez, Kevin O’Driscoll, Eric Crowley, Cian O’Reilly, Eoghan Daly and Ryan O’Donovan have also chipped in with scores.
Clann na nGael will be hoping to equal last year’s performance when they reached the semi-finals of this competition, losing to eventual champions Ballyphehane, who beat Glengarriff in the 2025 quarter-final. The Beara club will be eager to make another deep run this season as they meet Castlelyons in a quarter-final at Enniskeane on Saturday evening (6pm).
Glengarriff finished second in Group 3, beating Doneraile (0-8 to 0-6) in their opener before losing to Belgooly (3-14 to 3-12), with the latter going straight to the semi-finals, as did Group 2 winners Tracton.
In their loss to Belgooly, Glengarriff showed character to rally from being 12 points down, 3-5 to 0-2, after 13 minutes to eventually come within two. Gearóid O’Sullivan, Darragh O’Sullivan Connell, Shaun Clár O’Sullivan and Darren Harrington were Glengarriff’s chief scorers.
Having won the Beara junior B title last season, and then going to the semi-finals of the county junior B football championship in November, Glengarriff are keen to position themselves in the business end of this championship. Castlelyons, while losing to Clann na nGael in the group, did beat both Garnish and Muintir Bháire.
