Any one of the remaining four could lift IFC crown admits Damien Browne

Termon and Malin may be the slightly more fancied teams going into this weekend’s IFC semi-finals against Naomh Muire and Naomh Columba but it’s a championship Damien Browne insists remains wide open.

Looking ahead to the two last-four clashes the Red Hughs man is predicting two very close encounters with no more than a point or two the difference at the final blow of the whistle.

“The intermediate is always a hard championship to win as we have seen down the years,” said the recent All-Ireland Masters Plate winner with Donegal.

“I’ve watched the four teams that are through to this weekend's semi-final and I honestly believe there is very little between the four of them.

“You could make an argument for any one of them to go on and lift the thing outright. Indeed, if you look at the championship overall, there is very little between any of the teams in the championship.

“If you look at the results in the last few weeks there is never more than a couple of points between the teams.

“Red Hughs played both Termon and Malin at home in the group stages - close games. And we played Termon last weekend in the quarter-final and it was another tight one.

“It is such a competitive championship but as I see it there is no standout team. There is no team that you would say look a bit ahead of the rest. And that's to me is what makes it so interesting”.

Termon vs. Naomh Muire

Saturday, O’Donnell Park, throw-in 2pm

“Termon will go into this game as favourites and rightly so. They are unbeaten in the group and they beat Red Hughs last Saturday in the quarter-final.

“They are an all round good team and have very good forwards in Enda McCormick, Daire McDaid and Jack Alcorn.

They have Bobby McGettigan and Ryan McFadden in midfield. Bobby does move into the edge of the square at times and he can be very effective under a high ball.

“They also have Jamie Grant in defence. Jamie is a very good player though he did not play against Red Hughs, so I don’t know what the situation is with him for this weekend. But he is a big player for Termon.

“Naomh Muire were probably outside of the top four before the start of the championship. But they beat a fancied Milford last weekend in the quarter-final and they will take a lot of encouragement from that win.

“They have a good mix of youth and experience with Padraig McCafferty, Harry Harden, Daniel Devlin and Eoin Martin, all key men.

“They have a very good manager in Danny O’Donnell. Danny has been around the block and is a good coach as well and he is doing a very good job with them.

“Red Hughs beat them in the championship last year and then they played them in the league this year and Naomh Muire were a much improved team.

“They will go into the game as underdogs but that won’t bother them and I would not be at all surprised if they were to cause an upset.

Verdict: Naomh Muire.

Malin v Naomh Columba

Sunday, O’Donnell Park, throw-in 2 pm

“Malin, like Termon, will go into this game as favourites and on the back of a good local derby win over Buncrana in last weekend’s quarter-final.

“They are an experienced Intermediate championship team. Downings beat them in last year's final. There was only a couple of points in it.

“They have great pace in their attack with Brendan McLaughlin, Josh Conlon, Stephen McLaughlin, Conor and Sean O’Neill, all good forwards.

“They have Christopher McLaughlin in the middle of the field. They defend in numbers, are hard to break down and then break at pace.

“Naomh Columba are another one of those sides that has been knocking on the door in this championship for the last three or four years.

“And like Malin, Naomh Columba were a Division 1 team that also have a great championship tradition at senior level. They have also beaten Malin already in the championship down in Glen.

“Aaron Doherty has a big influence for Naomh Columba but they have a lot of good players all over the field. Philip Doherty, Eric Carr, Lanty Molloy and Shane Callaghan are all quality footballers.

“Malin are the favourites but I believe this will be a close game and I would not be surprised if it took extra-time to separate them.

Verdict: Malin.