St Patrick’s 1-15 Pearse Og 1-10
Cullyhanna booked their place in the final of the Intermediate Championship with a five-point win over Pearse Og.
In a tightly contested encounter, Cullyhanna always had their noses ahead and deserve their place in the showpiece.
Rhys Stevens opened the scoring for the Ogs will a pointed free inside the opening minutes. But his score was cancelled out by Shea Hoey at the other end.
The sides traded scores and were tied on three-points after 12 minutes before Cullyhanna shot ahead.
A loose turnover gifted Jason Duffy the ball and he played through his club and county teammate Ross McQuillan.
McQuillan, in one-on-one with the Pearse Og goalkeeper, expertly slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
That kickstarted a scoring spree for the pre-match favourites, and sent them into a five-point lead, 1-8 to 0-6.
Second half
The Ogs were handed a huge lifeline before the half time break when they raised a green flag of their own.
Jamie Carragher’s short kickout didn’t make it outside the 21-yard line, so the ball was thrown in.
Ogs won possession and it was played to Anto Duffy, who blasted the ball to the net, with the help of the crossbar.
That left two the difference at the break, 1-8 to 1-6, but Cullyhanna doubled their advantage right after the interval.
Aidan Nugent and Duffy split the posts for St Patrick’s while Ruairi Duffy and Hoey traded scores.
Two points from Callum Murray, split by a superb score from Nugent, made three the difference with ten-minute remaining.
Nugent landed another huge score to add to his growing tally before Cullyhanna almost claimed a second goal.
Pearse Casey rounded the keeper and sent the ball goalward, but Oran Callaghan chased back to clear the line.
Nugent slotted over a free, matched at the other end by Vincy Brady, while Barry McConville made five the difference.
