Down Senior Football Championship Qualifiers round three: Burren 3-13 Rostrevor 1-12; Bredagh 1-8 Longstone 2-7
TWO second-half goals from Donal O'Hare and Declan Rooney sent Burren into the quarter-finals as Pete McGrath's Rostrevor cursed their poor shooting in Clonduff last night.
O'Hare had Burren ahead only seconds after the throw-in, but Rostrevor hit back a minute later when Conor Magee got on the end of a seven-man move to rifle into the net.
The Reds made a change to the team that lost to Kilcoo, with Anthony Donnan coming in for ace forward Conor Doyle.
Ryan Treanor and Paudi Poland hit back for the defending champions before Rostrevor enjoyed their purple patch. Colm Murney, Thomas Mulholland and Piaras Kane chipped in with points and, with the first 15 minutes gone, Rostrevor led 1-4 to 0-4.
But Burren grew into the game, with Conaill McGovern and Mark McKay pressing high and scoring while O'Hare looked dangerous. Ryan Cunningham and Reds keeper Jonathan Parr (45') traded points and, on 27 minutes, county star O'Hare displayed power to shake off his marker and then deadly accuracy to grab a goal as he shot low inside the near post.
Captain Cathal Foy and Treanor stretched Burren's led as they finished the half 1-9 to 1-7 ahead
Within eight minutes of the restart, Rostrevor were back in front as Conall Gordon, Shaun Parr and Anthony Donnan tagged on points. And they could have been further ahead, but squandered three scoring chances in-a-row.
The swirling wind didn't help Burren's shooting either but, on 41 minutes, they bagged their second goal as Declan Rooney palmed into the net to put Paddy O'Rourke's men back in front. As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Burren were 2-10 to 1-12 ahead.
Rostrevor were on top as James Rice ruled the middle, but they couldn't grab the scores they needed as Kevin McKernan had his defence well organised and shooting let the Reds down with seven second-half wides.
Burren were living off scraps, but that's all O'Hare needed as he steered over a second point. Liam Kerr scored a peach of a point to put three points between the teams.
Rostrevor needed a goal but, as they poured bodies forward, they were caught on the break and O'Hare bagged his goal to confirm Burren's place in the quarter-finals.
THERE was lightning start to last night’s clash in Kilcoo, with Bredagh quickest out of the traps.
Donal Hughes was to the fore as the Belfast men hit 1-2 without reply before the seventh minute. However, less than five minutes later, the sides were level as Longstone produced their own quick-fire salvo of a goal and two points, Mark Poland helping to restore balance.
It was a nip and tuck first-half from then on in as Michael Ireland kept Longstone in touch, the sides finishing level at the break.
Ireland continued where he left off after the break, knocking two points over before Poland goaled to give Longstone a formidable lead.
Try as they might, the Belfast men couldn’t reel their opponents in from there and Longstone ran out two-point victors to reach the last eight.
