Kilmaine shook off the disappointment of losing the Mayo junior final to Castlebar Mitchels B last weekend and booked their place in the Connacht semi-final with a three point win over Galway kingpins, Glenamaddy.
The south Mayo men hit the ground running at pace in the first half of their win in Tuam Stadium last Saturday, bagging three first half goals to lead by ten points on a scoreline of 3-7 to 0-6 at the turnaround. However they just added 1-1 after the break and were pushed all the way in the end by the Galway men.
That first half goals came from Cathal Murphy, Jarlath Mullin and Colin Hughes for Kilmaine with Adam Barrett kicking four points in the opening half hour - and the centre half forward would go on to get his side's vital fourth goal just before the 40 minute mark.
Kilmaine's Adam Keady was called into action numerous times in goal, including a penalty save to keep Kilmaine's noses in front as the game headed towards its conclusion.
The Mayo champions will return to home comforts of sorts tomorrow afternoon when they take on Roscommon champions Ballinameen in MacHale Park at 2pm.
The Roscommon champions saw off the challenge of St Brigid's B in the Roscommon final by six points, winning 2-11 to 0-11 three weeks ago to win the junior crown in the county for the first time since 2010.
Dessie Carlos put in a top class performance in the Roscommon final, kicking a number of big scores, while Liam Kelly bagged the two goals for his side, one in either half. They led 1-6 to 0-5 at the break and outscored their opponents 1-5 to 0-6 in the second half to see captain Peter Keane lift the cup.
They were also thankful to Gary Hanley in goal who made a number of important saves during the game to keep the his side in front of the challenge of the Kiltoom-based outfit.
Charile Ward's team will pose a serious test to Kilmaine - who will be looking for big showings from the likes of the experienced Pat Kelly and Joe Maloney and emerging stars like Oisin Mullin. They'll be hoping that Adam Barrett maintains his shooting radar from the last win and David Hughes and Matthew Mullin can keep things tight at the back in front of Keady.
The winners of this game will go on to face St Michael's from Sligo in the Connacht Final on Saturday, November 16.
