Shane McGuigan of Slaughtneil after his side's victory in the AIB Ulster GAA Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between Portaferry of Down and Slaughtneil of Derry at BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
Saturday 14 December
Ulster Club IFC final
Arva (Cavan) v Ballinderry (Derry), O'Neill's Healy Park, 5pm
It’s been an incredible year for Arva who won the AIB All-Ireland Club Junior Football in Croke Park last January and are now one win away from following that up with a provincial intermediate title and another tilt at All-Ireland glory.
Were they to beat Ballinderry in Saturday’s final it would be the Cavan club's 25th win in a row, which is an incredible statistic.
The closest they came to seeing that winning streak broken came in the Ulster semi-final against Monaghan champions Magheracloone when they trailed by seven points with as many minutes remaining but turned the game around with two late goals.
Powerful midfielder, Tristand Noack-Hofmann, scored one of them and set up the other and will be a key figure again for Arva on Saturday.
Despite their winning habit they go into this game as underdogs against a Ballinderry side who have serious momentum of their own having spent just one season in the Intermediate grade in Derry after a restructuring of the senior championship saw them lose a relegation play-off last year.
Ballinderry were All-Ireland senior champions as recently 2002 and sit second in the Derry senior championship roll of honour so they have a serious pedigree. But such is Arva's happy habit of winning, you wouldn’t write them off.
Ballinderry were touted by some as possible Ulster contenders this year as soon as they were relegated to the Intermediate ranks in Derry, but it hasn’t all been plain-sailing on the way to this match.
They were taken to a replay by Faughanvale in the Derry final and only had one-point to spare over Tyrone champions Derrylaughan in the Ulster semi-final.
The Derry side have been given a big boost by the availability of Derry star Gareth McKinless for this match after his appeal against a two-match suspension was successful.
There won’t be much in this game, but the form of forwards like Ryan Bell, Shea McCann, and Niall O’Donnell could be enough to edge it for the Derry champions.
All-Ireland Club IHC semi-final
Tynagh / Abbey-Duniry (Galway) v Rathnure (Wexford), Glenisk O'Connor Park, 1pm - TG4 online
Both of these teams impressed in their provincial final victories on the way to this match.
Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry foiled Tooreen’s bid for a fifth Connacht title in a row by coming from four points down to beat the Mayo side by two.
Considering Tooreen were only beaten by two points by a very strong Monaleen team in last year’s All-Ireland Final, that form line suggests this is a very handy Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry team.
Former Galway star Shane Moloney is a key figure for the Galway side and ably assisted in a skilful attack by Conor Jordan and Pádraig Breheny.
Another former county man, Paul Killeen, is a dominant figure at centre-back, and John Conroy does a lot of hurling in the middle of the pitch.
A Wexford club has never reached the final of this competition much less win it, but this Rathnure team have the ability to be the first.
A very young side with a lot of potential, they’ve bounced immediately back to the senior grade in Wexford having been relegated last year.
They showed a lot of energy and quality in their Leinster final win over a highly regarded Lisdowney team, finishing strongly to take a five-point victory.
Jack Redmond is the star man in their attack, but they have other reliable score-getters like Mick Redmond, Shane Lawlor and Seán O’Connor.
Conor O’Neill is ruled out with a broken thumb, but Jack Redmond, Rory Higgins, and Eamon Wickham are all expected to be fit to play despite sustaining injuries in recent weeks.
There won’t be much in this one, but Rathnure’s greater range of scoring threats could swing it their way.
All-Ireland Club JHC semi-final
Russell Rovers (Cork) v Ballinascreen (Derry), The Downs GAA, 1pm - TG4 online
Both of these teams have enjoyed dominant runs through their province to get to this game so a high-quality encounter looks very possible.
Five years after winning a Munster championship in the same grade Russell Rovers repeated the trick with convincing wins over Tipperary champions Moyle Rovers and Waterford champions Kilrossanty.
They boast a formidable attack where Brian Hartnett, Josh Beausang, and Luke Duggan Murray are all capable of doing serious damage on any given day.
They’re defensively solid too, but the suspension of Kevin Tattan is a blow, particularly in light of regular centre-back James Kennefick no longer being available after moving abroad.
The Cork side still go into this game as warm favourites, but they would be wise not to overlook the challenge of Ballinascreen team that won their four matches in the provincial campaign by an average of 17 points.
Eamon Conway is in red-hot form in the Derry team’s attack where he has great back-up from players like Paul Cleary, Martin Bradley, and Eoin McCallion.
You’d fancy Russell Rovers, but Ballinascreen will give them plenty of it.
Sunday, December 15
All-Ireland Club SHC semi-finals
Loughrea (Galway) v Na Fianna (Dublin), FBD Semple Stadium, 3.30pm - TG4
Everyone is feeling around in the dark a bit trying to predict how this year’s All-Ireland semi-finals pan out, perhaps especially when it comes to this showdown between Loughrea and Na Fianna.
Loughrea look like very nicely balanced team but we’ve never seen them perform on this stage before so it’s hard to make a definitive judge on how high their ceiling is.
They don’t have any out and out stars, but this is a very talented young generation of hurlers that has been highly touted for quite some time.
Forwards like Anthony Burns, Tiernan Killeen, and Neil Keary are all very accurate shooters, Shane Morgan and Brian Keary are a high-energy midfield duo, and Shane Morgan and veteran Johnny Coen lock down a take-no-prisoners defence.
You’d have to wonder though whether a five-week lay-off the optimal preparation for a match such as this.
Na Fianna, in contrast, were in action two weeks ago in a high-octane Leinster SHC Final against Kilcormac-Killoughey so could be that bit more match-sharp.
The Dublin side were very impressive winners in Leinster and clearly learned from coming up just short in last year’s provincial campaign.
Donal Burke is coming into top form at the best time possible and is ably assisted in a Na Fianna attack of many threats by Colin Currie, AJ Murphy, Sean Currie, and Ciaran Stacey.
Brian Ryan is lording it in midfield and Liam Rushe and Sean Burke have been dominant central figures in defence.
Na Fianna look the more proven docket, but a Loughrea win wouldn't be a shock either.
Sarsfields (Cork) v Slaughtneil (Derry), Cedral St Conleth's, 1.30pm - TG4
Will this be the year that Slaughneil finally reach an All-Ireland SHC club Final?
They’ve lost at this juncture of the competition on four previous occasions which will surely make them all the more determined to find a way to win this match.
Nine of the team that started the Ulster Final against Portaferry also played in their first All-Ireland semi-final defeat – a 2017 loss against eventual champions Cuala – so this is a very seasoned Slaughtneil side.
It looked like perhaps their best days were behind them when they failed to win Ulster titles in 2023 and 2022, but they’re a reinvigorated force this year thanks to the addition of talented young players like Ruairí Ó Mianáin, Éamon Cassidy, Jack Cassidy, Finn McEldowney, and Conor Coyle.
Combine that youthful exuberance with the experience, class, and physicality provided by men like Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan, and Cormac O’Doherty, and you have a potent mix.
The worry from a Slaughtneil point of view is that they have looked defensively vulnerable at times this year to pacy attacks, and that’s exactly what they’ll face in this semi-final against Sarsfields.
The Cork forwards are both fleet of foot and thought, and if Slaughtneil give players like Jack O’Connor, Daniel Hogan, Daniel Kearney, Cian Darcy and Shane O’Regan room to manoeuvre they can make hay.
The expectation of many was that Sarsfields might struggle to compete with Ballygunner’s physical intensity in the Munster Final, but they proved they’re able to bring that to the table too.
If they can hit the same level of performance as they did in the Munster Final then they should come out on top here again, but that won’t be easy.
All-Ireland Club IHC semi-final
Watergrasshill (Cork) v Carey Faughs (Antrim), Páirc Tailteann, 1pm - TG4 online
It’s hard to credit that Watergrasshill didn’t win a match in the Cork Premier Intermediate Championship in 2022 or 2023.
Hard to credit because they were such impressive winners of both county and provincial honours this year.
Wolfe Tones of Shannon and Cashel King Cormacs both went into the Munster campaign with big reputations, but both of them were comfortably out-hurled by the Cork men.
Carey Faughs showed great character in the Antrim and Ulster championships this year, consistently finding a way to win very tight matches thanks to their sterling defence and composure in the dying minutes of games.
You suspect though that they will find it difficult to live with the firepower of a Watergrasshill team that has outstanding forwards in players like Adam Murphy, Brendan Lehane, and Sean Desmond.
All-Ireland Club JHC semi-final
Easkey (Sligo) v St Lachtain's (Kilkenny), Ballinasloe, 1pm - TG4 online
With a third Connacht title in a row under their belts, Easkey will be hoping they can go all the way this year having pushed hard for All-Ireland honours in the last two campaigns.
They were pipped by just a point by St. Catherine’s of Cork in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and pushed another Rebel County club, Ballygiblin, all the way in the final the year before that.
They were impressive in their Connacht Final win over Ballinasloe, and if they can get a similar supply of ball into the hands of accurate shooters Andy Kilcullen, Finnian Cawley, and Thomas Cawley, then they’ll believe they can come out on top here.
St. Lachtain’s are favourites for a reason, though. The produced a series of very classy displays to reach the Leinster Final and then proved in that match against Castletown Liam Mellows that they also have the guts to dig out a result in a hard-fought game.
Brian Kennedy gives them a great platform from centre-back and their inside-forward line of James Maher, Liam Hickey, and Shane Donnelly is lethal.
Easkey will make a battle royale of this game, but you have to respect the dominance that Kilkenny clubs have enjoyed in this competition.