**
Saturday, February 13
 
AIB All-Ireland Senior Football Club Championship Semi-Final

 
Ballyboden St Enda's (Dublin) v Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary), Portlaoise, 4.30pm
 
It might not look it on the surface, but this semi-final scheduled for Portlaoise is a meeting of underdogs, particularly when contrasted with the second semi-final, between Castlebar Mitchels and Crossmaglen Rangers.
 
It's easy to cast Clonmel Commercials, Tipperary and Munster champions, as underdogs. Last November, Michael Quinlivan's injury-time goal in the Munster final saw them pip the mighty Nemo Rangers by a point and become the first ever side from Tipperary to win the senior crown.
 
It was an epic achievement and capped a wonderful journey for Charlie McGeever's side. The Donegal native has dramatically turned Clonmel's fortunes around. In 2014, they didn't even reach the Tipperary senior quarter-final, but the former Finn Harps manager has gotten the most out a talented group.
 
They defeated Moyle Rovers in the Tipperary final and then eked out a stunning 0-12 to 1-7 win in the Munster quarter-final against a determined Newcastlewest side from Limerick. Trailing by four with just five minutes remaining, Clonmel kicked the final six points of the game in a sensational climax to give early evidence of the never-say-die spirit that served them so well in future battles.
 
They cruised past Clare champions Miltown Malbay in the Munster semi-final, 1-13 to 0-3, but few gave them a hope against Nemo - 15-time Munster senior champions and the pride of Cork football - in the final
 
Clonmel's gutsy display in the final looked to be coming up just short until Quinlivan's dramatic injury-time goal gave them a one-point victory, and the ensuing celebrations, understandably, were wild. However, Clonmel had to dust themselves down quickly for the All-Ireland quarter-final against London champions Tír Chonaill Gaels, and they did so, defeating them 2-12 to 0-9 in an accomplished display at Ruislip.
 
Tipperary star Quinlivan is the talisman. He has hit 2-9 in their four games since the county final, and has shown a capacity for delivering when it matters most. He has plenty of support up front, with Ian Fahey, Jason Lonergan and Ian Barnes all enjoying excellent campaigns this season.
 
At midfield, Séamus Kennedy and Aldo Matassa have thrived while Clonmel's defence has been very tight - they have conceded just 1-28 in their last four matches, an average of less than 0-8 per game.
 
"I don't think they is any hiding place now anymore," said Quinlivan ahead of Saturday's semi-final. "We announced ourselves at this stage having beaten Nemo and gone away to London and done that as well. We play a style of football that is our own, it's actually pretty similar to Nemo's and a lot of people saw that in the game. We'll try and impose that on Ballyboden and whether or not that works we'll see and try and nullify them as well."
 
If it's easy to sell Clonmel as underdogs, it's probably less easy to portray Ballyboden St Enda's as such. Situated at the foothills of the Dublin mountains in the sprawling southern suburbs of the city, Ballyboden have one of the largest picks of any club in Ireland. Their remit extends around Ballyboden to Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Firhouse and beyond, and the fact that they have five mens' adult football teams says all you need to know about the amount of players they can choose from.
 
However, it would be unfair to cast them as some kind of 'superclub'. The club comes from relatively humble origins and over the years, hurling has been a major focus of theirs. The fact that last year's Dublin senior football title win was only the third in their history is evidence of how hard fought such titles are.
 
In terms of football success beyond Dublin, Ballyboden had no history to speak of before this season. Their previous two Leinster campaigns, in 1995 and 2009, ended in early disappointment and the pressure was on last winter for the club to finally deliver and match the achievements of the many Dublin clubs who have enjoyed provincial success in recent years, such as St Vincent's, Kilmacud Crokes and Ballymun Kickhams.
 
After a typically gruelling Dublin Championship, they battled to two gritty victories in Leinster. Against St Patrick's (Louth) in the quarter-final, conditions were grim but a goal from Colm Basquel, combined with the power up front of Dublin hurler Conal Keaney and skilled freetaker Andrew Kerin, helped Ballyboden get the job done on a 1-8 to 0-7 scoreline.
 
Against Westmeath champions St Loman's in the semi-final, Keaney and Kerin were vital again as was Sam Molony, whose crucial goal came after a smart move involving Ballyboden's main man Michael Darragh Macauley and the impressive Keaney.
 
Then, in a thrilling Leinster final against a much-touted Portlaoise last December, sub Aran Waters was the hero for Ballyboden, steaming up the field to kick the winner in the last minute of normal time to earn the Dublin champions a 2-9 to 1-11 win and a first ever Leinster senior title.
 
That game underlined what a formidable side Ballyboden St Enda's have. Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan is expected to be available for them this weekend, despite having recently relocated to the Middle East, and with Stephen Hiney and Dara Nelson in the defence in front of him, it's little surprise that the Firhouse Road side have been so hard to get past at the back this year.
 
Declan O'Mahoney and Macauley are powerhouses in the middle, while Colm Basquel, Keaney, Kerin and Molony are deadly forwards. Kerin hit a crucial haul of 1-2 from play in the Leinster final while the experienced Keaney has grown in influence with each game, his ball-winning skills particularly valuable.
 
Looking ahead to the semi-final, Kerin reflected on this notion of Ballyboden as a 'superclub', and laughed it off.
 
"You talk to some people about Ballyboden, some people don't see it as a real GAA club," he said. "But the support we've got over the year, the whole thing is buzzing, the whole area. There's flags everywhere, all the local pubs have stuff up so the club is just as relevant for the area as any other club would be for a small town, say, down the country.
 
"The rich club thing is, well, we don't even have a pitch to train on at the moment. We train at our local rivals, St Anne's, because we don't have a floodlit pitch. So if we were so rich I don't think we'd be scrambling around looking for a pitch."
 
The winners will face either Crossmaglen or Castlebar Mitchels in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park on St Patrick's Day.
 
 
***