Clonoe made to battle by the Rock

CLONOE 2-11  ROCK 1-6

FAVOURITES Clonoe booked their place in the quarter finals of the Intermediate Championship but not before they were given a fright by Rock at Stewartstown on Wednesday evening.

The St.Patricks laid their stall out from the start as they worked hard for every possession playing some superb football in the process.

With Liam Nugent pulling the strings at centre half forward they led by four points with just five minutes of the first half remaining. Clonoe were struggling to get going but an injury time penalty conversion gave them a halftime lead that they scarcely deserved but they made good their escape.

A second successful penalty from the boot of Connor McAliskey left the league champions in control as they outscored their opponents 1-6 to 0-3 in the second period to ease to victory but they will know themselves that they will have to improve going forward.

Frees from Daryl Magee and McAliskey came either side of a Nugent strike from play before Conor McGarrity tied the sides up from a placed ball. In the 19th minute the contest really came alive when Enda McWilliams, Peter Loughran and Aidan McGarrity combined to play the ball to Nugent who got past a couple of challenges before smashing an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net. The same player then showed the Clonoe defence a clean pair of heels to add a point to leave Rock in a good position.

Six first half wides had blighted the Clonoe challenge but with the interval approaching they at last found a bit of form. Ryan McCabe took a good score from a mark before impressive midfielder Paul Coney followed that up with a beauty from distance.

They would have been happy enough to go in only two points down but they somehow found themselves in front when McAliskey converted from the spot after Rock keeper Shane Murphy had fouled James Taggart.

In the first attack of the second half a neat McCabe score stretched their advantage before McAliskey knocked over a free.

By the end of the third quarter though only two points separated the sides thanks to an outstanding effort from Aidan McGarrity from out on the left wing. There was more urgency now from Clonoe and they retained their composure to go about building a match winning lead.

McAliskey converted a free before Coney weighed in with another quality point from distance. Four points now divided the two sides and it was effectively game over in the 51st minute when McAliskey converted a penalty after Magee had been fouled.

Clonoe substitute Dwayne Quinn made a telling impact with three well taken points from play and while Rock had efforts from Nugent and Aidan McGarrity their season came to an end while Clonoe march on.

The Scorers

Clonoe

Connor McAliskey 2-3 (2-0 pens, 3F), Dwayne Quinn 0-3, Paul Coney 0-2, Ryan McCabe 0-2 (1M), Daryl Magee 0-1 (F)

Rock

Liam Nugent 1-3, Aidan McGarrity 0-2 (1F), Conor McGarrity 0-1

The Teams

Clonoe

Mickey O’Neill, Paul O’Neill, Conall Coyle, James Taggart, Shea Coney, Patrick Doris, Darragh McGrath, Paul Coney, Declan McClure, Ronan Corey, Daryl Magee, Ryan McCabe, Conor McLoughlin, Connor McAliskey, Danny McNulty. Subs: Dwayne Quinn for McLoughlin, Ciaran Corr for Corey, Cormac Convery for Taggart, Sean Hughes for Coney

Rock

Shane Murphy, Mark McAleer, Shea Litter, Niall McWilliams, Corey McElduff, Cathal McWilliams, Thomas Mackle, Enda McWilliams, Aaron Somers, Conor McGarrity, Liam Nugent, Aidan McGarrity, Cormac O’Neill, Peter Loughran, Martin Ward. Subs: Shea Daly for Niall McWilliams, Mark Ward for Loughran

Referee: Jerome McElroy (Aghaloo)