O’Neills Derry SFC quarter-final replay: Eoghan Rua, Coleraine 1-11 Robert Emmet’s, Slaughtneil 0-13
LIAM McGoldrick kicked a sensational winning point as Eoghan Rua dumped Ulster club champions Slaughtneil out of the running for this year’s titles at Owenbeg last night.
The Derry defender, having just kicked a free narrowly wide, strode powerfully through the middle to finish off balance from 30 metres with almost five minutes of stoppage time played.
And there was no time for the champions to respond as their hopes of becoming the first team in history to win five consecutive Oak Leaf titles were ended.
The Emmet’s had hit the ground running too. It was like the drawn game in reverse early on. Co McEldowney’s men had been very slack in the first outing but they played some brilliant football in the opening 20 minutes last night.
They took advantage of Eoghan Rua’s wastefulness in possession with some devastating counter-attacking play.
Using the boot, they cut the Coleraine men apart with early ball on the break. Brian Cassidy, outstanding all night, hit two and Shane McGuigan did the same.
Those two seemed all along like the difference between the sides, although for long periods Ciaran McGoldrick did everything in his power to keep Eoghan Rua alive, and how valuable his contribution proved to be.
It certainly can’t be overlooked despite the fact that two of his brothers had huge moments in the final quarter.
Liam’s winner was a superb score. The gap he strode into was huge and he almost seemed to take a second too long to steady, ending up shooting under serious pressure, but the aim was true and he wheeled away with a celebration just like the one that met his goal last week.
They’d been in the game from the 20th minute onwards but it was evident that they’d need a goal to bridge what was for the most part a five-point gap.
It came on 43 minutes, when Ruairi Mooney found a hole in the Emmet’s rearguard and turned to go straight for goal. He drew the man and popped off for Colm McGoldrick to palm into the empty net.
That made it 0-13 to 1-8, and it would turn out that Slaughtneil would fail to score in the last 24 minutes of play after a superb Christopher Bradley 45’ just before the Eoghan Rua goal.
That seemed an unlikely scenario in itself on the basis of what had gone before. Every time Slaughtneil attacked, they looked like scoring. Some of the finishing from Cassidy in particular was a joy, and yet the final minutes of the half left their lead more precarious than it might have been.
Part of that was the fumbly nature of Eoghan Rua’s attacking performance early on, with the returned Brendan Rogers taking early command of his battle with Colm McGoldrick.
That looked like having a telling impact on the result but having trailed by 0-9 to 0-3 with four minutes to play, Ciaran McGoldrick’s movement and their ability to find him with the kick pass dragged Eoghan Rua back into it.
He scored two and set up another, all in first half stoppage time, to leave it 0-10 to 0-6 at the interval in front of 3,225 supporters.
Once Coleraine found their gear, they didn’t relent again. Barry McGoldrick became a big figure defensively in the second half, while Niall Holly had a few big moments in another titanic battle with Padraig Cassidy, whose leadership for Slaughtneil across the two games was outstanding.
Sé McGuigan also did well in the air on his own side’s kickouts, but with Ruairi Mooney having a much greater influence once he moved to midfield, the tide began to turn.
Declan Mullan’s introduction made a major difference in the final moments as well, not least when he won a kickout and popped to his brother Ciaran. His lung-bursting 80-metre run set up the equaliser which Colm McGoldrick coolly popped over.
The Emmet’s felt that they got the rough end of the stick in terms of the referee’s decisions in the latter stages, with a case when Keelan Feeney appeared to have been bowled over, but in general the Glenullin official had a strong game.
And so, with the five added minutes almost up, Niall Holly won a loose ball and it was left to Liam McGoldrick to send shockwaves around Derry and Ulster football.
MATCH STATS
Slaughtneil: A McMullan; P McNeill, B Rogers, F McEldowney; K McKaigue, C McKaigue, K Feeney; Patsy Bradley, P Cassidy; J McGuigan, Sé McGuigan, M McGrath; C Bradley (0-4, 0-2f, 0-1 45’), Shane McGuigan (0-3, 0-1f), B Cassidy (0-5)
Subs: R Bradley (0-1) for J McGuigan (29), C McAllister for Patsy Bradley (45), B McGuigan for McEldowney (49), B McEldowney for McGrath (58)
Eoghan Rua: R McGeough; C Lagan, L McGoldrick (0-1), B Daly; C Mullan, B McGoldrick, C Lenehan; N Holly (0-1), P Daly; R Mooney, SL McGoldrick, G McWilliams; M McTaggart, Colm McGoldrick (1-5, 0-4f), Ciaran McGoldrick (0-2)
Subs: R Carey for P Daly (HT), D Mullan for McTaggart (54), S Coyles for McWilliams (58)
Referee: D Mullan (Glenullin)
Attendance: 3,225
