Augher edge out Eskra in entertaining contest

Augher 3-9  Eskra 0-13

AUGHER summoned up a bit of that old Championship grit and passion, for which the club was long synonymous, as they took the derby spoils against neighbours Eskra on Saturday evening in a contest which really sprung into life in the second half at Dunmoyle.

Despite the prevailing strong gusts of wind, both sides endeavoured to serve up an engrossing and hugely competitive contest. There was some quality points, three goals, crunching tackles and a red card apiece. In terms of Championship therefore for neutrals, it ticked the majority of boxes.

The teams were deadlocked at the interval 1-3 to 0-6, the excellent Declan Connolly with the early Augher goal, but with captain Finnbar McElroy, Cathal McKenna and Darragh Kavanagh spearheading their challenge, the St Macartans were very firmly in the box seat throughout the second period.

While Niall Marlow, Conor O’Hagan and Cormac Hughes toiled manfully for the Emmets they came up just short in the end.

Hughes began in sprightly fashion and fisted over two early scores for Eskra, after darting in from the left flank, but they found themselves trailing with the concession of an eighth minute goal. An excellent delivery inside from Kavanagh found Connolly who coolly rounded keeper Aidan Hackett to net.

Eskra almost immediately responded with a green flag of their own, but the backtracking Emmett Neeson diverted Finn Kelly’s low drive behind for a ’45’. Soon after it was Jarlath McNamee with the goal-line heroics for Augher, keeping out Hughes’ effort, though the latter did slip over a close range free soon after.

The St Macartans were a bit wasteful themselves in the initial stages, though the howling wind was a mitigating factor. They tallied up seven wides by the 20 minute mark, and soon went three in arrears (0-6 to 1-0) as Conor O’Hagan belted over a two pointer and full back Luke Kelly provided an assured finish after breaking from deep.

However with Augher’s back unit starting to wrest a firm grip, they made inroads again at the other end as Kavanagh turned sharply to convert. Dara Donnelly also blasted over from close range, after his initial attempt was well saved by keeper Aidan Hackett, and just on the break Kavanagh steered over a free to level things up.

There was a lively start to the second half as Kavanagh then tucked away a penalty goal after he was fouled by the goalie, and while O’Hagan replied with a free, Augher started to pull clear with three points on the spin. Dara Donnelly, Raymond McElroy and Martin McElhatton capped some purposeful approach work with accurate finishes leaving it 2-6 to 0-7.

A superb Cormac Hughes effort brought much needed cheer to the Eskra support, and their cause took another turn for the better when Donnelly picked up a second booking in the 41st minute.

O’Hagan and Kinsella sought to take full advantage with Eskra points, which left them two in arrears, but a mighty two point free conversion by Kavanagh was just the fillip that Augher required.

With O’Hagan straight red carded in the 54th minute, Eskra’s numerical advantage disappeared, though a brace of Kinsella close range frees kept them in contention.

Martin McElhatton fisted over for Augher, which another Kinsella free quickly cancelled out, but the decisive late score came St Macartans way, sub Tiernan McElroy with the breakaway goal to seal it.

Scorers

Augher: Darragh Kavanagh (1-4,1tpf,1f), Declan Connolly (1-0), Tiernan McElroy (1-0), Dara Donnelly (0-2), Martin McElhatton (0-2), Raymond McElroy (0-1)

Eskra: Rory Kinsella (0-4,3f), Cormac Hughes (0-4,1f), Conor O’Hagan (0-3,1tp,1f), Finn Kelly (0-1,f), Luke Kelly (0-1)

Teams

Augher: Conan McGovern, Liam McKenna, Emmett Neeson, Niall McCaughey, Martin McElhatton, Jody Kelly, Finnbar McElroy, Eoghan Keenan, Cathal McKenna, Ronan McElroy, Dara Donnelly, Jarlath McNamee, Darragh Kavanagh, Raymond McElroy, Declan Connolly. Subs used: Aiden McElroy for J McNamee (h-time), Tiernan McElroy for E Keenan (45mins), Charlie Cawley for J Kelly (47), Aodhan Colton for A McElroy (60)

Eskra: Aidan Hackett, Eoin McKenna, Luke Kelly, Johnny Hackett, Aaron Kelly, Niall Marlow, Conor O’Hagan, Eoin McCaffrey, Paddy Irvine, Cathal Arkinson, Rory Kinsella, Finn Kelly, Cormac Hughes, Tommy Meegan, Daire Carroll. Subs used: Tiernan McCaffrey for T Meegan (37mins), Conor Hackett for A Kelly (51)

Referee: Stephen Patton (Strabane)