By Conor Martin
It’s semi-final time in the Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 2 Football Championship this weekend, with four clubs looking to seal the two promotion spots to the Senior 1 Championship this weekend.
This weekend’s semi-final action gets underway when Naomh Barróg and Templeogue Synge Street feature at Parnell Park on Saturday (3.15pm).
Naomh Barróg are looking for their first Championship title and promotion since they won the Intermediate Championship back in 2022.
They beat Naomh Olaf 2-13 to 0-9 in their quarter-final and have a range of options that can help them get the win this Saturday, including Luke Dolan, Ryan Alexander and Liam Durran in attack, Paul Tolan in midfield and, in defence, Aaron Comerford and Conor Gibson, who can provide the stability they will need to be on form against a talented Templeogue Synge Street side.
Templeogue Synge Street suffered heartbreak last year in the Championship after they were relegated from Senior 1 but will be promoted if they win their semi-final this Saturday afternoon.
They got to the final four by overcoming St Brigids by three points in their last outing. Niall Scully and Scott McConnell both impressed, scoring 1-5 and 1-1 on the way to helping their club progress.
Going into this weekend’s semi-final, they know they can rely on the defensive capabilities of Conal Cunningham and Conor McKiernan and in attack, the inter-county pairing of Killian O’Gara and Lorcan O’Dell can help them into the final.
Whitehall Colmcille and St Oliver Plunkett/Eoghan Ruadh play in the second semi-final this weekend, when they take to the field at Parnell Park this Sunday afternoon (2pm).
Whitehall are looking to bounce back to Senior 1 football at the first time of asking after losing the relegation play-off last year and they know- given both Senior 2 finalists will be promoted- a win this weekend confirms just that.
Dublin Senior Football panelist Cormac Costello starred in their quarter-final win over Scoil Uí Chonaill as Whitehall pulled away in the second-half and won by 13 points.
Adam McDermott had a stormer of a game and contributed three points from wing-forward, before Whitehall wrapped up the win thanks to Keith Campbell, influential midfielder Seán Foran and Rory Kerins.
St Oliver Plunkett/Eoghan Ruadh have enjoyed a considerably better year than their 2023 Championship, in which they had to win their relegation play-off against St Anne’s to preserve their Senior 2 status.
In the quarter-finals they beat St Marys Saggart 2-12 to 1-12 and in that encounter, they hit the front foot early with goals from Neil Clerkin and Paul Brogan. Their opponents then managed to turn the game on its head with some good scores and it would be level at the break.
Gareth Smith enjoyed a purple patch and kicked some much-needed points as Plunketts regained control of the game. Dublin’s Seán Bugler added three points, while further scores by Irinel Popa and Conor Tyrell secured their spot in the last four.