This weekend sees the four teams left in contention for the Mayo junior championship put their hopes and dreams on the line at the semi-final stage of the competition.
The semi-finals will take place over both Saturday and Sunday and the action gets underway at 5pm on Saturday evening in Knockmore, when Ardagh and Castlebar Mitchels B face off. Both sides booked their spots at this stage in the competition a fortnight ago, with Ardagh beating Ballintubber B by three points on a score of 1-8 to 0-8, while Mitchels B saw off Kilmovee Shamrocks with more ease, winning 0-12 to 1-4 in Parke.
Ardagh topped their group winning two from three, their loss coming when they played a weakened side against Westport B in round three - before then they dispatched last year's beaten finalists Achill and Knockmore B to seal their quarter-final place. In the league they are plying their trade in division four and have won eight from ten to stand at top of that division.
Mitchels topped their group in the championship winning two and drawing one, seeing off Cill CHomain away and beating Ballycastle at home while drawing their third game against Charlestown B. In the league, Mitchels are operating out of division three where they have won just two from nine, but that will not faze them that much going into this one. This should be a tough battle with not much between the sides.
The other semi-final takes place in Breaffy on Sunday evening and could be one of the games of the entire weekend when Kilmeena and Kilmaine square off. Kilmeena won three from three in the group stages, beating Kilmovee, Ballycroy and Ballina Stephenites B, in the quarter final they saw off Cill Chomain by five points with a 2-12 to 1-10 win in Knockmore. In the league they have been playing in division three and sit in fourth place a point ahead of Davitts, who have made it to the senior quarter-finals and will be well up for this one. Kilmaine will be no pushovers and are themselves playing in a league division higher than Kilmeena, where they have won four from eight and been mixing it well with sides in contention for the intermediate championship.
They saw off Westport B 1-10 to 0-5 in their re-arranged quarter-final last weekend and before that breezed through their group, winning three from three and looking impressive dispatching Tourmakeady, Killala and Ballintubber B along the way. This should be a cracker and one or two points will swing it either way.
Mayo JFC Semi-Final
Ardagh v Castlebar Mitchels B, Saturday, September 21 at 5pm in Knockmore
Kilmeena v Kilmaine, Sunday, September 22 at 4.30pm in Breaffy
Mayo JFC Relegation Play Off
Kilalla v Achill, Saturday, September 21 at 5pm in Bangor Erris
Ballina Stephenites B v Charlestown Sarsfields B, Sunday, September 22 at 4pm in Swinford.
