Final four battle for a place in Ulster club final

Erne Gaels' Ultan Kelm, Kilcoo's Shealan Johnston, Newbridge's Conor McAteer and Scotstown's Kieran Hughes have all been key figures this year

The final four in Ulster club football will put their credentials on the line this weekend with a place in the provincial decider on Sunday, 7 December up for grabs.

It's a mix of past winners against new contenders over the two-semi finals, with the first of those between Kilcoo and Erne Gaels taking place at Armagh's Athletic Grounds on Saturday (16:30 GMT).

Down champions Kilcoo are no strangers to this stage, having won the Seamus McFerran Cup in 2019 and 2021 - the latter of those triumphs a prelude to All-Ireland glory.

Martin Corey's men collected a seventh-straight county title in October to return to the provincial arena for the 13th time in 14 years and will certainly not be lacking in motivation to get back to the final, having lost in last year's decider to Errigal Ciaran and in 2022 against Glen.

In their quarter-final, the Magpies accounted for Tyrone champions Loughmacrory 0-16 to 0-11 with Paul Devlin and Shealan Johnston prominent, yet they have leaders and proven match-winners throughout the team who have the ability to drive them on.

In Kilcoo's way stand an Erne Gaels side that won back-to-back Fermanagh titles this year and have already made some progress in Ulster.

Last year, they fell at the first hurdle against Scotstown but the Belleek club would bank that experience and use it in their 3-15 to 1-16 extra-time win over Kingscourt Stars two weeks ago in the quarter-final.

Odhran Johnston, Ultan Kelm and Jack McCann all hit the net in that game with Kelm and his brother Oisin in fine form to date, while team captain Ryan Lyons was recently named Fermanagh club player of the year.

However, they will be without forward Tommy McCaffery who gets married in Rome on Friday with a number of his team-mates flying home in time for the game.

Scotstown and Newbridge hope for a super Sunday

Sunday's second semi-final between Scotstown and Newbridge in Omagh (15:30 GMT) follows a similar pattern.

The last of Scotstown's four provincial titles came back in 1989, but the Monaghan men were Ulster finalists in 2023, only to fall to eventual All-Ireland champions Glen.

David McCague's men are laden with talent, led by goalkeeper Rory Beggan who offers so much more than mere shot stopping, while Jack McCarron, Max Maguire and Kieran Hughes have been instrumental.

However, they did lose Ryan O'Toole to a straight red in their 2-16 to 0-16 Ulster quarter-final win over Naomh Conaill a fortnight ago when two goals from raiding wing-back Darragh Murray proved the difference.

Last year, they came unstuck at the semi-final stage against Kilcoo and will have designs on taking a step forward this time, but face a Newbridge side who come in with real momentum.

The back-to-back Derry champions were one and done in Ulster last year, defeated by Clann Eireann in the last eight.

However, they have renewed ambition this term and following their county title success at the expense of Magherafelt, came through in the Ulster preliminary round against Dunloy.

They backed that up with an impressive quarter-final victory over Madden on a day when Oisin Doherty kicked five points and Conor McAteer landed four.

In all, there were eight different scorers against the Armagh champions, which highlights the balance across the team.

The south Derry club's sole Ulster final appearance came in 1970, but the current crop will have high hopes of at least emulating their predecessors.