We're down to the final four in the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Co. Senior football Championship and we've two intriguing semi-finals in store this weekend.
Interestingly, both last four ties are repeat pairings of the last two seasons at this stage of the Championship (Rathgormack Vs. Gaultier, and The Nire Vs. Ballinacourty).
Waterford SFC Semi Final fixtures for next weekend pic.twitter.com/w5uhWPvH7c
— Tomás McCarthy (@tomasmcc) October 16, 2022
Rathgormack were pushed all the way by a gallant Portlaw side last Saturday night in Carrickbeg where late points from Billy Power and Jason Curry saw Kenny Hassett's men edge home by 0-11 to 2-3 (Jordan O' Sullivan and John Power found the net for Portlaw).
Gaultier are back in the last four for the third consecutive season following their 0-13 to 0-8 over Clashmore/Kinsalebeg last Sunday with captain JJ Hutchinson once again leading the line with able assistance from both Mark and Patrick Fitzgerald.
The opening semi between these Eastern rivals will throw-in at 2:30pm in Walsh Park on Saturday.
Gaultier and Ballinacourty advanced to the semi finals of the Waterford SFC at a wet and windy Fraher Field this afternoon #WLRSport @GaultierGAAClub @AbbeycourtyGAA1 @WaterfordGAA https://t.co/WifEqecNdA
— WLR (@wlrfm) October 16, 2022
Speaking on last night's "On The Ball" programme, former Waterford boss John "Jackson" Kiely believes Gaultier could turn the tables this weekend; "They (Rathgormack) are not playing as well as they were a couple of years ago when they won it, they don't seem to be playing with the same tactics or teamwork or whatever but maybe that game (against Portlaw) the other night will stand to them and they recover some of that. I can see Gaultier winning this one, with the Fitzgerald's and the Hutchinson's, the firepower that Gaultier have up front I think that could beat Rathgormack".
The second semi will see familiar foes The Nire and Ballinacourty go head to head on Sunday afternoon (2pm in Fraher Field).
The Nire lifted their tenth county title last season and will enter this one as favourites according to John Kiely, former Waterford boss; "They are going is as favourites and deservedly as favourites, they put up a pretty good performance against Brickey Rangers (in the Quarter-Final) and Conor Gleeson got a goal, Dylan Guiry got a goal and Jamie Barron got three points, they are three of their marquee forwards you know".
'Courty got the better of Kilrossanty in wretched conditions last Sunday (0-8 to 0-4) as Neil Montgomery saw red, they have a long list of injuries at the moment and this could be a factor come Sunday, having said that these teams usually bring out the best in one another and that should lead to an interesting battle.
We'll have further build-up to the SFC semi-finals on our "Lár Na Páirce" GAA show on Friday evening from 6:10pm, and live updates from both games over the weekend.
