ACL Div 3 round-up: Glenelly boost their playoff prospects

ACL DIVISION THREE ROUND-UP

Glenelly 0-12  Strabane 0-9

GLENELLY boosted their playoff prospects with a three point win over Strabane in a key Division Three derby on Friday night.

In need of a victory themselves to keep their promotion hopes alive, the Sigersons went five points clear at Plumbridge after a blistering start. As the game wore on, though, Glenelly settled and the powerful running of Rory Kennedy and the accuracy of Lorcan McCullagh and Thomas Coyle eventually saw them prevail.

Strabane stormed out of the blocks with a strong breeze at their backs. Points from Gavin Molloy and a double from bustling attacker Haydn McNamee eased them ahead.

The impressive Oran McGrath found his range for Strabane on 11 minutes after dropping several short, and it was the end of the first quarter before Eoghan McConnell took Cathal O’Neill’s pass to raise a Glenelly white flag. By 18 minutes, Strabane led by five. Another long-ranger from McGrath and a pointed McNamee mark left them in the box seat.

There was, however, a noticeable improvement from Glenelly at this juncture, and as their intensity levels rose, they made an impression too on the scoreboard. Fergus O’Neill, Coyle and Eoghan McConnell all registered.

Three quick-fire frees converted by McCullagh, goalkeeper Conor McAneney and Coyle, with a huge angled score from the right, had them back in the contest. A McNamee mark nudged Sigersons three ahead again before on the stroke of half time before another superb weaving run from Kennedy resulted in a fine point.

McAneney proved his worth between the sticks when he comfortably dealt with a dangerous ball from McGrath which dropped into the square, but at the break the visitors were two to the good.

Sigersons started the second half with purpose, but a McGrath ‘45’ dropped short, and Glenelly began to impose themselves.

Garret O’Neill and Kennedy combined to tee up McCullagh for a score, and soon after, he dropped over a free when Kennedy was fouled to level things for the first time.

McCullagh worked a pass to Coyle who put the St Joseph’s ahead on 40 minutes, only for Strabane to respond.

Ronan McLaughlin’s pass opened the way for Crawford to deliver the equaliser and the visitors went ahead again five minutes later when McGrath almost saw his dipping shot find the net with McAneney struggling to get back, the attempt dropping over the black spot

McAneney was involved again minutes later when his 45 metre kick dropped short and was brilliantly saved twice by Strabane keeper, Eoin Hare, but the pressure on his goal was mounting. McCullagh steered over a free from close range to draw the game again with ten minutes left.

A fine move by the hosts eventually resulted in a McConnell point, and, again, after a patient build up O’Neill was accurate from the left.

Strabane’s difficulties were compounded in injury time when White picked up a black card and McAneney tagged on the resultant free to settle the outcome.

Aghaloo 1-26 Brackaville 1-10

AGHALOO made a quick return to winning form against Brackaville as they joined Drumquin at the table top with two rounds of fixtures remaining.

Drumquin had ended Aghaloo’s unbeaten run the previous week to gain pole position in the race for honours. Each side have two games to go, though, so the race remains on as the Tones and O’Neill’s seek honours. Brackaville battled away but the Roes were unable to turn the scoreboard over at the same rate as the hosts.

Tiernan Donnelly proved to be the chief source of scores for Aghaloo as Donnelly added a goal to his nine points landed in overall terms between play and place conversions. Niall McElroy supplied good support with a six-point total for the O’Neill’s, as did Ruairi McGlone who got four points. Its 26 points apiece at the top now then for Drumquin and Aghaloo moving into the forthcoming double round of fixtures.

Augher 0-9 Killeeshil 1-14

THE visiting St Mary’s maintained third position in the table following victory over Augher at Fr Hackett Park on Friday.

Killeeshil are currently placed on 24 points, chasing close behind leaders Drumquin and Aghaloo as all teams move into the closing week of Division Three’s main league programme. The St Mary’s got the better of Augher in this contest after showing ahead at half-time by 0-8 to 0-4. They enhanced that position during the course of the closing 30 minutes.

Michael O’Neill(1-1) netted during the second half for Killeeshil and the St Mary’s were able to subsequently keep the St Macartan’s at bay on the scoreboard. Paul O’Neill(0-4), Packie McMullan(0-2,) Jason Doyle(0-2), Cormac Donaghy, Thomas Hoy, Cathal Rafferty and Bernard O’Neill joined the St Mary’s score suppliers overall. Ronan McElroy and Declan Connolly were among the St Macartan score providers but victory went to the St Mary’s.

Tattyreagh 0-6 Eskra 0-13

ESKRA continued a productive season when sealing their 11^th league victory with an away triumph over Tattyreagh.

The Emmets sent over thirteen points to secure a victory that leaves them in fourth place on 23 points with one game remaining in their main league programme fixture list. Cathal Meegan contributed six points to the Eskra cause plus Joe McCarroll claimed three points as the Emmets gained a solid grip on the game. Conor O’Hagan, Luke Kelly, Paul Shields and Aaron Kelly also had scores.

Tattyreagh found scores tricky enough to find but Keelan McDonagh did claim four points, three via place kicks. Johnny Harkin(free) and Ronan Collins completed the St Patrick’s score tally but they would have needed more to keep tabs on the Emmets. Eskra and Tattyreagh both now prepare for the finish of league fixtures during the course of this week before championship matters take centre stage.

Castlederg 3-17 Killyman 1-6

THE home St Eugene’s claimed win number eight of a good league campaign on Friday and in so doing Castlederg claimed joint sixth spot with 19 points alongside Strabane.

Daire Corry scored 0-6 for the St Eugene’s, his tally incorporating a ‘45’ and three frees. Mark Corry notched 1-3 for the hosts; Corry netting from a swift counter-attack after the visiting St Mary’s had hit the crossbar. Tommy McMenamin and Adam Traynor had major scores for Castlederg alongside Ben Harper and Mattie Traynor efforts to round up the St Eugene score returns.

Michael Lynch in the half-back line, keeper Ryan McLaughin plus forwards Paddy Lynch and Mark Corry among others showed up really well for the St Eugene’s. Killyman kept battling in spirited fashion and the St Mary’s gained scoreboard reward courtesy of a Sean Donnelly goal together with three-point contributions via Eamon Donnelly and Enda McGahan.

Derrytresk 0-10 Errigal Ciaran III 1-8

THERE was just a point between these two teams at Derrytresk as the only goal of the game from Ruairi O’Sullivan helped to swing fortunes Errigal Ciaran’s way.

O’Sullivan struck for his goal to assist Errigal in taking a tidy 1-5 to 0-3 advantage at the turnaround. Derrytresk began to close the gap after play resumed but Errigal held on for a 5^th victory of the season. Davy Harte scored three points for Errigal and played well overall in the match too. Both these teams now face two fixtures in five days this week as their respective league schedules draw to a conclusion.

Additional away points were supplied by Darren Carson, Conor McAleer, Shane Donaghy, Colm Mellon and goal scorer O’Sullivan. Derrytresk almost got on terms but came up one point shy. Caolan Corr, Niall Gavin, Liam Slater and company will look to improve the Derrytresk score returns as a busy spell unfolds.

Donaghmore 0-10 Clann na nGael 2-10

A BRACE of first half goals gave Clann na nGael the impetus to seal success on their Thursday evening contest at Donaghmore.

Donaghmore were chasing the scoreboard after those two Clann na nGael goals but didn’t wilt in their quest for scores. Sean McCaul sent over six points for the home St Patrick’s, with Ryan McLoughlin scoring two alongside singles from Rory McGee and Chris Hughes.

Clann na nGael gained an important foothold in the opening exchanges when Padraig Kerlin found the net and this was followed later in the first 30 minutes by a Shea Brown penalty conversion. By the break, it was 2-3 to 0-5 for the North Tyrone team and they tagged on seven second half points to two posted in reply with Shea Browne and Stevie O’Neill among the point providers. Sean McCaul and team-mates tried hard but they couldn’t reel back the deficit on behalf of the St Patrick’s.