Preview: Who will progress to the final of this year's Kildare Junior Football Championship?

Never an easy championship to win and this season's version of the Tom Cross Transport Junior Football Championship, is certainly no different.

In fairness the four semi-finalists are, without doubt, the top four sides in this 2024 version with any of the four more than capable of succeeding and going all the way.

For now though it is semi-final weekend and an opportunity to advance to the final with the winner moving up to intermediate level come 2025.

Grangenolvin v Kill

Grangenolvin have been the standout side in this year’s Junior Football Championship and the dazzling performances of star man Fionn Bergin has been the talk of the competition so far.

Bergin was eight clear at the top of the scoring charts at the conclusion of the group stages having scored 6-21 to that point.

After big wins early on against Athgarvan and fellow semi-finalists Castle-

mitchell, Grange stumbled to an 0-6 to 1-2 win over Rathcoffey before meeting semi-final opponents Kill in round four.

These side’s first meeting finished with Grange' on top at 1-9 to 1-7. Kill held a four-point lead at half-time, but were clawed back in the second by a surging Grange side.

Grange' held strong deep into added time and added a late point to give them their two-point win. That tight round four tie on August 31 has set the stage for what is likely to be another thrilling encounter with a place in this year’s final at stake.

The key for Kill in this semi-final will be rather apparent as they look to shut down Fionn Bergin. The Grangenolvin star hit 1-5 of his side’s 1-9 tally against Kill last time out.

Going the other way, Kill have the ever-reliable Paul Kirwan, who was once again faultless from set-pieces in their 10-point quarter-final win against Robertstown.

Grange’s priority will of course be to keep Bergin in the game, but they must also ensure they are not overly reliant on their star man.

Oran Bergin is the nearest points scorer to Fionn in this team and his role on semi-final day could prove even more crucial with extra attention paid elsewhere.

Kill have had an up and down year with two losses already and that is what ultimately gives Grangenolvin the nod from me to reach the final.

There likely won’t be a lot between these sides and, despite an unbeaten Championship season so far, it will all count for nothing for Grange should they come up short here.

Ellistown v Castlemitchell

A year on from their relegation to the Junior Championship, Ellistown are into the final four of the competition. They face a Castlemitchell side inspired by the performances of the Harris brothers through the spine of their team with James Harris at centre-back and Ross Harris at centre-forward.

Coming out of the group stages, the Harris’ had notched 2-30 between them before both adding to their tallies against Ballykelly to reach the semi-final stage.

Ellistown emerged from Group B with four wins from four and the young side that everyone said might benefit from relegation to Junior level appear to have done so. The fact that works in favour of Castlemitchell is that they have undoubtedly faced stiffer competition than their opponents to this point.

The only common opponent for the side’s in this year’s Championship is Ballykelly, who were beaten 1-14 to 0-6 in Group B by Ellistown and 1-17 to 0-8 by Castlemitchell in their quarter-final tie. Indeed not much can be taken from the respective results.

Ellistown’s key man up front is Tadhg Watson and while Castlemitchell will be their toughest opponents so far, they are also a team with a great sense of attacking adventure.

The space left by the likes of James Harris galloping forward will excite Watson and teammate Eoin O’Loughlin, who has had a stellar year in front of the posts as well.

The exploitation of that space will be key to Ellistown’s potential success in this game. The best example of that fact to point to for Ellistown will be Castlemitchell’s round four game against Cappagh.

The losing side put 3-9 on the board against Castlemitchell and massively capitalised on the space that was left for their key forwards.

The key for Castlemitchell’s potential success in this game will be their ability to get out of the blocks.

As previously mentioned, Ellistown are yet to be truly tested in this year’s competition and if their opponents can hit them early, they could upset the fancied team in this fixture.

Despite an impressive year for their opponents, I think Ellistown will have enough firepower to overcome Castlemitchell and reach this year’s final.