Athlone CC aim to join Moate in semi finals

TWO of the most recent winners of theLeinster Colleges SF 'A' championship come face to face on Friday, when Athlone CC take on St Mary's, Edenderry in the quarter-final stage at Páirc Chiaráin, Athlone (1pm). Winners in 2008, Athlone CC are crossing their fingers that key forward Ray Connellan can shrug off a recent injury to start the game. Connellan was inspirational as Athlone CC beat Patrician Newbridge in the last round, scoring five points, but picked up a knock recently in training. ACC manager Niall Finneran said: "It looks fairly positive regarding Ray. We certainly hope to have him available for selection. I'd say his chances of starting are 60 or 70 per cent. Ray is obviously a very important players for us, he's a county minor, and has played at senior level with Athlone. Hopefully, he'll be okay to start the game. We also have Oliver Milton available to start. He missed a bit of football, and could only feature as a substitute in the last game, but he's in a position to start now. We've no other new injury concerns at this point." Finneran said St Mary's - the Leinster champions in 2009 - will provide formidable opposition on Friday. "They're going to be very strong, we're fully aware of that," he said. "I've spoken to Con O'Meara (Marist College manager) and he's briefed me on their strengths and weaknesses. St Mary's beat a very decent Marist team and then went on to beat a highly fancied Athy. We know they're very strong in the centre of the field. But ultimately it's what we do on the day that matters most. We're on a mid-term break from school at the moment, but the lads trained last Saturday and Sunday. We've actually coped very well with playing our first two matches away from home. It seems to bring the lads together a lot more, and they've been a credit to themselves so far in the competition. Hopefully, we'll get a nice bit of local support on Friday," added Niall.