Excitement is building in Mullinahone and Ballina ahead of tomorrow’s county intermediate football final.
The sides meet in this year’s tier two decider on Sunday at 1pm in Semple Stadium and we’ll have live commentary here on Tipp FM with thanks to OB Design and Engineering, Mullinahone.
For the South side, they are looking forward to venturing in to unfamiliar territory as they have never played football at adult level in Semple Stadium.
Mullinahone manager Paul Quirke says an exciting day lays ahead:
“We are really looking forward to Sunday, any county final is obviously a huge event but a county final in Semple Stadium adds another dimension to it.
“Believe it or not, Mullinahone have never played football in Semple Stadium before so it’s a very different weekend, an exciting weekend but really looking forward to it.
“(Playing in Semple for the first time) It’s obviously adding a huge buzz.
“It’s amazing, with all the players who have passed through the club that they haven’t had the opportunity to grace the sacred sod with the big ball.
“The young lads are really looking forward to it, I think they are getting to realise and appreciate how big an occasion it could be.”
For Ballina, last year’s junior champions are riding the crest of a wave coming into Sunday’s decider.
Their only loss since being promoted last year was to Mullinahone in the group stages.
The North side were without star player Steven O’Brien that day through injury and Ballina manager Kevin Byrne says O’Brien is a great asset to have back:
“There’s no doubting Steven’s ability and he’s a great asset to have back into the team since the last game against Mullinahone but the important thing from our point of view is that we have a strong starting fifteen and a strong five to come in behind them that one player is never going to win a game for us.
“While it’s great to have a player like Steven O’Brien playing with us, it’s the players around him that are also going to make the difference as well.”
Hear from both managers alongside a full preview of both of Sunday’s football finals below:
