More of the old order in Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC semi-finals or a new frontier for Fenagh?

The Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC final is so close that the teams left standing can almost touch it but next weekend’s semi-finals represent a significant increase in the stakes as Leitrim Gaels, Mohill, Fenagh St Caillins & Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins chase a place in the Final.

​If the knockout stages are meant to bring the cream to top, that is the way it has played out in 2026 as the top four teams after the groups stages are the only still standing, the record since 2020 backing up that notion. Mohill have reached this stage, including 2026, for the last ten campaigns straight, a run that goes back to 2016 when Leitrim Gaels, Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins and Fenagh St Caillins were all in the Intermediate grade.

Champions Leitrim Gaels have the least amount of appearances since 2020 - just four and only one final appearance, 2025, when they went all the way. Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins have missed out twice on the semi-finals since 2020 but when they get to this stage, they’ve only lost one semi-final.

That brings us to Fenagh St Caillins, a team cruelly unable to get over their semi-final crux. Five times in the last six campaigns, they’ve reached the last four and five times, they’ve gone home heartbroken with penalties and replays featuring in a tale of woe. The past has little to do with next weekend’s games in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada but it does have a power over the minds players and supporters, that nagging thought in the back of the mind until it is banished.

On paper, the teams are well matched and we should be in for a titanic struggle in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada on both days – whether it works out like that, I don’t know but it does make for a fascinating pair of games!

MOHILL V BALLINAMORE SEAN O’HESLINS - SATURDAY 5PM

Hard to believe that a Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins team looking to reach a third Senior Final in a row start as underdogs on Saturday but that’s the situation we find ourselves in, mainly due to the fact that a rejuvenated and revitalised Mohill have stamped their class on the Senior Championship this year.

Comparing both teams seems futile because, as we saw in 2024, they are wildly similar and take much the same approach to the game: hard physical football with runners charging forward and attackers that can run up big totals. The group stages meeting between the pair doesn’t tell us much either – for long periods, Mohill looked a step above their hosts, even without Keith Keegan, but they couldn’t quite escape the grasp of O’Heslins who hung on in there and struck two goals in added time to take a two point lead.

Then we saw what Mohill are made of, Keith Beirne landing a two point free to tie the scores. Mohill will have Keegan back on duty and Alan McLoughlin is back with Mohill but in terms of extra resources, Ballinamore have the edge. Neither Paul Honeyman or Tom Prior started that day and Ballinamore have gotten even stronger with the return of Dean & Niall McGovern while Cathal McHugh and Michael McKiernan saw action as subs against Allen Gaels the last day out.

That greatly strengthens O’Heslins, their defence looked iffy early on but with players coming back, they have options in every area and a sense of momentum. One does wonder where their form truly lies as the overwhelmed an inexperienced and weakened Allen Gaels just a week after getting blasted by Fenagh. Mohill, apart from the draw against Ballinamore, have left no room for doubt - the group stages highest scorers and second best defence, I wonder if they are over-reliant on Keith Beirne but Mohill always come up with a solution.

The battle around the middle should be one to savour - Conor Quinn is having an excellent season and with Domhnaill Flynn, the Harkins, Keith Keegan and Shane Quinn, Mohill are stacked in that area but so too are Ballinamore with the Moran brothers, Donal Feely, Michael McBrien set to be boosted by the McGoverns, Cathal McHugh & Michael McKiernan.

Ballinamore look to have a more varied attacking threat through Honeyman, Prior and Dillon Beirne and the key may well be getting the match ups right on the day. My gut feeling is that Mohill are the team to beat this year so they get the dreaded nod here.

LEITRIM GAELS V FENAGH ST CAILLINS - SUNDAY 4PM

If this semi-final is half as exciting as the group stage contest, we are in for a treat but there is a growing feeling out there that Fenagh St Caillins might be hitting top form at just the right time just when Leitrim Gaels are struggling to get their best 15 out on the field.

In the Group stages, Fenagh lost two games they should have won but since then, they’ve found a new gear against Ballinamore and St Mary’s but those displays reinforce the notion that Ryan O’Rourke is the key to Fenagh’s hopes. The Fenagh captain is the guiding light in a team choc full of attacking talent but what impressed me most from the win over St Mary’s was their defensive shape and resilience, not giving up the chances that cost them dearly in other games.

Martin Dunne’s team are in a tricky situation - Dunne and Mickey Graham weren’t involved in their five previous semi-finals but the spectre of those losses loom over St Caillins and that may be their biggest test, turning all that raw ability into a final appearance. Ironically, Leitrim Gaels are the template for doing that - the 2025 champions had their own trauma in semi-finals but they blew those concerns out of the water last year.

But 2026 has been different with the loss of Donal Casey magnified by injury to Garvan Jones & Jack Flynn, talk that the Fermanagh star may be out of action for some time but up until they met St Mary’s, Mal Guckian’s team found a way to get the job done, albeit with the lowest scoring return and meanest defence in the competition. The Gaels are still relying on Ryan & Conall Jones, Aidan Flynn and Stephen Goldrick while the return of David Bruen and Stephen McDermott have off-set some of the losses but the champions don’t appear quite as intimidating as they did this time last year.

Strangely, that might play in their favour - most of the people I’ve chatted to have Fenagh as hot favourites and you can be sure that the low-key approach with suit Leitrim Gaels down to the ground and they’ll have a plan to try to contain Fenagh’s attack.

Fenagh looked subdued energy wise against St Mary’s, they’ll be fresher but three weeks off will benefit Leitrim Gaels no end. Early on, I had Leitrim Gaels down as definite finalists, that certainty has shifted and Fenagh will undoubtedly move up a gear. Who wins? Gut feeling says Leitrim Gaels but not with any great conviction.