All-Ireland Senior Club Semi-Final
Dr Crokes v Mullinalaghta (Longford)
Saturday at 3.30pm
Semple Stadium, Thurles

Everybody loves an underdog and with a parish of just 450 people, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger (or smaller?) underdog than Mullinalaghta St Columba’s from County Longford.

Nicknamed ‘The Half Parish’, Mullinalaghta shocked the nation when they defeated Dublin kingpins Kilmacud in the Leinster final. Now their sights are firmly set on the other Crokes, Pat O’Shea’s Munster champions who are on the hunt for a second All-Ireland title in three years. On paper it’s an open and shut case but veteran defender Fionn Fitzgerald is wary of the threat that Saturday’s opponents could pose.

“They have really captured the imagination,” Fitzgerald said at the AIB All-Ireland semi-final media day. “Their run has taken on a life of its own. They’re a bit like the Slaughtneil story, but they’ve also been knocking on the door for a while.

“They’ve won Longford three times and been in Leinster where they gave St Vincent’s a rattle, but beating a Dublin team was the thing because Dublin have been so successful. They also beat Rhode and Éire Óg so they have form.

“They’re from a small area but they have been genuine kingpins in their county, and I was always tracking them.”

Crokes are overwhelming favourites with the bookies but Fitzgerald knows that victory in Thurles isn’t a foregone conclusion.

“All-Ireland semi-finals are always very close and we lost three of them before we finally won one. We didn’t perform and the opposition did, and they were the better teams on the day.

“There are no favourites in this one, I don’t buy that tag. You trust the work you have done and hope it’s good enough on the day.”

Many neutrals will be cheering on the minnows this weekend but that won’t bother the Crokes; they’re well used to playing the bad guys by this stage. The Killarney club are eager to cap a flawless 2018/19 campaign which has seen them crowned club, county, league, Munster and O’Donoghue Cup champions. All things being equal you would expect them to win with plenty to spare.

In light of Kilcummin and Beaufort’s recent triumphs, victory for the Lewis Road club would set up a unique treble as no county has ever produced the winners of the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Club Championships in the same year.

In the other semi, Corofin (Galway) play Gaoth Dobhair (Donegal) in Carrick-on-Shannon. That match is also on Saturday with an earlier throw-in time of 1.30pm. Both games will be broadcast live on TG4 with coverage starting at 1pm.