Football

Cusack strikes back as Maghery progress to third county final in five seasons

Stefan Forker scored three superb first half points as Maghery beat Pearse Og at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh. .Picture Colm O'Reilly.
Stefan Forker scored three superb first half points as Maghery beat Pearse Og at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh. .Picture Colm O'Reilly. Stefan Forker scored three superb first half points as Maghery beat Pearse Og at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh. .Picture Colm O'Reilly.

Cormac Leonard Armagh Senior Football Championship: Pearse Og 0-10 Maghery 1-12

From Andy Watters at the Athletic Grounds

MAGHERY have played Crossmaglen four times since Finnian Moriarty took over as their manager and he’d surely trade his three league victories for the one that got away – the championship semi-final Cross won 2-9 to 0-8 last year on their way to the title.

Moriarty’s men have the chance to erase that defeat from their memory after they progressed to their third county final in five eventful years with a deserved five-point success against battling Pearse Og on Saturday night.

The Ogs led briefly in the first half but the game turned Maghery’s way after Stephen Cusack stroked a penalty past Ryan Kearney to give his side a two-point lead and five more points before the break left them in complete control.

To their credit, Pearse Og refused to throw in the towel but the 2016 county champions never looked like losing from then on.

This Maghery side is packed with pace and experience. James Lavery remains a colossus in midfield and in defensive situations, brother David looks well suited to the sweeper role and the Forker brothers, Aidan and Stefan, contributed five points between them on Saturday night.

But there were many other excellent performers – including full-forward Ryan Lappin, Brian Fox and Ciaran Higgins - in Moriarty’s well-drilled team and his players swapped positions seamlessly throughout the game.

“We came out after the water break and put a bit of a squeeze on and got the penalty,” said the former Armagh defender.

“It was put away well and we got two scores then straight after it and that set us up. We’d be happy with how we played in that period before half-time and in the last 15 minutes we were quite solid but we need to join it all up fully for the final.”

Maghery had beaten Dromintee and Clann Eireann (in injury-time) to reach the last four and Moriarty agreed that the 10-minute spell prior to half-time was his side’s best passage of football this season.

“The boys could drive the bus themselves to the county final,” he added.

“They’re great footballers and there’s a lot of very humble, hard-working fellas and I’m just an add-on to be honest. It’s their third final in five years and hopefully we’ll come out on the right side of it.”

Moriarty’s side wasted a good deal of ball early on but recovered from trailing 0-5 to 0-3 at the first water break to lead by six points at half-time (1-8 to 0-5).

The Ogs had looked bright early on and James Freeman and Paul Duffy were causing headaches for the Maghery defence but the loughshore men took control and settled after targetman full-forward Ronan Lappin got his hands on a high ball into the square and was dragged down. Cusack drove the penalty to Kearney’s right and, although he got a hand on it, the Pearse Og netminder couldn’t keep it out.

Maghery seized control, pressing high up the pitch and closing down the Ogs’ running game. They added two more points in the blink of an eye and three more before the break, including the third of Stefan Forker’s first half treble.

When Brian Fox finished off a rapid trademark break with a fine finish early in the second half it looked like Pearse Og could be on the receiving end of a heavy defeat but the city side dug in and the momentum threatened to shift.

They managed three points on-the-trot to close the gap to manageable proportions but the damage had been done in the first half and Maghery regained their composure to seal a deserved win with scores from Oisin Cushnahan and John Mackle.

“We possibly were the better team until they got the penalty but it’s how you react to that,” said Ogs manager Shane McConville.

“They got a couple of quick scores after that which showed their experience and from then on we struggled and chased the game.”

McConville, a championship winner as manager of Maghery in 2016, is convinced that his Pearse Og side, semi-finalists for the first time since 2012, are capable of pushing on from Saturday night’s loss.

“I think the Ogs have a chance now of re-establishing themselves now and that’s down to the lads coming to training and committing,” he said.

Pearse Og: R Kearney; S Sutton, G Barton, L Gilsenan; S Freeman, V Brady, C McNicholl; C Rafferty (0-1), A Duffy; J Graham, P Duffy (0-2, 0-1 free), C Murray; J Freeman (0-1), N Boyle (0-1), R Duffy (0-2)

Subs: C Clarke (0-2 frees) for Graham (37), M Cullen for Murray (40), J Duffy (0-1) for Gilsenan (54), E Lennon for Cullen (59)

Maghery: C Hendron; K Robinson, G Campbell, S Cusack (1-1, 1-0 penalty); B Haveron, C Higgins, O Lappin; J Lavery, J Mackle (0-1); S Forker (0-3), D Lavery, O Cushnahan (0-2 frees); B Fox (0-2), A Forker (0-2, 0-1 free), R Lappin (0-1)

Subs: C Forker for Robinson (45), S Fox for B Fox (55), T McConville for Lappin (57), M Gallagher for Cushnahan (60)

Yellow cards: Haveron (42), Robinson (44)

Referee: Oliver Hearty