Clady 1-8 St Patrick’s II 1-11
Clady crashed out of the Junior Championship on Sunday evening with a three point defeat at the hands of Cullyhanna II. A St Pat’s goal five minutes into the second period fired them in front and they never looked back with Clady really struggling to get the ball into their attacking half of the field.
The game was slow to kick into action and Cullyhanna took a three point lead with scores coming from Shane McKeever, Paudie Conlon and James Carragher before Clady finally got off the mark in the 18th minute as centre half forward Conor Doyle split the posts before Brendan Nugent restored Cullyhanna’s three point advantage.
Liam Doyle swung over Clady’s second score before Captain Malachy Savage hit an inspirational point from long range to give Clady a burst of some much needed energy. St Pat’s kept themselves ahead however when a pointed free from Jack McAneney leaving two the margin.
A great tackle in the middle of the field from Ryan Devlin allowed the big midfielder to launch the ball towards goal where Joseph Galloghly saw his powerful effort rattle the crossbar only to bounce out to Liam Doyle who punched to the net and fired Clady into the lead for the first time.
The sides were tied just before the interval as Cullyhanna’s Brendan Nugent raised a white flag after good work from James Carragher. Clady would have one last say before the break and Gerard McGeown’s point from a tight angle allowed his side to take a narrow one point lead at the interval, Clady 1-4 St Patrick’s 0-6.
Cullyhanna were forced to work hard for their goal after the restart when Dillon Rooney’s shot was cleared off the line by Gerard Corr while Diarmuid Brecknell’s effort struck the upright before hopping out to Rooney who made no mistake at his second attempt to put his men two points in front.
Liam Doyle halved the margin but Clady’s such for an equaliser was depleted when Joseph Galloghly was sent to the line for an off the ball incident. St Pat’s hit the next four points through Shane McKeever, Jack McAneney, Paudie Conlon and Brendan Nugent to put Cullyhanna in pole position to reach the quarter finals.
Clady fought back with Malachy McGeown and Liam Doyle (2) points but couldn’t grab the goal that would have saved them. Cullyhanna struck the final score of the night from a James Carragher free to book their place in the last eight with a three point’s victory, Clady 1-8 St Patrick’s 1-11.
Forkhill also find themselves in the quarter finals following a one sides victory over Redmond O’Hanlon’s on Saturday evening. They led 0-9 to 0-0 at the break with Cormac Toner (3), Jemar Hall (2), Barry Shannon (2), Stephen Sheridan and Shea Coleman all splitting the posts.
After the break Forkhill’s Jemar Hall hit 1-2 within five minutes while O’Hanlon’s Charlie Magill and Ryan Hudson hit seven points between them for the Poyntzpass side. Ryan Hudson played a diagonal ball into the danger zone and Darryl Traynor made no mistake to come away with O’Hanlon’s only goal but Forkhill were out of sight at this stage winning by 18 points, 3-19 to 1-07.
Belleek also made it through to take up a quarter final place with a dominant victory over Lissummon, winning 4-15 to 1-9 while Collegeland were victorious in their playoff game against Corrinshego, winning on a score line of 1-15 to 2-5.
