Title Number 4 for Ballinameela or 3 for Bonmahon in County Intermediate Football Final

While the main game in Waterford this weekend is the County Senior Hurling Final between Ballygunner and Tallow, a repeat of the 2011 decider which Ballygunner won, for two more clubs this weekend it promises to be an equally as big a weekend.

Bonmahon and Ballinameela on Saturday evening will contest this years Intermediate Football County Final at Fraher Field, where the prize for the winners will be not only the right to play in the senior football championship in 2016,  but also to represent Waterford in this years Munster Intermediate Football Championship in the coming weeks.

Ballinameela are no strangers to being involved in this stage of the competition.

When they run onto the field on Saturday evening they will do so on County Final day for the third time since 2009.

In all there two previous finals in this time, victory has gone to the side in Blue and White shirts. In 2009 they beat Ballyduff Lower 1-16 to 1-13 after a replay following in from a 1-4 to 0-7 draw.

Ballinameela in the following year came within seconds of causing one of the biggest shocks in the senior championship for many years as they reached the last four of the competition and hit a late goal to take the lead against Stradbally but lost out in the replay at Cappoquin. The following year Ballinameela lost their senior status.

After just one year back in the Intermediate grade Ballinameela came through the Western Championship and beat De La Salle 0-12 to 1-8 in the final. Twelve months on back in the senior grade Ballinameela reached the quarter finals of the competition before going out and another twelve months on were relegated once more.

They have now come through the Western Championship again and are once more looking to get back to playing senior in 2016.

Their path to this weekend’s final proved to be not as clear cut as some might have expected.

They began the league section of the Western Championship with a 1-12 to 1-5 loss to deadly rivals Geraldine’s. they followed that loss up with wins over Ballinacourty (4-4 to 2-9) and Sliabh gCua (1-19 to 1-5) before loosing once more this time to Ballyduff Upper (2-10 to 0-9) before they rounded off the league section of the competition with a 3-15 to 3-9 win over Dungarvan.

In the semi final they then recorded a second win of the year over Ballinacourty 2-8 to 0-11 and in the final they drew with Geraldine’s 1-7 a piece before beating them at the second attempt 3-6 to 1-10 last weekend.

Bonmahon will be in rather unfamiliar territory on Saturday evening as they are only for the third time in their history appearing in a final at this level of football.

however, the side from the Copper Coast village will travel to Fraher Field in the knowledge that in their previous final appearances at this level, they have won both and will want to keep their excellent run in tact.

Their first title win was forty years ago when they beat Clashmore 2-5 to 1-5 and twenty-one years ago they were again in the final beating An Rinn 2-7 to 1-5. Most people love to celebrate anniversaries like 21^st and 40^th birthdays and no doubt Bunmahon would love to celebrate the anniversary of their two previous wins with a third title.

Bunmahon have proven to be a bit of a surprise package this year. However they are through to the final on merit.

They began the group stages of their divisional championship with a 3-16 to 1-2 win over neighbours Kilmacthomas. They lost out 1-7 to 0-7 against a strong Portlaw outfit in round two and defeat was their lot again in round three loosing 0-9 to 0-5 to Newtown. In their last game of the league section of the competition, they secured third place in the group when they received a walkover from Mount Sion.

There was a change to how the Intermediate championships were run this year in the east of the county with all ten sides that took part guaranteed at least one knockout game.

The two group winners contested the league final while the other eight sides were paired off in two rounds of play off games.

The second team in each group was paired with the fifth in the opposite group with the third and fourth placed teams in each group done likewise.

The four winners were involved in a phase two round of games with regardless of how these games went they would reach the quarter finals along with the two group winners, while the four sides that lost in phase one were also involved in fixtures with the two winners of these games going forward to the quarter finals with the two group winners and the phase one play off winners.

Roanmore in the first phase of play offs beat Tramore 1-13 to 1-12 and in phase two beat Dunhill 0-13 to 1-8.

In the quarter finals they beat Saint Molleran’s 2-9 to 0-7 and in the semi final beat Newtown 0-12 to 0-5 before beating Portlaw recently in the Eastern final on a 2-8 to 0-8 score line.

Both sides will travel to Dungarvan with some very good players within their ranks and will be confident that they can make the step up for next year.

The Ballinameela players will be the better known to most football supporters and will be picking from the likes of Tom and Jim Curran, Brian, Brendan, Kevin and Micky Phelan, Colin Walsh, Cian Culloo, Rob and Michael Shine, Lorcan Looby, John Harrington and James and Jason McGrath.

Bonmahon will be able to call on some players that won the Under 21 B Championship with group side Saint Mary’s earlier this year.

Shane Dwan could well prove to be their target man and he will be hoping to rediscover the form he showed in the Eastern Semi Final win over Newtown where he scored 0-3 and the 2-3 he scored in the Eastern Final against Portlaw.

Others that the side in yellow and green will be looking to for big performances here will include John Fenton, Niall Queally, Fionn Buckley, Richie Walsh, Ciaran Buckley, Ciaran Hearne and Michael Harney who will be well known to most as a fine hurler but is also an accomplished footballer.

This is a game that could well go right to the wire.

Ballinameela with their recent experience winning the competition twice since 2009 and playing in the senior grade for four years since 2010 will have to count for something and they will go into the game as favourites.

Bonmahon however relish going into the game as the underdog. They will go into the game on a high after beating a fancied Portlaw side in the Eastern Final and should not be written off.

Ballinameela should have enough to win this game but should Bonmahon come out on top here, I for one won’t be surprised.