The two favourites for Junior Championship gold, Derrynoose and Middletown, clash on Sunday for a place in the decider.
Many feel that the winner of this one, a curtain raiser to Crossmaglen v Dromintee, will go all the way.
Derrynoose have already earned promotion to Intermediate football having won the Division Three league and did so without their talisman Conor McNally.
But that were discourage their determination to get their hands on the Sean Quinn Cup for the first time since 1973.
They did reach the final back in 2019 but lost out to Collegeland by three points in the end, 1-12 to 1-9.
Journey so far
Paul Doyle’s men scrapped past St Michael’s before easily dismissing Dorsey to reach the last four of the competition.
A Sean McGuigan goal made all the difference against Newtown while Fintan Corvan, Mark Lennon and Davy McCreesh all rattled the net in the quarter final.
McCreesh has stepped up as the main scorer in McNally’s absence. He’s kicked a personal tally of 1-10 in two games.
The threat of Pauric McNaughton and Mark Lennon bursting down the wings will be another element of Derrynoose’s play that Middletown will be wary of.
They have former Armagh netminder Niall Geoghegan between the sticks and he’ll be calling the shots at the back.
Ruairi McCann has been one of their standout players of the championship and he adds terrific pace to their counterattacks.
Paudie Lappin grabbed a goal in their first-round win over Clady and he forms a strong midfield partnership with Shea Gaffney.
Up front, Sean Og McGuinness carries most of the scoring burden and his clash with Patrick Quinn could be decisive.
Middletown haven’t won the Junior Championship since 2008 but have been competing at Intermediate level over the last number of years.
Whoever comes through here will carry the favourites tag into the final. But that concern is for another day, the focus will be on getting their first.
