SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER
FOOTBALL
Ulster SFC semi-final
Glen (Derry) v Naomh Conaill (Donegal), Healy Park, 5.30pm
HURLING
Leinster SHC semi-finals
Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly) v O'Loughlin Gaels (Kilkenny), Glenisk O’Connor Park, 1.30pm
Naas (Kildare) v Na Fianna (Dublin), O’Moore Park, 3pm
SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER
FOOTBALL
Munster SFC semi-finals
Rathgormack (Waterford) v Castlehaven (Cork), Fraher Field, 1.30pm
Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary) v Dingle (Kerry), Semple Stadium, 1.30pm
Ulster SFC semi-final
Scotstown (Monaghan) v Trillick (Tyrone), Box-It Athletic Grounds, 1.30pm
TV
Live coverage of the Ulster club football semi-final between Glen and Naomh Conaill from 5.30pm Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. On Sunday, the TG4 cameras will be in Armagh for the other Ulster semi-final when Trillick and Scotstown lock horns for 1.30pm throw in.
RADIO
Updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday and Sunday Sport
The first thing we will learn this weekend in the club championships are which two teams that will contest this year's Leinster hurling championship final.
On Saturday, the action at O'Connor Park will throw-in at 1.30pm when Offaly’s Kilcormac-Killoughey taken on Kilkenny champions O’Loughlin Gaels.
Kilcormac-Killoughey could hardly be coming into the game in better form. Last month they claimed a first county title since 2017 with a dazzling display to demolish Shinrone in the decider.
The victors had 10 different scorers on the day and notched 3-26 in a devastating performance. They were full value for the winning margin of 18 points, with Shinrone’s three goals coming in the final 11 minutes when the game was well and truly over as a contest.
Kilcormac-Killoughey followed this up with another scoring spree in the provincial quarter-final defeat of Wexford’s Naomh Eanna, outscoring their opponents 2-13 to 0-3 after the break. Despite these showings they still come into the contest as underdogs.
Facing them will be an O’Loughlin Gaels side looking to keep on course for a third Leinster title in their history, on the back of success in 2003 and 2010.
Kilkenny defender Paddy Deegan broke the hearts of Ballyhale – champions for the last five years and four-in-a-row Leinster winners - in the county final, capping a magnificent display when he scored from a testing angle on the left with 62 minutes and 40 seconds showing on the clock to seal a famous one-point victory.
A third-quarter speed wobble aside last time out against Mount Leinster Rangers, the Loughs were too good for the Carlow champions.
As the dust settles on that game, the second semi-final will throw in at O’Moore Park where Na Fianna will look to continue their maiden Leinster journey against Naas.
The Mobhi Road club claimed a first Dublin title last month, spearheaded by the Currie brothers and former All-Star Liam Rushe manning the half-back line.
After losing the last two finals to Kilmacud Crokes and without injured captain and inter-county star Donal Burke, Na Fianna Swept aside Ballyboden St Enda's in style. Sean Currie hit 2-05 in total while his brother Colin, who also played for Dublin this year, helped himself to 0-10 in total.
Despite leading from start to finish last time out against a stubborn Raharney side, it required a 59th-minute goal from Brian Ryan to put the game to bed, with the eight-point winning margin somewhat flattering.
While the Dublin club are in new territory, five-in-a-row Kildare champions Naas are familiar with the winners' enclosure, though they can thank goalkeeper Cormac Gallagher for still being alive in the championship.
His injury-time heroics against Camross in the quarter-final was the difference between the sides, in what was a jittery finale having led by eight points at one stage. It’s a second successive provincial semi-final for the Kildare club who only 21 months ago became the first team from the county to win an All-Ireland club hurling title when they annexed the intermediate grade.
Should Naas qualify for both the provincial club senior football and hurling finals in the same year for the first time in their history – last week the footballers edged their semi-final against St Loman's after extra-time – it would push the football decider back a week.
The club has three dual players involved in Brian Byrne, James Burke and Daire Guerin.
In the big ball, there is just one game down for decision on Saturday as All-Ireland finalists Glen take on Naomh Conaill (live on RTÉ2).
There is a view held by many that only the Derry club and Corofin can deny Kilmacud Crokes making it back-to-back All-Ireland titles, but first they must overcome a Naomh Conaill side fresh form a fourth Donegal county title in five years.
In front of the watchful eye of Jim McGuinness, the Glenties side laid the groundwork with a wonderful first-half display of football against Gaoth Dobhair, Ethan O'Donnell their star man on a day where 10 different players got in on the scoring act.
In the Ulster quarter-final, it was more about grit and determination as they staged a smash-and-grab win over Gowna, courtesy of a goal at the death.
Having only reached the summit of Derry football for the first time in 2021, Glen are now three-in-a-row champions, though hardly too surprising given the likes of Conor Glass, Emmett Bradley and Ethan Doherty are among their playing ranks.
The agonising and controversial defeat to Crokes last January could lead to something of a grudge match down the line, but they know there is room for improvement in order for that scenario to play out.
They were sluggish in the opening 30 minutes of the Derry final defeat of O’Donovan Rossa before kicking on, while there were nine wides in the dispatching of Antrim’s Erin’s Own last time out.
Sunday sees only football action, with all three semi-finals throwing in at 1.30pm.
In Munster, Cork victors Castlehaven and Kerry representatives Daingean are both odds-on favourites to advance to the provincial showdown, at the expense of Waterford's Rathgormack and Clonmel Commercials respectively.
While the fare overall from both sides displayed many of the ills of modern-day football, the Hurley brothers, Michael and Brian, sparkled in attack. They combined for 0-10 between them and were it not for Sean Browne's sole point, the Castlehaven scoring would have been confined to the siblings' contribution.
Extra-time was needed to see off Cratloe, where Brian Hurley was the ace in attack, picking off seven points to ensure victory and they will enter as red-hot favourites against a Rathgormack side that claimed a first Waterford title since 2019 by seeing off the three-in-a-row chasing the Nire.
A Daingean team that includes Kerry stars like Paul Geaney and Tom O'Sullivan will have Clonmel Commercials right up against it on the other side of the draw in Munster, something the Tipp club's manager Tommy Morrissey has already admitted.
"Any time Kerry play Tipperary in football, that is what is expected. We are looking forward to it," he told RTÉ Sport. "They are coming up to us, and it's great occasion to be looking forward to."
The 2015 Munster champions lost at the same stage last season, and came through a dogged, low-scoring quarter-final clash with Newcastle-West last time out.
The TG4 cameras will be in place to see if Trillick can cause another upset and reach an Ulster final at the expense of Scotstown.
Trillick emerged from the bearpit of Tyrone football – denying Errigal Ciarán the opportunity to become the first back-to-back champions in 18 years – and their journey through winter football continued when they dominated a one-sided second half last time out against Crossmaglen who failed to score after the 26th minute.
Richie Donnelly and Lee Brennan are some of the more recognisable names in John Gormley's side, but they are likely to require an all-round team performance if they are to get past the Scotstown.
A seventh championship title in Monaghan since 2013 was wrapped up against Inniskeen, when the likes of Rory Beggan, the Hughes brothers Kieran and Darren, All-Star Conor McCarthy and Jack McCarron were to the fore.
Beggan, who has starred so often for his county with dead-ball accuracy and forays up the field, was the central character in knocking Kilcoo out at the quarter-final stage, bisecting the posts from outside the '45 with the last kick of the game to secure a victory by the bare minimum.
He finished the afternoon with 0-03 (0-2f) to his name, the same tally as the county final.
