Bank of Ireland Ulster Under 21 Club Football Tournament: Paddy McLarnon Cup semi-final: St Dympnah’s, Dromore 1-14 O’Donovan Rossa, Magherafelt 1-8
A powerful second-half performance from Tyrone champions Dromore was enough to book an Ulster Under 21 Club Football final spot with a six-point win over O’Donovan Rossa Magherafelt.
Trailing by a point at the interval, the St Dympnah’s men controlled the semi-final after the restart with half forward Andrew McGrath putting in a man-of-the-match performance.
McGrath would finish with 1-4 from play with centre-half Ryan McCusker running him close for the accolade with a stunning performance at the heart of the Dromore defence.
Full-forward Tiernan Sludden once again provided the pivotal role on the edge of the square and while he finished the contest with two points to his name, Sludden provided much more for his side and acted as the perfect pivot for Dromore.
The Magherafelt side were well placed at half time and with Declan Martin’s 10th minute goal, they just about edged the first half.
Eoghan Hawe, Ben McErlain and Michael Lynch all found the target in the first 30 minutes but they had no answer in the second half to a strong Dromore side.
The Tyrone men kept Magherafelt scoreless for 23 minutes of the second period while accumulating 1-5 of their own.
McGrath finished with a sublime score in the 35th minute thanks to work from Emmett McNabb and Sludden in the build-up.
The Dromore defence remained on top and while the Derry side pressed and probed for openings, they were often wasteful in possession or misplaced the final pass.
Dromore were soaking up the pressure and countered at speed with Emmett McNabb, McGrath and McCusker using their pace to cut through the Magherafelt defence at will.
A brace of points from Lynch (free) and midfielder Séan Og Monaghan breathed fresh impetus into the Rossa fading hopes but they were too wayward in front of the target to capitalise.
Dromore finished strongly with Declan McNulty and Sludden adding gloss to the scoreline at the death.
O’Donovan Rossa, Magherafelt: Odhrán Lynch; Diarmuid Kielt, Conor Maunsell, Patrick McLarnon; Conor McCluskey, Simon McErlain, Guisseppe Lupair; Michael McEvoy, Séan Og Monaghan (0-1); Declan Martin (1-1), Cormac Murphy (0-1), Eoghan Hawe (0-2); Ben McErlain (0-1), Michael Lynch (0-2, 2f’s), Ronan Young.
Subs: Ciaran Shields for D Martin (50); Johnny McErlain for S McErlain (inj).
Dromore: Mark McGale; Cathal Colton, Ruairi Teague, Caolan Slevin; Nathan McCarron, Ryan McCusker, Oisin Gallogly (0-1); Peter Teague, Cahir Goodwin; John MacRory, Andrew McGrath (1-4), Caolan McCarron (0-3, 1f); Declan McNulty (0-1), Tiernan Sludden (0-2), Emmett McNabb (0-2).
Subs: Odhran Rafferty (0-1) for C McCarron (44); Eoghan McShane for O Gallogly (60); Tiernan McDermott for J MacRory (inj); Gavin Teague for C Goodwin (inj).
Referee: Ronan Barry (Tullylish, Down)
