Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section A: Derry 0-17 Queen’s University 2-8
DEBUTANT forward Conor Kearns inspired Derry with a fine display as they qualified from Section A as the best runner-up to face Cavan in Sunday’s Dr McKenna Cup quarter-finals.
They had to survive a late scare though as Dermot McAleese’s late goal left just a kick of the ball between the sides at a stage when Derry looked home and hosed. Both teams set up defensively in the early moments but as the first half wore on, more and more space appeared, particularly for the Derry attack. Debutant forward Conor Kearns made most hay, kicking five points, though he enjoyed more space than he’ll ever get again.
The Oak Leafers dominated most of the opening half but went in with just a two-point lead. After Dermot McAleese and Gerard McGovern had hit fine early scores for James McCartan’s men, Derry took control around midfield and points from Mark Lynch, Ryan Bell and Neil Forester left them 0-4 to 0-2 ahead.
They looked comfortable until 17 minutes in when Gerard McGovern spilled a long ball, but managed to react quick enough to nudge the loose ball past the hesitant Ciaron O’Boyle. That put Queen’s 1-2 to 0-4 ahead but Kearns quickly equalised before Jonathan Deeney was quickly out to make a fine save that denied Enda Lynn, who had superbly weaved his way through.
Shane Mulgrew pointed off his left foot and scores from Mark Lynch (free) and two from Kearns, one a fine effort off his weaker right foot, put the hosts back in front. Ciaran Harney and Marty Clarke (free) helped cut the gap back to one, but the best score of the half came from debutant Shane McGahon and left Derry 0-10 to 1-5 up at the break.
Kearns picked up where he left off with the first score of the second half with another fine score and the equally impressive Ryan Bell stretched Derry four ahead. That sparked Queen’s best spell of the game though, with a superb score from Slaughtneil’s Brendan Rogers starting a run of three scores in-a-row that included a sublime Marty Clarke free from the right wing.
Ryan Bell broke the run with a superb score from just inside the 45 as the game started to become fragmented by both managers running their bench. James Kielt kicked a stunning score from the left wing to leave Derry 0-14 to 1-8 ahead heading into the final 10 minutes, and from there the students never really threatened to overturn the deficit.
The dismissal of midfielder Anthony Doherty for a second booking just shy of the hour mark didn’t help their cause and a fifth point of the evening from Kearns capped off his dream debut beautifully.
Conor Kearns and Niall Loughlin added points before McAleese’s goal squirmed through sub keeper Mick O’Kane’s hands to make it 0-17 to 2-8. Ryan Bell and Ché Cullen were both given the line for second bookings after they tangled in the dying moments but it made no impact as Derry held on.
MATCH STATS
Derry: Ciaron O’Boyle; K McKaigue, D McBride, P Quinn; E Lynn, C McKaigue (0-1), N Forester (0-1); C McAtamney, S McGahon (0-1); C Kearns (0-5), R Bell (0-3), S Mulgrew (0-1); S Heavron (0-1), M Lynch (0-2, 0-1 free), G McWilliams; Subs: M O’Kane for O’Boyle (h-t), J Kielt (0-1) for McGahon (41), C Bradley for Mulgrew (43), N Loughlin (0-1) for McWilliams (47), M Craig for Forester (52)
Queen’s University: J Deeney; G McCabe, C Cullen, A Morgan; N Delargy, B Rogers (0-1), S Heffron (0-1); H Brown, A Doherty; C Harney (0-2, 0-1f), M Clarke (0-2 frees), D McAleese (1-1); M Monan, D McKeever, G McGovern (1-1); Subs: R Corrigan for Monan (41), M Hearty for Harney (45), A Fagan for Morgan (63), R Wells for McKeever (66), F McGoldrick for McCabe (68)
Referee: S McKinley (Armagh)
