So the Dublin SFC1 semi-finals are on this Sunday and it should provide us with two cracking games of Football.
First up we have:
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Looks marginal favourite overall so far, strong team all over the pitch, but crucially have two marquee forwards in Mannion and Walsh but some very good young players who are getting game time this year as well in Quigley and Purcell.
Group Stage:
Topped group 4 with a points difference of +38. A good win v Clontarf in Round 1 was followed by big win over Judes and finally another big win against Slys.
Quarter-Final:
Comprehensively dismantled Lucan in the quarter-final 1-21 to 0-05
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Started the season with that tough loss to Boden but have turned the corner to some degree, albeit with hardfought wins over BSJ and in the quarter-final.
Group Stage:
Na Fianna finished second in Group 1 on 4 points with a PD of -2. Had that disastrous start against Boden initially, they regrouped to hammer Vincents, scoring 5-18 and then pipped BSJ in the R3 shotout by a point.
Quarter-Final:
NAF were 11 points down at one stage against Ballymun, and fought back impressively for 1-point win. The wind was a serious factor as each side pressed on the kickouts into the breeze and won a ton of ball which made it such a game of 2 halves.
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Win promises to be a big facotr again, NAF cant afford to let Crokes run up a big lead as they have tthe forwards to keep the scoreboard ticking over against the wind.
Only slight chink in Crokes might be that they haven't been pushed hard, whereas NAF have come through a couple of battles (1 point wins v BSJ and Mun), if they can keep it tight, they might push Crokes?
TT - Crokes to win, potentially by a bit but hopefully NAF can stay in the game and if it's close at the end, who knows.
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Dealt with NaFianna and BSJ really impressively in the first two rounds. Then, looked a bit disjointed in the dead rubber v Vincents and then really struggled with Castleknock's system in the quarter-final.
Group Stage:
Ballyboden topped Group 1 on 3-0 and a points difference of +40.
Quarter-Final:
Really hard fought and ugly win over a very defensive and time wasting Castleknock - Boden 0-11 Castleknock 1-05
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Cuala have looked seriously impressive to date.
Group Stage:
Reigning All-Ireland Champions Cuala topped Group 3 with a points difference of +41. Started with a big win over Raheny, followed that with a big win over Lucan and finished with a less big, but still big win over Thomas Davis. Doesn't look like they're slowing down.
Quarter-Final:
Convincing win over Clontarf 4-20 to 0-12 - a bit like Crokes win over Lucan tho, Clontarf had struggled for serious form this year and did well to get that far but were always going to struggle against a top 4 side. for Cuala you can only beat what's in front of you, but hard to know what to take from the win.
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Really hard one to call, if both sides go for it and it turns into a shootout, it could be a classic. Sadly the weather looks like conditions could be tricky but hopefully we get a good open game of football.
Boden will be looking to use Basquel as the playmaker again with Sweeney and O'Dwyer inside, they need to refind their early-season form ASAP.
A bit like the other semi-final, Cuala havent really had to break sweat yet, so maybe that hardfought game v Castleknock will stand to Boden.
TT - hoping the talent on the pitch get to show us what they can do- could be a close one - Going to give Cuala the edge POCB giving them the sufficient possession to take slightly more scoring chances. But won't be surprised at all if Boden win.
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