Madden 2-12 Grange 3-5
While the scoreline shows that four was the difference, the gap between Madden and Grange was much wider on Saturday evening.
Ethan Rafferty bagged a hat-trick in the final quarter to put some respectability on the scoreboard, but Madden were home and hosed well before that.
Grange’s accuracy in front of the posts and lack of aggression meant the underdogs rarely put a glove on Mickey Grimley’s men.
They couldn’t handle the pace of Niall Smith and Joe Sheridan while Ryan and Conor Grimley starred at centerfield.
By half time, Conor Mone’s goal had more or less confirmed the Raparees’ passage to the next round.
Madden were five up after 20 minutes before Grange finally opened their account through Cathal McKenna.
Madden grabbed the first goal when Niall Smith’s lightening pace powered him through the Grange defence.
Smith’s effort crashed off the crossbar and ricochet to Conor Mone who palmed home for the easiest of finishes.
Conor Grimley, who top scored with 0-6, swung over the final score of the half to put Madden 1-7 to 0-2 ahead at half time.
Justin Kieran and Ben Toal (free) narrowed the margin at the start of the second period, but Madden kept the upper hand with three points in a row.
Hat trick
With nine the difference, Grange sent Rafferty to the edge of the square to salvage something from the game.
Sean Doherty directed one in around the house and Rafferty was on hand to bundle it to the net and offer some hope.
The sides matched point for point before Donal Rafferty found himself in acres of space and slid the ball low to the net.
Grange responded immediately with Rafferty firing home his second three-pointer as the game entered the final five minutes.
Another huge ball in, this time from Miceal McKenna, found it’s way to Rafferty who clawed the ball into the corner and cut the deficit to four.
That was as close as Grange could get as Madden comfortably made their way to the next stage of the championship.
It’s Killeavy in two weeks’ time and Madden will know a much bigger challenge lays ahead of them.
Madden Scorers: Conor Grimley 0-6 (4f), Conor Mone 1-0, Donal Rafferty 1-0, Niall Smith 0-2, Aron McKenna 0-2, Joe Sheridan 0-2.
Grange Scorers: Ethan Rafferty 3-0, Daire Mallon 0-1, Miceal McKenna 0-1, Justin Kieran 0-1, Ben Toal 0-1, Cathal McKenna 0-1.
