Just 60 minutes stand between Hollymount-Carramore and a dream date in Croke Park and a place in the All Ireland Club Intermediate Football Championship final. On Sunday, the south Mayo amalgamations supporters will be making the 190 mile round trip to Breffni Park in Cavan for their side's meeting with Down outfit Loughlinisland.
Tom Connolly's men will be hoping to turn the heat up and melt the opposition that will be their opponents, who are sponsored by a local ice-cream manufacturer, in Sunday's encounter. Hollymount-Carramore booked their place in Sunday's game last November with a narrow 0-9 to 0-8 win over Moycullen in the Connacht final in Pearse Stadium, and since then they have been keeping themselves busy on the training field, along with a couple of challenge games against fellow Mayo club sides Castlebar Mitchels and Ardnaree who are both still in their respective grades All Ireland semi-finals also. But on Sunday, it is all about what happens on the field over the course of the hour's action.
This time last year Connolly's men's main thoughts were getting back to the top table of club football in the county, and since they achieved that they have not looked back, claiming the Connacht crown, and they are now looking to follow in the footsteps of Kiltaine and Davitts in reaching the All Ireland intermediate club final in GAA headquarters.
Up front team captain Darren Coen will be the man it will be hoped can deliver once more on the big day, the 23-year-old attacker has been in fine form for his team all through 2015 and he will be hoping that has carried through to this year. He will have plenty of quality support alongside him, with Kevin Ferrick, Ian Costello, and Kevin Costello all well able to chip in with a few scores and supply the ball into Coen and the corner forwards either side of him.
At the back Niall Campbell is a steady influence in goals, while in front of him Darren McHugh's reputation grew throughout 2015 as a full back, while the experienced head Ray Connelly and Declan Ferrick make up a very solid and tough full back line. In the half-back line, Padraig Ferrick's all action running style has caught plenty of eyes during their campaign so far, while Barry Sheridan and Robert Molloy have all shown they are top quality defenders.
In the middle of the park Keelan McNamara and Stephen Coen will be looked to to grasp the game early on and keep things ticking over. Coen is the last Mayo man to lift a trophy in Croke Park when he captained the 2013 All Ireland minor champions, and he will be relishing another chance to get back to GAA headquarters in an All Ireland final.
Standing in their way is a side who won the Ulster championship on the unusual score of 4-1 to 0-7, a game they did not score in for 42 minutes, before they managed to hit three goals in the final 10 minutes to steal a win. The vital goals coming from Paddy McKenny, Rory Mason whose effort from a free that dropped short was misjudged by the Bundoran goalkeeper, and Sean Cochrane getting the fourth goal to put the full stop on an improbable looking win.
The most familiar face in the Loughinisland to GAA supporters is former Down full back Dan Gordon, who played full back for the Mourne men in the 2010 All Ireland final defeat to Cork. Gordon lines out in the middle of the park for his club and his battle with McNamara and Coen should be a key battle in this contest. The game in Breffini Park throws in at 2pm on Sunday.
