Naomh Conaill, Kingscourt and Old Leighlin book county final returns

Naomh Conaill's Odhran Doherty celebrates ©INPHO/Leah Scholes

Naomh Conaill, Kingscourt Stars and Old Leighlin remain on course to retain their respective county senior football championship titles after securing semi-final wins on Sunday.

Naomh Conaill fought back from five points down to defeat Glenswilly by 0-22 to 0-19 after extra time and reach their 10th Donegal SFC final in 11 years.

Glenswilly led 0-10 to 0-6 at half-time, with Michael Murphy, Kealan Dunleavy, Caolan Kelly and Eoghan Scott among their scorers. Murphy continued to drive Glenswilly forward after the break as they opened a five-point lead in Ballybofey.

Naomh Conaill responded through Shea Malone, John O’Malley, Odhran Doherty and Ciaran Thompson, eventually forcing extra time.

With the game finely balanced, O’Malley and Seamus Corcoran struck crucial points before Malone added the insurance score to seal a dramatic victory. Naomh Conaill will now face St Eunan’s in the county final after the Lettekenny men defeated Gaoth Dobhair by 2-18 to 1-19 on Saturday night.

This evening’s Cavan senior football championship semi-final saw Kingscourt Stars having to come from behind against Cuchulainns to earn a 3-13 to 0-17 win at Kingspan Breffni.

The reigning champions had fallen 0-8 to 0-3 behind inside the opening 20 minutes in Cavan Town, but got two well-timed goals from Peter Corrigan to hold a 2-6 to 0-9 lead at the break.

The scores of Ryan Tobin and Adrian Taite made it a one-point game four minutes into the resumption before Joe Dillion nailed a two-pointer for Colin Kelly’s side.

Cuchulainns would move ahead again through the scores of Turlough Farrelly and Evan Doughty, but the holders came with another push that saw points by Jordan Morris, Dillon and Caoimhin McGee steer them back in front before Cian Shekleton's goal with seven minutes left went a long way to sealing the Stars’ win.

The result means it’s a repeat of last year’s SFC final in the Breffni County, with Gowna having cruised into the decider thanks to last night’s 15-point hammering of Crosserlough.

Earlier today, Old Leighlin booked their return to the Carlow senior football championship final thanks to a 1-15 to 1-7 victory over Eire Og.

It was the 2023 champions that made the perfect start at Netwatch Cullen Park, where Eoghan Ruth punched the ball to the net for them inside the opening minute.

The holders responded with quick points from Seamus Kinsella and James Dowling, but would go in trailing at the break by 1-4 to 0-5.

A couple more points by Dowling would trim Old Leighlin’s arrears before they hit the front with an Aaron Amond goal on 40 minutes.

From there, the points of Tadhg Roche and Dowling served to further increase the lead for the champions who would win out by eight in the end to secure their final date against Rathvilly who defeated Palatine (4-12 to 2-16) on Saturday evening.