O’Neills Derry SFC knockout round one: Bellaghy 1-13 Swatragh 3-10
BELLAGHY looked to have one foot firmly planted in last night’s quarter-final draw after a storming start to the second half at Owenbeg on Saturday night – only for steely Swatragh to dash those dreams with a clinical display at the death.
Following a first half that didn’t really catch fire, Bellaghy blasted out of the blocks from the restart, landing an unanswered 1-3 without reply to turn a two-point deficit into a three point lead.
At that point, there looked to be only one winner. The pace of Declan Cassidy, Lee Brady and Declan Brown had Swatragh all at sea, and Bellaghy will be kicking themselves for not adding further to their tally during a devastating 10 minute period.
However, Swatragh deserve huge credit for weathering the storm and, when Bellaghy lost sweeper Marc McClenaghan to injury just after Anton Tohill’s classy score stopped the rot, the momentum started to shift.
A Lorcan McWilliams free that was initially waved wide, then awarded, narrowed the gap to two points and Swatragh seized the initiative heading down the straight when Sean Kearney coolly despatched his penalty low to Peter Stuart’s right after McWilliams had been hauled down by James Diamond.
That left it all square - 1-11 to 2-8 - with six minutes left to play but it was Swatragh who found the extra gear when it mattered.
McWilliams thrust his fist into the air as he slotted over to edge Swatragh ahead before substitute James Kearney took full advantage of the parting blue sea just as the game entered added time, slamming to the net after bursting through to leave Bellaghy too much to do with the clock ticking down.
“It just feels like a game we threw away,” said a deflated Damian Cassidy.
“We were in control of the game, there’s no doubt Marc’s injury was a critical point of the game for us - he was a big loss. Two down at half-time, we came out and took over the half and Swatragh looked like a team that were beat. But my gut feeling is just... we lost the game.
“If you look at the amount of scores we got from play versus what the opposition got from play, I think there’s a clear story in there.”
And while Bellaghy now turn their sights to a relegation semi-final in a fortnight’s time, the Swatragh story carries on.
Despite losing the influential Conor McAtamney to a tweaked hamstring in the warm-up – replaced by reigning Ulster boxing champion Dominic Bradley - they still packed more of a punch in a dour enough opening 30.
Following a smart exchange with McWilliams, Patrick Kearney finished beyond Stuart to send Swatragh into the ascendancy less than a minute after Lee Brady had opened the scoring.
Any hopes that quickfire response would signal the beginning of an end-to-end battle were badly misplaced as these sides continued to feel each other out – Bellaghy content to hold possession and wait for opportunities where their pace could cause maximum damage.
Swatragh, meanwhile, looked that bit more dangerous in possession early on, and Francis Kearney could have bagged their second goal after 20 minutes, only to see his shot well saved by the legs of Stuart after he cut back to create the opportunity.
Tohill and midfield partner Niall McAtamney were operating to good effect as Swatragh moved four clear with half-time looming, only for two late scores - a Ruairi McElwee free and a well-worked Damon Gallagher score – to keep Bellaghy in touch at the break.
And they picked up where they left off, coming out like men on a mission as Eoghan Brown’s clever finish punished Swatragh after they were caught in possession, with points from the brilliant Declan Brown, McElwee and a long-range free from ’keeper Stuart putting Bellaghy firmly in the driving seat.
But Swatragh were far from done yet. Tohill’s instant response was badly needed – and they didn’t look back from there, Francis Kearney’s penalty and that super James Kearney strike at the death doing irreparable damage to seal their last eight spot.
“Bellaghy are a championship quality side so we knew we were going to have to play very well to beat them,” said Swatragh selector Sean McGuckin.
“We maybe didn’t play that well up until that stage but when we got the bit between our teeth we got a couple of scores and that edged us in front. It was typical Derry championship, there’s very little between a lot of teams.
“We had to dig it out in the end and we’re glad to get over the line.”
Bellaghy: P Stuart (0-1, free); J Diamond, C Milne; M McClenaghan; R McFaul, K McCallion, D Cassidy, D Brown (0-3); C McShane (0-1), Peter Cassidy; L Brady (0-1), D Gallagher (0-2), E Brown (1-0), Paul Cassidy (0-1); R McElwee (0-2, 0-1 free). Subs: O McErlain for McClenaghan (41), C Diamond for McElwee (41)
Swatragh: R McGurk; A McGuckin, N Coyle, T Walsh; SF Quinn, A McLaughlin, D Bradley; F McGurk (0-1), A Tohill (0-2, 0-1 free); N McAtamney (0-1), B Diamond, S Kearney (1-1, 1-0 penalty); F Kearney; P Kearney (1-0), L McWilliams (0-5, 0-4 frees). Subs: J Kearney (1-0) for Diamond (43), C McAtamney for F Kearney (60+1)
Yellow card: N McAtamney (55)
Referee: B Quinn (Lavey)
