It’s all to play for in Davitt Park on Friday evening as St Paul’s and Wolfe Tones battle it out for a spot in the last four.
Both teams scrapped through the opening rounds with one point to spare and will hope to build on those performances.
They wouldn’t have been overly happy with how they played, but both know that first rounds are for winning.
The Tones battled past Tir na nOg by the minimum as they allowed the Portadown men back into after half time.
A Niall Dummigan double stretched the Tones’ advantage at one stage to five points in the second half.
But Tir na nOg, minus the firepower of Paul Carvill and Oisin Conaty, rattled off the last four scores of the game.
They couldn’t find the equaliser, but Peter Nugent’s charges will surely be concerned with how they finished the game.
Especially given the step up in class they’re going to face this weekend when they come up against a threatening attacking unit.
Firepower
While St Paul’s weren’t firing at all cylinders against Clonmore, they have so much potential up front.
They only scored 0-10, but that was without Ryan Lawless, Eoin McConville only came up, and Andrew Murnin spent most of his time at midfield.
Throw in the likes of Antoin McParland, Niall McCorry and the evergreen Peadar Nash and Shane McConville’s side look like they can score from anywhere.
The Lurgan men had eight different scorers against Clonmore and no team in the Intermediate Championship so far has had more scorers in a single game.
When it comes down to it, it’s all about who moves the scoreboard more often, and St Paul’s definitely hold the aces in that regard.
Wolfe Tones will certainly look to keep the score down with the experience of Jonathan McCarron and Ryan McQuillan key to their defensive plan.
But St Paul’s just seem to have too many avenues to shut down. While Wolfe Tones might succeed in keeping the score down, the St Paul’s firepower should see them through.
