Devenish and Belcoo will meet at Brewster Park on Friday night to decide which side makes it through to this year’s IFC Final.

As a Division One side coming up against Division Two opposition, Devenish will be favourites but this is championship football, not league - and the the fact that this is a derby tie has to be also thrown into the mix.

Devenish are currently going through a transition period but they accounted for Derrylin comfortably in the quarter final with a dominant second half display and joint manager Sylvester Mulrone is hoping to take that second half performance into Friday night’s clash while he also feels that having that first taste of championship football will stand to their younger players.

“The second half against Derrylin was very good and we want to take that second half performance and start like that on Friday night,” said Mulrone.

“But, it is championship football and it is all on the night. Certainly the first 15 minutes or so against Derrylin we were quite nervous, we have a new team and they were maybe a bit inexperienced but when we settled into the game we played some good football. We would be hoping that experience of playing under lights and having got that first championship game under their belts we will be more used to it and we’ll settle quicker,” he added.

While it is a derby game, Mulrone stresses that there is an unknown aspect to the game for both sides as well.

“It has been a while since we have played Belcoo in a competitive fixture with regards league or championship so while it is a derby game it is something new to us,” he said.

He knows that his side will though face a stiff test at Brewster Park against the O’Rahillys.

“They have a lot of experienced players there in the likes of Paul McGrath, Ciarán Flaherty, Chrissie Leonard, James McGrath, Niall Leonard -these boys have been about a long time. I don’t know a whole lot about their younger lads but obviously we’ve heard good reports about Eoin Shiels and young Flanagan,” said Mulrone.

However, he is hoping that playing Division One football will be an advantage to his side.

“Hopefully the intensity of playing against Division One side will be a factor for us,” he said.

Belcoo manager Barry Hanrahan has also played down the derby factor to the tie.

“The local derby element probably adds a little more spice to it for them - we see it a little differently. They are just another team that we have to overcome to reach the final. We don’t need any more motivation than that, to be honest,” he commented.

And he says that their focus is just on their own performance and he believes that the expectation is all on Devenish as the Division One side.

“We’ve focused on our own game all year, we haven’t really looked at the opposition all that much. We have confidence in our own ability and how we play the game.

“Devenish presents a different challenge for us for the first time this year as they are a Division One team and all of the expectations probably lies with them as a result. I guess everyone would expect them to win the game. We don’t see it that way. We will go out with the intention of imposing ourselves on them and we will see how it goes,” he said.

Hanrahan was though impressed with Devenish in their quarter final win over Derrylin.

“Devenish are a well seasoned Division One team. Like ourselves they have a good blend of experience and youth and they really showed what they can do with the ball in hand against Derrylin. They are a very good running team and move the ball very well so we know exactly what to expect from them,” said Hanrahan.

And he says that the O’Rahilys are looking forward to the game.

“We are looking forward to the semi final,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we perform in Brewster Park against strong opposition. We are focused on our game and looking forward to going out and playing ball. The underfoot conditions could have a big influence on Friday evening but I think if the weather is reasonable, spectators should see a good game of football.”