Glenelly given a real scare by Urney

Glenelly  0-15  Urney  1-11

GLENELLY eventually crawled through to the Junior Championship quarter- final after this hard-fought derby on Sunday in Gortin.

Despite controlling so much possession, they squandered over a dozen scoring chances against a dogged Urney, who almost caused the shock of the first round.

Just one point separated the sides at the end of what was a thrilling contest. On paper, Glenelly, who finished fourth in the table, would have been shoe-ins. However, the Urney side had other ideas, showing so much courage to force the St Joseph’s to the pin of their collar.

Granted, Glenelly shot 14 wides over the hour, the majority scoreable, but this will be a wake up call to them as they do progress.

Lorcan Mc Cullagh top-scored for the winners with eight points, while Cormac Mc Bride, Seamus Bradley, Oscar O’Neill and Conal Furey were also key to the win.

There was a point between the sides at the break, with Glenelly finding themselves 0-5 to no score up after ten minutes. Glenelly moved the ball around with plenty of pace while the indiscipline of Urney tackles served McCullagh with three pointed frees before he teed up his captain McBride for a well executed point from play.

Mc Cullagh had added a fifth point before Ryan Henry landed an opening score for Urney at the end of the first quarter, his free from long range finding the target and within a minute they were right back in the game with a goal.

Working the ball through the right, Henry crafted an opening for Danny Doherty, who kept his composure before driving home a goal from close range.

Glenelly were quick to respond, and Ronan O’Kane dropped over a free from the left and Mc Cullagh was on the end of the impressive Seamus Bradley’s lay off for a seventh point. The eighth point of a good half from them coming on the run from Eoghan Mc Connell.

In the closing stages, Kyle Henry angled over for Urney with a Ryan Henry point and a late 45 metre kick from goalkeeper Keith Neillis, leaving just one between the sides, despite Glenelly having much of the primary possession.

There was a step-up by Urney on the restart, that saw them nudge ahead for the first time. First Kyle and then Ryan Henry points put them ahead. They hadn’t read the script and carried a real threat through Matthew Sproule and Luke Kelly.

They could not pull further clear though and four frees, a brace apiece from O’Kane and Mc Cullagh punished them leaving it a three point game.

In reality, Glenelly could have been further clear, but a lot of credit must go to Jon Paul Mc Menamin and Martin Holland who worked tirelessly at the back for the underdogs.

As expected the return of Johnny Lafferty raised expectations for Urney and after Ryan Henry again tagged on a score Lafferty’s first involvement was a clever pass to Doherty who steered over a point to leave just a point between them again.

McBride, playing a real captains role, drilled over after a patient build up, and again, he was involved as Cathal O’Neill finished off another sweeping move despite the attention of three defenders.

Urney never threw in the towel, and drafted in attacking subs, Kyle McBride, TJ Duffy and Sean Mc Gowan. They were rewarded by another Henry point, cancelled out at the other end by the deadly accuracy of McCullagh with his own eighth point.

In the closing minutes Henry forced a free, but when they made a foul on McAneney’s kick out, they could not take advantage on the left, and coughed up the ball to end their championship by the bare minimum.

Plenty of questions to be asked by Glenelly manager, Tony Scullion, and he was certainly animated at the end, as they now refocus for a game with Errigall Thirds.

The Scorers
Glenelly
Lorcan Mc Cullagh 0-8 , Ronan O’Kane 0-3, Cormac Mc Bride 0-2, Eoghan Mc Connell 0-1, Cathal O’Neill 0-1
Urney
Ryan Henry 0-7, Danny Doherty 1-1, Kyle Henry 0-2, Keith Neillis 0-1