Maigh Cuillinn will be hard beaten, says Donnellan

The county intermediate football final between Moycullen and Athenry is down for decision this Sunday at Pearse Stadium (4pm ).

Moycullen were narrowly beaten in last year's intermediate final by Killannin and they will be keen to avoid another final defeat in their quest to return to senior football for 2016.

They will look to their experienced players such as team captain Seamus Friel, Gareth Bradshaw, and Mark and Philip Lydon to show the leadership required to get the club back to the top echelons of club football.

Young Peter Cooke, who is a former county minor, has also been in good form this season and, if he clicks into top gear, he can make a big contribution.

While Moycullen defeated Corofin by 2-15 to 0-8 in their county semi-final, Athenry defeated Oughterard. Their team manager Neil Sutherland will look to county midfielder Tom Flynn to dominate around the middle and get ball into their dangerous full-forward line where Cathal Fahy and Sean McVeigh are capable of doing damage.

Athenry have been solid defensively all season, with brothers Mark and Shane Healy to the fore at the back.

Moycullen team manager for the past two seasons, Michael Donnellan, who won a fair few senior county medals in his playing days with Corofin in the 1990s, knows county medals are not collected easily.

"We have prepared well and we are really looking forward to Sunday. We are treating it as just a another game in which we have to produce a big performance, and we know that Athenry will be very difficult to beat.

"They are well battle-hardened after coming to the final via the back door and they have improved as the season has progressed. They held Dunmore scoreless for the entire second half of that championship game, and they were very impressive in their semi-final win over Oughterard. We know they will present a big challenge on Sunday, but we believe  if we bring our top game, we will be hard beaten."

The intermediate final is preceded by the junior county final between Clifden and St Gabriels (2pm ).

 

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