Bryan Sheehan
It's a big weekend for the club game at Croke Park, with the AIB All-Ireland Junior and Intermediate Football and Hurling finals taking place. The football finals take place on Saturday, with the hurling games following on Sunday.
Saturday, February 6
AIB All-Ireland Junior Club Football Final**
Ardnaree Sarsfields (Mayo) v Templenoe (Kerry), Croke Park, 3pm
No Mayo club has yet won an All-Ireland junior club title, while Kerry clubs have won six. However, Ardnaree Sarsfields, from east of the River Moy in the town of Ballina, are well capable of upsetting the odds on that score. Beaten in the Mayo junior finals of 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013, they romped to a spectacular 25-point win over Killala in last year's final and followed it up with victory over Clifden (Galway) in the Connacht final and against Monaghan and Ulster champions Rockcorry in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Templenoe is known all over Ireland as the home of the famous Spillane family, and unsurprisingly, the class of 2015/2016 is backboned by Spillanes. Adrian Spillane, son of Tom, is a key figure at midfield, while his brother Killian was a Kerry minor star in 2014 and is an extremely classy and talented operator up front. Templenoe were quite dominant in their Munster campaign - they beat Coolmeen of Clare by 20 points in the provincial final - and they looked very accomplished in their seven point win over Leinster champions Curraha in the All-Ireland semi-final last month.
AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Final
Hollymount-Carramore (Mayo) v St Mary's (Kerry), Croke Park, 4.45pm
Like Bennettsbridge in hurling, Kerry and Munster champions St Mary's of Caherciveen are going for an extraordinary double this weekend. Although not achieved in successive years like the Kilkenny side, St Mary's, All-Ireland junior club champions in 2011, are bidding to add an All-Ireland intermediate crown to that earlier success. Managed by Kerry legend Maurice Fitzgerald, directed on the field by the great Bryan Sheehan, and inspired by the likes of Denis Daly, Conor O'Shea, Aidan Walsh, Daniel Daly, Conor Quirke and Paul O'Donoghue, all members of the South Kerry side that won the Kerry senior title last year, St Mary's are formidable opposition at any level.
Hollymount-Carramore are bidding to become the first Mayo club to win the All-Ireland intermediate crown on Sunday. Previously two separate clubs, they came together in 2011 after nearly 20 years of collaboration at underage level. Narrow winners over Moycullen in the Connacht final last year, they were extremely impressive in their All-Ireland semi-final win over Down and Ulster champions Loughinisland. The importance of the Coen brothers can't be overstated for Hollymount-Carramore. Darren, who kicked 0-8 in the All-Ireland semi-final, is the danger man up front while Stephen is the heartbeat of the team at midfield.
Sean Morrissey
Sunday, February 7
AIB All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Final**
Eoghan Rua Coleraine (Derry) v Glenmore (Kilkenny), Croke Park, 2pm
Derry and Ulster champions Eoghan Rua Coleraine are bidding for history at Croke Park on Sunday. If they beat Glenmore, they will become the first club from Derry to win an All-Ireland club hurling title. In their semi-final victory over Sylane of Galway, they impressed and in the likes of Seán Leo McGoldrick, Ciaran Gaile, Niall Holly, Ruari Leonard and Barry McGoldrick they possess some superb hurlers.
Glenmore are still reeling after their talisman Ger Aylward, an All Star in 2015, suffered a cruciate ligament injury recently. However, Ger's brothers Mark and Darren can step up in his absence, as can the Murphys, Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin, who plays outfield for the club, and his brothers Alan and Shane. A historic power of Kilkenny hurling (the club won senior county titles in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1999), victory on Sunday would place Glenmore right back in the spotlight again.
AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Final
Abbeyknockmoy (Galway) v Bennettsbridge (Kilkenny), Croke Park, 3.45pm
Bennettsbridge were once giants of Kilkenny hurling, winning 11 senior county titles from 1952-1971. After decades in the doldrums, the club have emerged spectacularly from obscurity in recent seasons and they now stand on the brink of an extraordinary double. If they defeat Galway's Abbeyknockmoy at Croke Park on Sunday, they will become the first club to follow an All-Ireland junior hurling title with an All-Ireland intermediate one.
Galway clubs have dominated at Connacht intermediate level, but curiously, no club from the county has yet won the All-Ireland intermediate title. Abbeyknockmoy are a fine side, with an excellent free-taker in Paul Flaherty, but they face a huge challenge against a rapidly developing Bennettsbridge, who in Liam Blanchfield and Jason Cleere, possess two of the most talented young Kilkenny hurlers around at present.