St Josephs and Clan na Gael will face each other for the right to play Division 1 football next year after both came through their respective play-off semi-finals.

The Brides went into the game against Clans hoping to make up for missing out on automatic promotion, however it was to prove to be another agonising night for the Mid Louth outfit.

The Knockbridge men looked to be on course for victory when they led going into injury time but a Billy Smith goal in injury-time saw the Clans edge out St Brides on a scoreline of 2-13 to 3-8.

The game in Knockbridge on Friday was a close affair from start to finish and the first quarter saw a Ray McCabe goal cancelled out by a Kevin Hearty effort. The Brides had the better of the second quarter and went in at the break leading by 1-5 to 1-3.

The Clans started the second half with five unanswered points, but the Brides responded with another Hearty goal to regain the lead at 2-7 to 1-9.

The Dundalk men began to dominate and edged ahead by 1-13 to 2-8 entering the closing stages but when Paddy Reilly hit the net on 61 minutes it looked as if their hopes had been dashed.

However there was still time for another piece of play and from the next attack St. Brides conceded a free kick, which the Clans kicked into the goalmouth. A scramble ensued and Smith forced the ball to the net giving the visitors a win by two points with the last kick of the ball.

The second semi-final saw St Josephs move to within one win of a return to the top division with a 3-10 to 1-14 victory that sees St Fechins return to the Division 2 League for next season.

The game in Beaulieu saw the Fechins use the advantage of the wind in the early stages as Ronan Holcroft struck 1-2 to help his side lead by 1-4 to no score.

Scores from Paul Matthews and Joseph Corrigan saw the hosts continue to clock up the points but the Joes hit back with two goals from Conal O'Hanlon to reduce the half time deficit to 1-12 to 2-4.

The Joes dominated the second half and edged ahead with a Conall Smyth goal, only to see the Fechins hit back to level in the closing stages. However, late points from Tomas Smyth and Alan Quigley, combined with two great saves from Mark Neary saw the Cluskey Park men claim victory.

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