Derrynoose and St Michael’s reached the same stage of the championship last year, and both suffered very different heartbreaking defeats.
Derrynoose were a kick of the ball away from reaching back to back county finals. They lost to eventual champions Forkhill by the minimum of margins.
Newtown on the other hand were humiliated by Belleek, scoring only three points and losing by 21 in the end.
Youth
They have a youthful team however, led by former Armagh minor captain Sean McVerry. He partners his older brother James in the middle of the field.
Aidan Davison and Rory Foster are other youngsters that are worth keeping an eye on this weekend.
Former Granemore defender JonJo Powell, who featured in the Senior Championship as recently as 2019, mans the defence from centre half back.
Experience
The big challenge for the Newtown defence, that will include more than the named back six, will be to halt the influence of Conor McNally and David McCreesh. Easier said than none.
The pair form a deadly attacking duo, with McNally named as Junior Player of the Year in 2019.
Pearse Lennon returns to the fold this year. He is another major threat in the inside line for Brian Hamilton’s men.
They will be without the Fox brothers however. Aaron, who captained the county hurlers this year, has gone travelling.
The younger of the two Cormac has recently signed a professional deal with Spanish rugby club Ciencais. So both will be missing for the foreseeable future.
Derrynoose should still have enough to come through but Paul Hagan’s Newtown won’t go down without a fight. The Junior B league champions are out to cause an upset.
