Fermanagh champions Derrylin travel to Crossmaglen to take on Armagh Intermediate champions St Paul’s of Lurgan in an eagerly awaited Quarter final clash this Sunday afternoon.

Both sides, if truth be told, would not have been expecting to still be playing football in November, let alone being County champions and in the Ulster club series.

This Season St. Paul’s Lurgan collected their first Armagh IFC title since 1984 and also won the Armagh Intermediate league title this year, surprising a lot of people in doing so. The Lurgan based club, who are under the guidance of former Armagh footballer Shane McConville, only lost two games over the course of the season.

The Armagh Championship was to prove to be the making of the club with the side easing themselves to the last four before coming up against a tricky Forkhill side in the semi-finals. Indeed they looked to be in trouble at half time in that game with Forkhill leading the game 0-08 to 0-02 but St Paul’s were to overwhelm the south Armagh side in the second half to finish up 1-11 to 0-10 winners. The final was an extremely hard game to call against Grange, but St. Paul’s got their tactics spot on in the final and dealt with Grange’s main danger Cathal McKenna to claim a deserving 2-13 to 2-10 victory.

Derrylin have made great strides forward this year. In the opening phase of Division Two they won four games and drew one which was enough for them to pip Aghadrumsee by a point to qualify for Division Two A when the league resumed. The O’Connell’s could not mix it with the runaway trio of Lisnaskea, Maguiresbridge and Kinawley but showed enough throughout the league season to suggest that they were a side that could trouble the main championship contenders.

The first clash in the championship for Derrylin was a tricky tie with Coa, Barry Murray top scored with 0-09 while the introduction of Mark Murphy with 15 minutes to go was the push Mickey Cadden’s side needed to put away a hard working O’Dwyers team. Derrylin blossomed in the semi-final tussle with Aghadrumsee and had Eoin Maguire in fine scoring form with 2-03 to send them into their first Intermediate final for 18 years. The final itself was all about hard work, grit and determination that Mickey Cadden has clearly instilled into the side and with Eoin Maguire firing 2-01 and the likes of Kevin McCusker and Mark Murphy starring for the South Fermanagh side, it enabled them to cause something of an upset as they lifted their first Intermediate title since back in 1997 with a hard earned win over Maguiresbridge.

Both Derrylin and St. Paul’s have been conceding goals during their championship runs with the Lurgan side shipping five goals in five games, while Derrylin have conceded four goals in three games – both sides will know that in a hard hitting and close encounter a green flag being raised will go a long way to securing a victory.

St. Paul’s Lurgan St. Paul’s goalkeeper Ciaran Toman is a good net minder who has made few mistakes throughout this year’s campaign.

The Lurgan side also have a strong and firm back line. The back six were to contain Grange very well in the Armagh decider and players such as Michael Shanks at full back will be tasked with making things difficult for Derrylin while the talented full back can also hit long range frees, scoring 0-04 in the final.

At midfield St. Paul’s will call on captain Feidhlim O’Neill and Chris Lavery who are two strong performers while in attack Andrew Murnin is their main scorer and a talented forward. Tall, strong and intelligent, Murnin he has been called up to an Armagh training panel and collected the man of the match award in the 2009 All Ireland Minor Final which Armagh won against Mayo. Ryan Lawless is another player to watch, the wing half forward is a tricky player and finished the final against Grange with 1-02 to his name. Darren Fox at corner forward and wing half forward Niall McParland are others to keep an eye on.

Derrylin Derrylin goalkeeper Eoin Murphy, a brother of midfielder Mark, has featured heavily for the club for the best part of ten years and was a key figure in this year’s Championship success. He will though have to be at his best on Sunday against a St. Paul’s side who have scored eight goals in five championship games.

The Derrylin defence have really impressed this year. Kevin McCusker has been outstanding while Paul McManus’ only blemish was a late black card in the final, taking one for the team, so to speak, as Maguiresbridge laid siege to the Derrylin goals. Wing half backs Louis Leonard and Aaron McGoldrick have been superb in this year’s Fermanagh championship with both players marauding up field in the semi-final victory over Aghadrumsee to pick off scores.

At midfield, Derrylin will look to experienced talisman Mark Murphy who, along with partner Micheal Shannon will look to drive his side forward, Shannon also showing against Coa that he is capable of chipping in with scores, notching 1-01 on that occasion.

In the forward division Barry Murray and Eoin Maguire have been the real eye catching performers, with the duo hitting 4-21 out of Derrylin’s 5-35 in this year championship, which is superb scoring. Pius Martin has also shone at wing half forward while Daniel Leonard has blossomed into a fine player. One massive drawback for the O’Connell’s side though is the loss of Donal McAvinue who has returned to Australia, but with players like Patrick Dolan and Fearghal Shannon on the bench, Derrylin will feel they have the squad to cope.

Ulster Club Intermediate Championship history Fermanagh have one winner since this competition began back in 1998 when Lisnaskea Emmett’s were crowned champions in 2010, the Emmetts going on to secure the All Ireland title as well. Surprisingly, there has been no winner to date from Armagh, four sides having reached the final only to be beaten. This will be the first meeting of Derrylin and St. Paul’s.

Close Call The beauty of the Ulster club series is that it’s undoubtedly hard to predict with sides coming out of grades within their own county and it’s so hard to know the gulf between each County’s club footballing sides. St. Paul’s have bridged a 30 year gap and also won the league so they are a rather talented side and, as already has been mentioned, in Andrew Murnin they have a player that Derrylin must curtail.

Derrylin have been a breath of fresh air in Fermanagh this year. They have defended superbly throughout the memorable championship run and in Eoin Maguire and Barry Murray they have forwards capable of causing problems for any opposition. Travelling to Crossmaglen will not be easy but this is a strong side and if they can perform to their capabilities then they will have every chance of returning home on Sunday evening with their Ulster title ambitions still alive.