Derry SFC down to the last eight this weekend
No more chances for remaining teams as the back door has been firmly closed
O’Neill’s Senior Football Championship quarter-finals
Glen v Kilrea, 4pm Saturday
Glen have yet to meet any of the big boys. After wins over Banagher and Bellaghy they now take on another outsider in Kilrea who surprised Steelstown in round three.
Kilrea may have a slight advantage in that they have had a recent game while the Watty’s have been idle for three weeks.
Glen have been playing well and have yet to be tested so to a certain extent they are difficult to measure.
They are very strong from midfield up but at the back they are not as strong as in the past.
Glen have a very powerful midfield in Conor Glass and Ciaran McFaul and with Larry Kielt an injury doubt for Kilrea the Maghera man should get a foothold in this area.
Kilrea manager Jude Donnelly, himself a former Glen boss, knows how to set a team up and reduce the influence of opposing key men.
His defence was excellent against Steelstown but the three Doherty brothers in the Glen full forward line are not easily closed down.
Glen will rightly be hot favourites but Kilrea have the tools to make it difficult or them!
Magherafelt v Lavey, 6pm Saturday
Last year Magherafelt lost to Newbridge in the final and are one of the really fancied teams to get hands on the John McLaughlin Cup for the first time since 2020.
They beat a strong Slaughtneil team and eased past Steelstown to show their quality.
With Gavin ‘Horse’ Devlin and Enda Muldoon steering the ship they have the quality to go all the way. Virtually every one of their players have represented Derry at some level.
Lavey lost to Newbrige despite a late rally and they staked a last eight spot with an uneasy victory over Swatragh.
They have a good squad but they don’t link as well as they should and some of their key men have yet to hit top note. If they are to get a semi final place they must increase their scoring ratio.
With forwards like the Downey brothers, Patrick McGurk, Niall Toner and Dara O’Kane the ability is there.
The Rossas have a formidable midfield pairing in Dan Higgins and Eoin McEvoy but Lavey are also strong in that area through Conor Mulholland and Rory McGill.
Magherafelt will be favourites but Lavey are a coming team.
Ballinderry v Slaughtneil, 4pm Sunday
Despite losing four key players to injury Slaughtneil still managed to steam roll a useful Glenullin team by 18 points last Sunday. They face another task that should be within their ability when they take on a Ballinderry team that is likely to be without star man Gareth McKinless, The Shamrock’s last won the title in 2013 and Slaughtneil have done it five times since then.
What keeps Slaughtneil going despite injury set backs is that players like Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan and Christopher Bradley can do the work of two players.
In round one they lost to Magherafelt after leading until the last ten minutes. They had a lot more shooting power against Glenullin last Sunday outscoring the Mtchel’s by 1-10 to 0-1 in the final quarter.
Ballinderry got the better of two outsiders Ballinascreen and Genullin to go straight into the quarter final but meeting a battle hardened Slaughtneil team is a big step up. On Form Slaughtneil should in with a bit in hand.
Newbridge v Bellaghy 6pm Sunday
Defending champions Newbridge going for three in a row take on neighbours Bellaghy. These teams have a rivalry going back o 1939.
Newbridge have come from nowhere to take the last two titles and they did so by playing fast and fluent football.
Despite missing key forward Sean Young they have made it through to the last eight without being at their best.
Oisin Doherty has been their stand out player with his brilliant free taking so Bellaghy manager Damian Cassidy will have his players well warned about giving away frees in Doherty territory.
Bellaghy beat Dungiven on Sunday to get to this stage but they had a bit of fortune along the way as Dungiven lost three key players with injury in the game.
Newbridge have the capacity to improve as they gather experience, they have an average age of just 24 and will be around for a long time to come.
Bellaghy have a good team but depend a lot of the free taking of Damon Gallagher for scores. Outside of Doherty’s free taking the ‘Bridge have Sean Young, Eamon Young and Conor McAteer who are accurate finishers.
With local pride at stake, Bellaghy - who have not won the title in over 20 years - will be all out will make it difficult for the champions but not enough to get the result .