No clear favourite for intriguing Senior B Final as Kiltubrid & Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins lock horns

Kiltubrid footballers must be thinking they ran over a black cat as for the second year in a row, they missed out on a final by a single point.

Last year St Joseph's grabbed a dramatic injury time winner in the Senior B semi-finals to knock them out  and history repeated itself last Sunday when Glencar Manorhamilton denied them a place in the Senior A Final. However, there is a small compensation for Kiltubrid as they had already qualified for the Senior B Final next Sunday against Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins, the team who denied them the place in the A Final on scoring difference.

Kiltubrid heartbreak as one point separates them from place in Senior A Final

Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins to face champions Glencar Manorhamilton in Senior A decider as well as Kiltubrid in Senior B Final after dramatic final group games

The drama of the final round was great for fans with Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins cruising to an expected 4-15 to 0-10 victory over Dromahair, the 17 point winning margin the big factor in them leaping over Kiltubrid into the A Final. Their scoring difference of plus 48 to Kiltubrid's plus 28 and St Joseph's plus 17, Joe's prevailing after a tough 2-14 to 2-6 victory over St Francis, was the deciding factor as all three teams ended up with nine points.

Goals from Roisin McHugh, Laura O'Dowd and Lily Byrne put the rejuvenated O'Heslins into a 3-10 to 0-4 lead at the halftime interval and Megan McGovern added a fourth in the second half.

Ballinamore now face an incredibly busy schedule of games with a Senior B Final against Kiltubrid this Sunday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada which will also host the A Final between champions Glencar Manorhamilton  and Ballinamore on Sunday October 8. The winner of the Kiltubrid and Ballinamore Senior B Final will represent Leitrim in the Connacht Intermediate Club campaign against Galway on Sunday October 30, with the Senior A winners taking on the Sligo champions on Sunday October 23.

Glencar Manorhamilton will have the advantage of waiting to see who they face in the A Final but the B Final is a significant prize in itself and Kiltubrid will be looking for some consolation and a little bit of revenge against Ballinamore. Given that they lost two games to the A Finalists by a point in each game, Kiltubrid could, with a tiny bit of luck in each game, have gone through the campaign unbeaten and that is sure to drive them on next Sunday.

The two sides met in an epic encounter in the group stages when a late Lily Byrne point gave Ballinamore a dramatic 1-14 to 2-10 victory. Kiltubrid had started like a train with Emma Guckian's goal putting them in command. An Aoibheann Flynn goal early in the second half sparked a period of Ballinamore dominance before Aisling McWeeney's goal got Kiltubrid back in it.

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So there appears to be little to choose between the teams but much will come down to how Ballinamore cope with the threat posed by Michelle Guckian. Stopping the Leitrim star from scoring goals would go a long, long way to securing the title for O'Heslins but that's no simple task.

Ballinamore have blown hot and cold, some good days where they look like potential world beaters and in Laura O'Dowd, Lily Byrne, Niamh Donohue and Roisin McHugh, they have potential match winners.

So it will come down to what defence manages to hold the opposition the best and Kiltubrid have a history of tying good attacks up in knots on the big day. How much will  last Sunday affect them is hard to know - will it strengthen their resolve or do they need time to recover?

To be honest, this one is too close to call - the formbook suggests Kiltubrid but only just, Ballinamore have the head to head and just as much motivation. If pushed, I'd pick Kiltubrid but I won't put any money on it!

Savouring glory at long last with Aughnasheelin

"Born to Save" extract

In this extract from Martin McHugh’s just released autobiography ‘Born to Save’ the legendary Leitrim goalkeeper from the heady summer of 1994 reveals the joy of finally winning a first county championship at 47 years of age. ‘Born to Save’ is available in all good bookshops (and also on Amazon as an ebook €9.99, paperback €20 and hardback €25)

INTERMEDIATE

St Mary's topped the table after a hard fought 1-8 to 0-6 victory over previously unbeaten St Brigid's on Sunday. A goal from Leitrim panellist Sarah Reynolds midway through the first half was the game's big score as the town team led 1-4 to 0-4 at the break, former Leitrim All-Ireland winner Mary McKeon firing over two points for Brigid's.

Points from Aisling Leahy (2) and Kasey Bruen stretched the lead to six points with two Carla Le Guen points reducing the gap slightly by the finish.

In the other game in the group, Fenagh St Caillins almost caused a huge surprise when they finished just a point adrift of Mohill, the town team winning 2-7 to 2-6.

The results means that St Mary's will face Drumkeerin in the semi finals with St Brigid's taking on a Mohill team who they beat by five points in the group stages.

JUNIOR

Intriguing results in the Junior grade ahead of the semi finals with Keeldra Gaels dropping their first points of the season in a high scoring 4-7 to 3-10 draw with Annaduff while Glencar Manor's B team showed they are a force to be reckoned with after a 3-16 to 1-0 win over an understrength Leitrim Gaels.

Incredibly, that means that the semi-finals will be a repeat of the final round with Keeldra facing Annaduff and Leitrim Gaels taking on Glencar Manor to see who reaches the final.