Gormley uPVC Senior Football Championship First Round
Clontibret 3-14 Castleblayney 4-8 25/8/12
Clontibret became the first team to qualify for this year’s SFC semi-finals when they battled through an incident-packed match in Inniskeen on Saturday evening. Seven goals, 22 points and four sending-offs only told part of the story of an extraordinary match, which saw the lead change hands on a number of occasions. Despite conceding an early goal to Ryan Treacy, Clontibret were the better team in the first half, but still found themselves trailing at the interval after Blayney poached 2-1 in the last three minutes, the goals coming from Treacy and Dermot Malone. Vincent Corey kick-started the second half with Clontibret’s first three-pointer and although Blayney hit back through Ciarán Hanratty, a quick-fire brace by David Savage and Corey tipped the balance decisively in Clontibret’s favour. The four dismissals all came in the last ten minutes; three for Blayney players.
Conor McManus was the match-winner for Clontibret, scoring nine points and creating several other scores, in a game where the 2010 winners hit 3-12 from play. He had good support from Vincent Corey, Conor Boyle, Paul McGuigan and Colin Duffy, while Blayney were led by Martin McElroy, Mark Treanor and Dermot Malone (who had only returned from America towards the end of this week).
Castleblayney made a perfect start, as Martin McElroy set up Ryan Treacy to slide a low shot into the Clontibret net after just a minute. Rodney Gorman got Clontibret off the mark and they went close to scoring a goal of their own in the fourth minute when Conor McManus cracked a shot off the crossbar after he had been released by Vincent Corey. Points by McManus, Paul McGuigan and Conor Boyle edged Clontibret ahead for the first time, before McManus landed a fine score to double their lead.
Damien Hughes burst onto a Keith Hill pass to fist Blayney’s first point, but Darach Mooney replied for Clontibret after taking a pass from McManus, who quickly added a brace of points – the second a well-taken effort after good work by Martin Corey and Fergal Mone. Martin McElroy won and scored a 20-metre free to keep Blayney in touch, but Vincent Corey kicked a good point before turning provider for McManus to send over another impressive score. Blayney were five points down at this stage, but they continued to pose a threat as Treacy had an effort scrambled clear.
The full-forward didn’t have long to wait for his second goal, which had a lot in common with the first, with McElroy once again providing the assist. Another fisted point by Damien Hughes closed the gap to a point, before Dermot Malone linked up with Keith Hill and jinked past his man before cracking a shot beyond Arthur Morgan to give Blayney a 3-3 to 0-10 advantage at half-time.
Clontibret made an explosive start to the second half with a first-minute goal by Vincent Corey, who had been well-placed by McManus, who himself added a point after a pass from substitute Noel Morgan. After the game was delayed for four minutes due to an injury to Ciarán Hughes, McElroy won and scored a 30-metre free to bring Blayney to within a point once more and they retook the initiative when Niall Duffy and Malone combined to release Ciarán Hanratty to finish off their fourth goal. Niall Duffy added a point, before McElroy fisted over to give the Faughs a four-point lead going into the final quarter.
Clontibret got a lifeline in fortunate circumstances when a point-attempt by sub David Savage fell short and slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Brian McGuinness into the net. Clontibret took advantage in ruthless fashion, as Corey drilled home his second goal of the game to make it 3-11 to 4-6. Blayney’s task became more difficult when Damien Hughes was shown a second yellow card for a high tackle ten minutes from time. McManus converted a 20-metre free for a foul on Dessie Mone and although Malone sent a shot over via an upright, Clontibret’s star forward kicked another fine point after a one-two with Pauric Boyle to restore the three-point gap.
A well-finished left-footed point by McElroy kept the game well in the balance, before both sides had men sent off when an off-the-ball incident resulted in Dessie Mone and Blayney sub Mark Hanratty receiving second bookings. They were followed deep into injury-time by Blayney’s Conor Gurn, who saw red following another off-the-ball incident. When the dust settled, McManus tapped over his ninth point from a 20-metre free after a foul on Pauric Boyle to secure victory for Clontibret, who progress to the semi-finals. Blayney will have a second chance to make the last four next weekend.
Clontibret: A Morgan; C Duffy, C Greenan, D Carragher; D Mooney (0-1), C Boyle (0-1), M Corey; P McGuigan (0-1), D Mone; R Gorman (0-1), V Corey (2-1), P Boyle; R McGuigan, C McManus (0-9, 2f), F Mone.
Subs: N Morgan for R McGuigan (23 mins), JP Mone (Capt.) for Gorman (H-T), David Savage (1-0) for F Mone (40), E Greenan for Mooney (57).
Castleblayney: B McGuinness; K Duffy, C Brady, S Lynch; M Treanor, P Mallon (Capt.), D Hughes (0-2); C Gurn, C Hughes; D Malone (1-1), N Duffy (0-1), C Hanratty (1-0); K Hill, R Treacy (2-0), M McElroy (0-4, 2f).
Subs: P Greene for Hill (H-T), M Gurn for C Hughes (inj., 36), M Hanratty for Treacy (53), J Brady for N Duffy (54).
Referee: N McKenna (Emyvale).
By michael Sat 25th Aug
