Cup final places at stake in Mayo League Calor Gas cups

Manulla take on Westport United for the third time in as many weeks while Swinford face a tough task against Ballyheane and Conn Rangers meet Westport United B in the Premier Cup semi-final. All games kick-off at 6 p.m. this evening.

Calor Gas Super Cup Semi-finals

Swinford v Ballyheane

The side currently bottom of the Super League, Swinford, face the unenvious task of taking on a Ballyheane side that are on a nine-game winning run in both league and cup competitions this evening at James McEvaddy Park.

Swinford are still looking for their first league win of the season but did pull off a shock result when they knocked Castlebar Celtic out at the Quarter Final stage. Swinford have been hit hard by injuries in recent weeks particularly in defensive positions and have used players like Martin Murphy to cover in different positions across the backline.

Despite these setbacks they have been very competitive in this difficult run and will fancy their chances of causing another upset as they also came close when these sides met in the league as Ballyheane just came out on the right side of a seven-goal thriller.

Ballyheane moved five points clear at the top of the Super League last weekend with a 3-0 win over Manulla and Ashley Stevenson’s side look like they will be right in the fight for the title come the end of the season. Their side is built on youth, and this was very evident on Sunday when eight of their first eleven were also members of their very good Under 21 squad.

The only three over twenty-one in the eleven were Jack Tuffy, Sean Kilcoyne and Liam Irwin and they add real quality to the team especially Irwin who has once again been in brilliant form this season. Swinford will have to pay close attention to their attacking players and in Ben Edeh they will come up against the form player in the league as he hit his twentieth goal in all competitions last weekend.

It’s a big task for Chris McHale-Roe’s side and it’s been made much harder by the unavailability of key players against the favourites for the cup.

Manulla v Westport United

Two sides that have got to know each other well over recent weeks meet each other for the third time in three weeks as Manulla host Westport United in Carramore.

They have one win apiece in that time as Manulla won in their league outing while Westport reached the final of the Westaro Cup when they came out on top after extra-time two weeks ago. Manulla have been looking to their Under 21 players to provide the firepower this season and players like Padraig Beirne and Aiden Dunleavy have delivered with some important goals while the experienced Gerry Canavan has also managed to hit five goals in all competitions so far this season. They have beaten Straide & Foxford United and Claremorris to reach this stage, but this will be a much tougher task for Declan Kilkelly’s side.

Westport have struggled to hit form over the past few weeks dropping eight points in the league in the month of August, but they will have been encouraged to have got back to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 win over Claremorris on Saturday. They introduced three members of their C team panel in that game but will have to plan without them tomorrow evening as they are cup tied.

They have relied on Gary Higgins for goals and he has delivered with seven goals in all competitions, but he will need to start to get more help from elsewhere if his side are to end the season with silverware. This is going to be a very tough game to call but both sides will see this as a great opportunity to reach a final and add another cup to the trophy cabinet.

Calor Gas Premier Cup semi-final - Conn Rangers v Westport United B

Both these sides had excellent starts to the season, but their league form has gone badly awry in recent weeks. Conn Rangers are without a win in their last three league games and are in real danger of having a very disappointing season unless they can achieve success in one of the cup competitions.

They sent a depleted side to Iorras on Sunday but hope to have a number of those players back tomorrow evening as Jack McNamee, Owen McNamara, Aidan Gallagher and Evan and Cormac Reape look like they are all close to making a return to the side. Gallagher and Eoin Prendergast scored the goals when these two sides met just over two weeks ago when Rangers recorded a narrow 2-1 win at United Park.

Westport themselves have only one win in their last four games as they have lost their way in-front of goal scoring only twice in that period. If they can get Mark McNally, Brandon Scahill and PJ Calvey onto the pitch they should cause Rangers problems, but they will also need to improve at the other end of the field where they have begun to look more open in recent weeks.

They will go into this game as underdogs especially with the game taking place in Mount Falcon but knowing they have the chance to set up a unique final pairing against Westport United C will be a huge incentive for the West Mayo side.

- Preview by the Mayo Football League