IFC Preview: Monasterevin and The House, can advance to Intermediate decider

Allenwood v Monasterevin; Castledermot v Two Mile House — the line-up for The Auld Shebeen IFC semi-finals; the first in Hawkfield on Saturday and the second on Sunday in Athy.

Allenwood dug deep to defeat Caragh in the quarter-final — a Johnny Doyle special late on earned them a tilt at extra-time which they won with the help of two penalties.

Monasterevin on the other hand upset the odds by dumping Sallins out of the competition with three points to spare.

Monasterevin are well set-up; have a game plan that they stick come what may while their work-

ethic is second to none.

They are a reasonably experienced outfit with the lines of Eoin Stapleton, Sean Kavanagh, Wayne Fitzpatrick, DJ Earley, Padraig Nash and Ryan Bannon. A team that even when not playing at their best they can be a tough nut to crack.

Allenwood got their better of a fancied Caragh side and will be looking forward big-time to making it through to the final.

Apart from Johnny Doyle, Darragh Malone, dual stars Mark Delaney and Johnny Byrne; Eoin Bagnall and the experienced Darren Judge.

Could be tight but Monasterevin could shade it.

Castledermot and Two Mile House is an intriguing tie.

Castledermot would have been on a lot of short lists to go all the way in this championship; hard-working, some would say dour, but they are one hell of a difficult team to defeat.

They got the better of Round Towers, by a single point in the quarter-final, a game that will not last too long in the mind but those games are all about making it to the last four.

The Keatings, Gavin and David are great servants for Monasterevin, Gavin will punish any team with his free-kicking ability; add in Emmet O'Keeffe, the Nolan boys and Gavin Farrell, all add up to a formidable outfit.

Two Mile House have been steadily improving following on from their opening day defeat in the preliminary round to go through to knock-out series undefeated.

Top scorer in their quarter-final win over St Kevin's was keeper Didier Cordonnier who fired over five frees, one 45 and one from play in a top class performance.

Add in the experienced Chris Healy, Glen Burke, Andrew Cregg, Caomhain Doolan, Nathan Sherry and Aidan Casey and one can see just why they are into the last four.

Close game expected but The House get the nod.