Flying Fintona break their duck against Beragh

Fintona 2-22  Beragh 2-13

A MUCH-NEEDED yet fully-deserved first win of the Division Two campaign for Fintona at St Lawrence’s Park on Sunday saw the Pearses breeze past the previously-unbeaten Beragh.

The hosts played some excellent football over the hour and built on an eleven point half-time lead, aided by strong gusts.

Granted Beragh did come back, testing the woodwork twice and with a penalty saved, too, by Oisin Watson in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.

Jared Brogan and Aidan Donnelly orchestrated lots of of what was good for Fintona while Niall Donnelly and Aaron McCarney were a constant in the home attack, as Niall Murray, Eoghan Hegarty and Eugene Liam Mc Carroll showcased the importance of a solid defence.

Conor Owens did inject some urgency to the Knights’ attack with Cathal Owens and Johnny Woods battling hard, however it was the pure heart and endeavour shown by the eventual winners that kept the Pearses out on top throughout.

Within ten minutes of the start Fintona were eleven points clear, goals from Tiernan Watson and Donnelly with quick movement causing Beragh issues.

Niall Donnelly, Mark Mc Glinn, Conan Hegarty and a super two pointer from Brogan put the hosts in the box seat with Sean McCann teeing Niall Owens up for Beragh’s only score.

Brogan, Oran Hughes and Aaron Mc Carney kept the scoreboard moving for Fintona as Beragh finally settled into the game with Marty Rogers, Oisin Donnelly and Conor Owens adding points before a through ball opened the way for Conor Owens who crashed home a goal.

The same player tagged on a point but three points from Caolan Donnelly, including a fine two pointer, and further white flags from McCarney and Brogan of the home side laid a cushion of eleven.

That proved to be an ideal building block into the second half as Brogan opened the gap to a dozen within just 30 seconds.

Caolan Owens, Tiernan McCrystal and Rodgers kept Beragh in touch but Fintona always seemed to have that wee bit extra, with Hegarty landing another two pointer before McCarney launched a mammoth point.

Owens crashed an effort off the post and Oisin Donnelly tested the crossbar, although on this occasion substitute Aaron Tracey was on-hand to steer in a goal to cut the gap to eight with ten minutes left.

As Donnelly went down under a challenge, a resultant penalty from Owens was well-saved by Watson and Fintona pressed home their advantage tagging on late points.

There was a late Jack Campbell goal-bound effort saved by hero Watson at the death, but there was never any doubt about the outcome in the Fintona sunshine as they took away a nine point win.

Scorers
Fintona: Jared Brogan 0-7 (1t/p), Conan Hegarty 0-4 (1t/p), Aaron Mc Carney 0-4, Caolan Donnelly 0-3 (1t/p), Tiernan Watson 1-0, Aidan Donnelly 1-0, Niall Donnelly, Mark Mc Glinn, Oran Hughes and Cathal Starrs 0-1 each

Beragh: Conor Owens 1-3, Marty Rodgers 0-3, Oisin Donnelly 0-3 (1 t/p), Aaron Tracey 1-0, Tiernan Mc Crystal 0-2, Niall Owens and Caolan Owens 0-1 each.

Teams
Fintona: Oisin Watson, Eoghan Hegarty, Niall Murray, Eugene L Mc Carroll, Jared Brogan, Caolan Donnelly, Aidan Donnelly, Conor Mc Goldrick, Mark Mc Glinn, Oran Hughes, Cathal Starrs, Tiernan Watson, Aaron Mc Carney, Niall Donnelly, Conan Hegarty. Subs Pauric Kelly For Hughes, Eugene Colton For Starrs, Calum Weslh For Mc Carney

Beragh: Johnny Owens, Matt Mc Cartan, Fiachra Donnelly, Callum Corrigan, Sean Mc Cann, Caolan Owens, Seamus Grant, Tiernan Mc Crystal, Johnny Woods, Matthew Mc Sorley, Conor Owens, Ben Mc Sorley, Martin Rodgers, Oisin Donnelly, Niall Owens, Subs Jack Campbell For N Owens, Aaron Tracey For Mc Sorley, Aodhan Devlin For Grant

Referee: Cathal Forbes (Ardboe)