Big battle for places in the Longford senior football championship semi-finals

30 games later and the destination of the Connolly Cup is now down to eight clubs and all will be in action in the eagerly awaited quarter-finals at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park this weekend.

The group stage of the 2025 Longford Senior Football Championship is complete with qualification for some going right down to the wire but the overall opinion is much the same with the young Clonguish side generally considered to be strong contenders for the county title.  

The boys in green meet Dromard on Saturday (4.30pm) and while Enda Macken’s side will be quietly confident of springing a major surprise, the greater scoring power of the sharp Clonguish attack should prove to be a decisive factor.

After winning four of their five fixtures in the group phase of the championship, Rathcline will be coming to Pearse Park with a certain degree of optimism and a semi-final appearance will be a fair achievement for a team who were not expected to make such a big impact.

Providing the opposition in the second quarter-final on Saturday evening (6.15pm) will be Carrickedmond, another of the lesser lights who showed fierce courage to survive in the extremely tense single point win over Dromard.

So there will be at least one unfamiliar name in the semi-finals with Rathcline given a hesitant vote to advance a stage further in their quest to earn a crack at Killoe or Mullinalaghta.

These great rivals will clash at Pearse Park on Sunday (2.30pm) and while St Columba’s struggled to make it through  to the quarter-finals, the former Leinster club champions (2018) could be a tough nut to crack.

While Emmet Og will be very wary against such vastly experienced opposition, the 2023 county champions will be expected to pass this tricky test.

That brings us to the tantalising remaining quarter-final showdown on Sunday (4.15pm) between Abbeylara and Colmcille in a repeat of last year’s decider with a cracking contest in prospect.

This is a difficult game to call and while Abbeylara will believe in their ability to capture the Connolly Cup for the second year in succession, Colmcille may just have the edge in this revenge mission.

Peter Hanley Motors SFC Quarter-Finals

Saturday 13 September

Clonguish v Dromard, 4.30pm 

Prediction: Clonguish

Rathcline v Carrickedmond, 6.15pm 

Prediction: Rathcline

 Sunday 14 September

Killoe Emmet Og v Mullinaghta St Columba’s, 2.30pm

Prediction: Killoe

 Colmcille v Abbeylara, 4.15pm 

Prediction: Colmcille

 All games at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Semi-Final Pairings

Killoe or Mullinalaghta v Rathcline or Carrickedmond

Clonguish or Dromard v Colmcille or Abbeylara