Armagh decider among seven Ulster county finals
Armagh All-Ireland heroes Barry McCambridge and Stefan Campbell will be in opposition in the all-Lurgan Armagh SFC battle
- Published
Sunday will be a bumper day of senior GAA county finals in Ulster with four football deciders including the Armagh and Tyrone tussles and the hurling action highlighted by the Antrim meeting of Cushendall and Dunloy.
The Armagh Football Final will be an all-Lurgan battle between Clan na Gael and Clann Eireann with a number of Kieran McGeeney's Sam Maguire Cup-winning squad in action.
Trillick will aim to become the first club to retain the Tyrone SFC title since Carrickmore in 2005 when they meet Errigal Ciaran in a repeat of last year's final won by the MacCartan's outfit after extra-time.
Football finals also take place in Fermanagh and Cavan with Enniskillen Gaels facing Erne Gaels in the Erne County and Crosserlough and Ramor United battling at Breffni Park.
In addition to holders Cushendall's Antrim Final tussle with Dunloy, the caman game action also includes Slaughtneil's attempt to win a 12th straight Derry title when they face rank outsiders Banagher and the Down Hurling Final meeting of three-in-a-row seeking Portaferry and Ballygalget.
Lurgan rivals meet in first final since 1968
After ending Crossmaglen's hopes of a third successive Armagh title, Clann Eireann will be facing their Lurgan rivals Clan na Gael in the first final meeting between the clubs since 1968.
Clan na Gael won that game 2-6 to 0-8 to land only their third county title but while they secured a further 11 Gerry Fagan Cups over the next 26 years, you have to go back to 1994 for the their last triumph.
The Clans team includes Armagh All-Ireland Final hero Stefan Campbell, his inter-county team-mate Shane McPartlan plus other influential players Callum O'Neill and Jack Lavery.
Clann Eireann, who won the last of their three Armagh titles in 2021, have the greater inter-county representation with player of the year favourite Barry McCambridge joined in the squad by Conor Turbitt and Tiernan Kelly.
Other key Clann Eireann players include captain Conor McConville, Shea Heffron, Adam Kelly, who notched the crucial goal in the 1-10 to 0-11 semi-final over Crossmaglen, and Ruairi McDonald who is their top scorer in the championship.
Tyrone team-mates Peter Harte and Liam Gray will be in opposition in Sunday's county final between Errigal Ciaran and holders Trillick
Trillick's Tyrone battle with Errigal Ciaran is likely to be another tight affair after they needed extra-time to be separated 12 months ago.
Errigal Ciaran boss Enda McGinley will be hoping that Darragh Canavan is passed fit after he had to go off in the closing stages of the narrow semi-final win over Killyclogher, when Peter Harte notched the decisive point.
Other key players for the Ballygawley-based club include include the other Canavan brother Ruairi plus additional Tyrone squad members Joe Oguz and Ben McDonnell.
In contrast to Errigal's semi-final victory, Trillick had 10 points to spare over Dungannon Clarkes in the other last-four contest which possibly marks them as favourites going into the decider at Healy Park.
Trillick, who are still managed by Jody Gormley, have a large contingent of Tyrone players past and present including the Donnelly brothers Mattie and Richie, the Brennan siblings Rory and Lee plus James Garrity, Ciaran Daly and Liam Gray.
The Macartan's outfit are aiming to lift the O'Neill Cup for the 10th time with Errigal Ciaran having won the county title on eight previous occasions.
Gaels battle in Fermanagh decider
After ending Derrygonnelly's hopes of an eighth title in 10 years, Belleek outfit Erne Gaels will hope to land their first Fermanagh crown since 1981 and only the third in their history, when they face Enniskillen Gaels at Brewster Park.
It will be Erne Gaels' third successive county decider after losing to Enniskillen 3-12 to 0-11 in 2022 and 2-8 to 0-9 against Derrygonnelly 12 months ago.
Following those two final reverses, former Donegal boss Declan Bonner was installed as Erne Gaels manager and his side showed composure in battling past Derrygonnelly 0-10 to 0-9 in their semi-final two weeks ago, when two late points from substitute Seamus Ryder helped clinch victory.
Key Erne Gaels players include county star Ultan Kelm, who is joined in the squad by his brothers Oisin and Aogan.
Bonner is also able to call on Fermanagh player Ryan Lyons plus their top championship scorer in 2024 Shane Rooney and the four McCann brothers.
Enniskillen's county contingent past and present includes Callum Jones, Richard O'Callaghan, Brandon Horan, Johnny Cassidy, Conor Love and Conor McShea.
After ending Gowna's three-in-a-row hopes during a feisty semi-final, Ramor United will be hoping to earn a sixth Cavan Football title when they face Crosserlough at Breffni Park.
Goals from the outstanding Gareth Mannion and Jack Brady helped Ramor edge out Gowna 2-10 to 1-11 two weeks ago and two points was also the margin in the other semi-final as Crosserlough battled past Cavan Gaels 0-10 to 0-8.
Neil McManus' Cushendall hope to retain the Antrim Hurling title in Sunday's final against Dunloy
After their five-in-a-row hopes were thwarted in the semi-finals last season by Loughgiel, Dunloy will be hoping to prevent Cushendall from winning back-to-back Antrim Hurling titles when they face off at Ballycastle.
Dunloy avenged that defeat by their closest neighbours when winning a rain-lashed semi-final 2-15 to 0-11 two weeks ago as experienced men Nigel Elliott and Keelan Molloy hit the goals.
Conal Cunning was forced off before half-time because of injury and it has since emerged that that he sustained knee ligament damage which is going to rule him out for around nine months.
Chrissy McMahon did well in open play when he came on to replace the free-taker but Cunning's absence is undoubtedly a blow for the Cuchullains.
Neil McManus may have retired from inter-county duty but showed class is permanent when hitting 0-14 - including five from play - as Dall needed extra-time to beat St John's 1-27 to 0-26 in the other semi-final.
Even though Cunning is missing, Cushendall will probably feel that they will need to lift their performance considerably to match Dunloy this weekend and much responsibility will fall on to the shoulders of classy defender Paddy Burke plus the likes of Eoghan Campbell, Fred McCurry and talented young forward Joe McLaughlin.
Slaughtneil and Portaferry fancied
Twelve-in-a-row seeking Slaughtneil will be odds on favourites to account for Banagher in the Derry Hurling Final at Owenbeg.
The Robert Emmets outfit hammered Banagher 3-22 to 0-7 during the earlier group stage of the competition.
Free-taker Cormac O'Doherty was an absentee in Slaughtneil's semi-final win over Dungiven when they still ran out comfortable 0-22 to 0-14 winners as Jack Cassidy assumed the dead ball duties to finish with 0-9 and Shane McGuigan contributed four points.
With Slaughtneil's hopes of football championship glory over, their dual players will now be able to focus exclusively on hurling in the coming weeks which should be to the team's benefit as a likely Ulster campaign looms.
Portaferry, meanwhile, look to be solid favourites to clinch a third successive Down Hurling title in Sunday's decider against Ballygalget at Newry.
Ballygalget had to work extremely hard to see off Liatroim 2-15 to 0-16 in their semi-final with Portaferry, in contrast, securing a dominant dominant 1-31 to 3-14 over Ballycran as Tom McGrattan hit 1-12, which included seven points from play.
That Portaferry form was even more impressive considering that they only secured two and four-point winning margins over Ballycran in the 2022 and 2023 county finals.
SUNDAY'S COUNTY FINALS IN ULSTER
Armagh SFC
Clan na Gael v Clann Eireann, Athletic Grounds, 16:15 BST
Tyrone SFC
Errigal Ciaran v Trillick, Healy Park, 16:00
Fermanagh SFC Final
Enniskillen Gaels v Erne Gaels, Brewster Park, 14:00
Cavan SFC Final
Crosserlough v Ramor United, Breffni Park, 16:00
Antrim SHC Final
Cushendall v Dunloy, Ballycastle, 14:00
Derry SHC Final
Slaughtneil v Banagher, Owenbeg, 16:00
Down SHC Final
Ballygalget v Portaferry, Pairc Esler, 16:00