Derrynoose 1-11 St Michael’s 0-12
Oisin McNally’s goal two minutes into the second half proved the decisive score in this game and sent the favourites through to the next round.
It was a launchpad for Derrynoose’s best period of the game, where they landed 1-4 on the bounce.
The substitute, netting with his first touch, pounced on a short 45 by Stephen McArdle and fired to the net.
Points from Patrick Quinn, Conall McNally, Conor McNally and David McCreesh followed to send Derrynoose into a commanding 1-9 to 0-5 lead.
The first half was a tight tussle with three James McVerry scores seeing the game level 0-5 each at the interval.
To Newtown’s credit, it was easy to lay down and accept defeat after a disastrous start to the second half. The Junior B league champions fought back bravely.
Two massive points from Aidan Davidson and Sean McVerry lit a fire in Newtown. They scored six of the games last seven points.
Father and son combined to hit the final four points of the game. Aidan Davidson grabbed his fifth while Benny struck the last three scores, narrowing the gap to two.
St Michael’s needed a goal, but just couldn’t create one. McArdle, the Derrynoose netminder, deserves huge praise for keeping a clean sheet.
Twice when the pressure was on in the second half, McArdle leaped from his line to thwart the danger.
Derrynoose just edged through a nail-biting finish to set up a quarter final tie with Killeavy IIs.
Derrynoose Scorers: Conor McNally 0-5 (4f), Conall McNally 0-3, Oisin McNally 1-0, Davey McCreesh 0-1, Paddy Quinn 0-1, Pearse Lennon 0-1.
St Michael’s Scorers: Aidan Davidson 0-5 (2f), Benny Davidson 0-3 (3f), James McVerry 0-3, Sean McVerry 0-1.
Belleek 4-25 Mullabrack 0-5
Belleek eased through to the last eight of the competition as they breezed past Mullabrack on Saturday afternoon.
It was a mismatch from start to finish. As expected, the South Armagh men won with the minimum of fuss.
Belleek will want to get back to the highs of 2020, and contest at the latter stages of the championship.
The shot into a commanding half time lead, ahead 2-12 to 0-1 after 30 minutes had been played.
Mullabrack improved slightly after the turnaround, but the gap was much too large to reduce.
Belleek will now take on Lissummon in the next round and a tougher test will be expected.
Eire Og 1-13 Clady 0-7
One of the favourites for the crown, Eire Og made it past Clady in Sunday’s opening round clash.
A Paul Creaney brace (one free) was split by Colm Savage’s opening score before John Cochrane put Eire Og two in front.
Mark McGivern shot back for the underdogs, while Conor Martin, Cochrane and Eoin McCluskey all scored.
A second-quarter goal stretched the lead for the Craigavon men, putting them 1-9 to 0-3 up at half time.
Eire Og kept in front and were eight points up by the second half water break, 1-11 to 0-6.
They saw out the remainder of the game and set up a mouth-watering quarter final tie with league winners Crossmaglen.
Dorsey 1-13 Thomas Davis 0-15
Dorsey and Thomas Davis played out a hugely enjoyable tussle as a curtain-raiser in Crossmaglen.
Aidan Mackin, who finished with 1-5, nailed the all-important three-pointer from a penalty six minutes into the game.
Within two minutes, Thomas Davis had a spot kick of their own, which would have levelled the game.
Ciaran McCann stopped the ball from rippling the net, saving with his feet to keep his side in front.
Dorsey failed to build on the momentum however and trailed by the minimum at the interval. David Murphy’s 3rd pointed free seeing Thomas Davis ahead 0-10 to 1-6.
A Paudie Cumiskey effort got the sides back on level terms while Gary Mackin’s 4th point put Dorsey ahead.
The game remained in the balance and a David Harkin score left it 1-11 to 0-14 with ten minutes remaining.
Mackin handed his side a slender advantage, but Thomas Davis shot back through substitute Damien McDonald.
The final chance fell to star-man Mackin, who nailed an injury time free to secure the victory.
Dorsey will now take on Redmond O’Hanlon’s in the quarter final of the Junior Championship.
