Morgan Fuels Down Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Eoghan Rua, Kilcoo 2-7 St Mary’s, Burren 1-9
KILCOO clawed their way back from six points down to defeat rivals Burren in Saturday’s highly-charged Down Senior Football Championship quarter-final in Pairc Esler and stay on course for a fourth title on the trot.
The St Mary’s side looked comfortable 1-6 to 0-2 leaders with 30 minutes played but the Magpies rallied with 1-1 before half-time to change the complexion of the contest.
Donal O’Hare struck the first two points of the second period but that was as good as it got as Burren were held scoreless for the remaining 25 minutes as Kilcoo firstly chipped away at their lead and then took control of the game to finish deserved winners.
Kilcoo manager Paul McIlver was content with the victory but not overly impressed with the performance and insisted there is more to come from his side.
“Let’s not get carried away, we are only in a semi-final and we will take every step as it comes,” said McIlver.
“We expect a level of performance and we haven’t got that yet over the course of a full hour, we have only got it in spells. But we are striving for that performance and whenever we get it, we will see where it takes us.
“We are not happy with what we are doing currently at the minute, there is a lot more in Kilcoo so we will just wait and see.”
Despite Jerome Johnston and Donal O’Hare trading scores in the opening two minutes, the game stuttered through the first half, largely due to referee Con Reynold’s insistence of blowing the whistle for the majority of competitive challenges.
Kilcoo midfielder Paul Greenan and Burren full-back Gerard McGovern received black cards on 18 minutes, which was a bigger blow to the St Mary’s side.
Donal O’Hare and Conor Toner extended Burren’s lead and when Shay McArdle went to ground, referee Reynolds awarded a penalty, which O’Hare coolly converted.
Darragh O’Hanlon immediately replied with only Kilcoo’s second score of the game but Shay McArdle’s point gave Burren healthy 1-6 to 0-2 lead.
Then came that late rally when Ryan Johnston displayed conviction and agility to solo around Burren ’keeper Cathal Murdock before hitting the net. O’Hare replied with his fifth point but there was enough time left for Paul Devlin, playing his first Down Championship game this season, to strike a beautiful point.
O’Hare’s next two converted frees gave Burren a 1-9 to 1-3 lead with 38 minutes played before Kilcoo took control.
The Magpies attacked in swarms and were confident of kicking high into Conor Laverty and Ryan Johnston and they won almost every ball. Devlin (0-2 frees), Conor Laverty and Ryan Johnston all grabbed points to narrow the gap.
And Burren imploded on 53 minutes when Darragh O’Hanlon was hauled down in the square and the same man made no mistake to convert his penalty and give Kilcoo the lead for the first time since the first minute and one they maintained until the final whistle.
The Magpies showed that great intensity they were famed for under the management of Jim McCorry and worryingly for Burren, when Kilcoo rose to the occasion they were found wanting.
Morgan Fuels Down Senior Football Championship: Mayobridge 3-11 Liatroim 1-3, Castlewellan 0-20 Cumann Pheadair Naofa 2-6
MAYOBRIDGE eased into the semi-finals of the Down championship with a convincing 14-point win over Liatroim.
Played in Castlewellan last night, the Sky Blues were in control throughout and led 0-8 to 0-2 at the break but it was two quick goals in the first five minutes of the second half that ended the contest.
Cory Quinn finished neatly into the net on 33 minutes following an excellent pass from Ryan Brady and two minutes later Shane O’Hare delivered a pass to his brother Conleth who stuck Mayobridge’s second goal.
Liatroim battled back and Paul Middleton replied with a goal before Pearse Og McCrickard scored Liatroim’s only point from play, but the result was never in doubt as Kevin O’Rourke (left) and Conleth
O’Hare kept the scoreboard ticking over with a stunning array of points before Benny Coulter wrapped up victory when landed Mayobridge’s third goal after an unselfish pass from Quinn.
CASTLEWELLAN’S Aidan Burns delivered a virtuoso performance and struck a staggering 12 points to help his club advance to the semi-final.
Played in Pairc Esler on Saturday night, it was an entertaining opening half and Cumann Pheadair Naofa initially gave a good account of themselves.
It is a first season playing senior championship for the Warrenpoint side and while they entered the contest with high expectations, they found it difficult against a much more seasoned senior campaigners Castlewellan.
That said Warrenpoint started brightly and were level with Castlewellan on four separate occasions within the first 15 minutes before Niall McGovern sprung CPN into the lead with a palmed goal after excellent approach work from Ross McGarry (above) and Donagh McAleenan.
However, Castlewellan took the lead again with Burns rattling over an impressive nine points, broken only by McGovern’s second goal, this time from a penalty, to level the score again at 2- 5 to 0-11.
But following a 10 minute scoreless period Castlewellan pulled away with Burns, Sean Dornan and Donal McKibbon finding the target to finish convincing eight-point victors.
Ballyholland Harps go into the last of the Morgan Fuels Down Senior Club Championship quarter-final at Pairc Esler tonight (throw-in 8.15pm) as slight favourites over opponents Rostrevor.
The Reds will be without first choice goalkeeper Jonathan Parr, whose injury will keep him out for the remainder of the season and he is also expected to miss Warrenpoint Town’s entire Irish League campaign.
Joe Murphy’s last ditch winner helped Harps defeat Clonduff, while Rostrevor also needed a late winner from Conor Doyle to shake off the threat of Clonduff. Ballyholland have started to spread their scoring share and have not been too reliant on teenager Tiarnan Rushe and former Down star Ronan Murtagh (below), with Robbie White, Patrick Quinn and Murphy all scoring in recent games.
Rostrevor will need Shaun Parr, Doyle, John Fegan and Adrian Mackin to be on form, but Jonathan Parr’s injury will cause doubts among their back-lines and this is something Ballyholland will aim to exploit.
