Burren U16s on the hunt for a third Paul McGirr Ulster title

Fresh from a nail-biting quarter-final victory over highly fancied Tyrone champions Ardboe in a pulsating encounter, the Mourne men now come up against a Ramor side who notched an eye catching 7-16 in the quarter final victory over Newtownbutler. Burren produced arguably the most impressive performance of the tournament so far, recovering from a slow start to hit 1-10 without reply at one stage. Playing a very direct, kicking based style they responded superbly when Ardboe pegged them back late on and found the answers required to book their place in this weekend’s semi-final.

Eoin Coulter and Patrick McCarthy are very solid operators in defence, while the midfield partnership of the high fielding Dylan Kelly and Jay Cunningham provides ideal targets for Patrick McAllister’s restarts. The robust pairing of Shane McGreevy and Jonny Denner were constant outlets for Burren’s long, searching deliveries and proved the perfect spoils for their gameplan. With prolific free-taker Sam Murdock punishing any indiscretions, Martin Brennan’s side look to be in a strong position to secure a place in next weekend’s final.

“It’s a great honour for us in Burren to be competing in the Paul McGirr Ulster U16 Semi-Final,” said Bennnan. “We’re looking forward to facing a very strong Ramor team. They’ve shown their quality, particularly with their impressive victory over Newtownbutler, where they produced an outstanding scoring return. We are fully aware they may be the favourites heading into this match, and we know we have a big task ahead of us. That said, our lads are up for the challenge and have demonstrated exceptional character throughout the year. We’re confident they’ll bring that same determination and resilience into Sunday’s game. We’re ready for a tightly contested match and hope our players enjoy the occasion and give it their all.”

Ramor shook off some early rust following a long lay-off to dismantle Newtownbutler last week, displaying a zest for scores, goals in particular, that would frighten any opposition. Keeper Daniel Grinberg is a steadying influence for the Beffni lads, while James McDeviit, Thomas O’Donoghue and Sé O'Dowd both defend resolutely and break forward with intent. It is, however, the Ramor forward line that is likely to pose Burren the greatest problems, with the twin threat of Daire McCrystal and Louis Kerrigan especially dangerous. Both players, powerfully, pacey and accurate, were outstanding in their quarter-final win.

Another major asset for Ramor is their strength in depth. Young Jack Reilly made a significant impact off the bench last weekend, and it would be no surprise to see him start on Sunday, his pace and trickery will undoubtedly trouble Burren. Ramor coach Jack Brady is excited by the challenge ahead.

“We were delighted to get to Dromore and finally get to the field after our long lay-off. It had been ten weeks since our championship final victory, and we’d no trainings sessions in that period due to schools games, rugby, basketball and soccer seasons commencing, so we were very unsure of how the lads would perform” Brady said.

“After a sluggish first half, we eventually got going and we were happy to come out the right side of a very strong Newtownbutler team. We now face one of the tournament favourites in Burren. We understand this is going to be our biggest test to date, but it’s one we welcome, as it’s where we want to be, testing ourselves against the best in Ulster. We know Burren will be more battle hardened and are expecting a very physical game around the middle eight. We know that playing for only one half last week will not be enough to be competitive, so it’s a big test of the lads. We look forward to a good, sporting match.”

Burren were highly impressive in their opening victory, solid in every position and their kicking game is a sight to behold. Their midfield partnership should give them the edge in the possession stakes, but with Ramor’s midfield duo of Conchuir Stephen and Andrew Smart likely to rotate defensively to cut out the direct ball into the Burren full forward line, and with the athletic Junior Okosisi expected to contest restarts. Burren will not have it all their own way.

The twin threat of Kerrigan and McCrystal will take serious containing, especially with their tendency to roam and interchange positions, and with the strength of the Ramor bench, an upset could very well be on the cards in Páirc Ghearrdhroma.