Final Four: St. Brigid's aiming to return to the final

Ahead of their AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Semi-Final against Crossmaglen Rangers on Saturday, we take a closer look at Roscommon and Connacht champions St. Brigid's.

St. Brigid's face the All-Ireland champions at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Saturday at 2pm. GAA.ie will have live updates from the game, as well as from the other semi-final featuring Dr. Crokes and Ballymun Kickhams (4pm) throughout the afternoon.

Who are they?

St. Brigid's GAA are based in south County Roscommon, comprising the parishes of Kiltoom and Cam. Although a club from the area didn't compete under the name of St. Brigid's until 1944, there is a long tradition of Gaelic Football around Kiltoom and Cam going back to the late 1880s. They won their first Roscommon Senior Football Championship in 1953 but it is in the modern era that the club has enjoyed its most sustained period of success, with seven county titles won since 1997, six of them coming in the last eight years. And that modern success has not been limited to Roscommon - they have won four Connacht Senior Club Football Championships since 2006.

Path to the semi-final?

St. Brigid's won their third Roscommon title in a row last October, defeating Padraig Pearses by five points in the final, with club and county legend Frankie Dolan hitting 2-4 in the win. An imperious Connacht campaign followed. They had 15 points to spare in their quarter-final win against Leitrim champions Melvin Gaels (2-19 to 0-10), defeated Salthill-Knocknacarra of Galway by seven points in the semi-final (0-15 to 0-8) and then defeated Ballaghaderreen (Mayo) in the final, winning 1-12 to 0-6, and picking up their third provincial title in a row in the process.

Players to Watch?

Roscommon stars Karol Mannion and Ian Kilbride make up one of the strongest midfield partnerships in the club game nationwide, while up front, Roscommon star Senan Kilbride plays alongside veteran Frankie Dolan, who represented the county team with distinction for years.

Strengths?

As mentioned above, St. Brigid's have an extremely strong midfield partnership between Roscommon pair Karol Mannion and Ian Kilbride. The pair combine technical gifts with athleticism and power, and are capable of dominating games from around the middle. They have a solid defence and a renowned goalkeeper in Shane Curran, and they didn't concede a goal in the Connacht Championship (they only conceded 0-24 in their three games in the province). Perhaps their greatest threat is up front though, where Senan Kilbride and Frankie Dolan operate. Between them, they contributed a remarkable tally of 1-28 in St. Brigid's three Connacht games, and are capable of registering a match-winning tally between them.

On the sideline?

Former Mayo forward and well-known RTÉ GAA pundit Kevin McStay is the St. Brigid's manager. He took over last March, following the club's defeat to Garrycastle in the All-Ireland club semi-final. He replaced Noel O'Brien in the hotseat, and McStay has thus far proved to be an excellent replacement, comfortably leading the club to Roscommon and Connacht glory.