Beragh battle back but it’s Eglish who prevail

Beragh 2-11 Eglish 2-17

IT looked like visitors Eglish had this game completely sewn up by half-time but a spirited Beragh revival made for an exciting finale to the Division Two encounter at St Mary’s Park on Friday evening.

A rampant Eglish surged into a 2-12 to 0-1 lead by the half-time interval and it’s fair to say it looked like the tie was as good as over.

With their entire first-half tally coming from open play, Eglish’s slick interplay in attack had yielded dividends in the form of one score after another.

They’d played some great stuff, and their intensity levels were indicative of a team that really wanted to get back on track after their recent defeat to their rivals the Moy.

Beragh finally got their account up and running in stoppage time of the first-half and they admirably chased up what looked like a lost cause after the break, ultimately running out of time after striking for two late goals.

So both teams will take positives from what was an entertaining encounter, though Beragh will rue their underpar showing in the first half.

Eglish mixed up their attacking play superbly from the word go and surged into a 0-5 to no score lead by the ninth minute – each of those five scores coming from different players, an indication of their fluidity up front. Beragh by contrast were limited to a few pot-shots in that opening spell.

The three Muldoons – Turlough, Daniel and Seamus – were among those causing Beragh no end of problems, while another hugely influential player, Conall McNulty, rattled the net in the 12th minute with a clever finish with the outside of his boot to open up a nine-point advantage on the scoreboard.

With the home side struggling to get their hands on possession from restarts, Eglish compounded their advantage with further scores from Seamus Muldoon, Conor McCann, Daniel Muldoon and Enda O’Donnell in a first half where everything they touched turned to gold.

Their dynamic full-back Nathan Horsfield ghosted upfield to leave it 2-12 to no score as half-time approached, and although Beragh were awarded a penalty, Mattie McSorley’s shot was parried to safety by the Eglish goalkeeper Jack Gibney.

They belatedly got up and running with a Cathal Owens point in stoppage time, but it still looked a long way back to say the least.

The Red Knights emerged a side transformed in the second half, giving Eglish their fill of it for the remainder of the contest, exemplified by the determined efforts of Cathal Owens, Conor Owens, Sean McCann, Marty Rodgers, Oisin Donnelly and others.

Perhaps they’d been caught out by the intensity of Eglish’s approach in the first half, but there were no such issues after the break as they drove forward in waves and the scores invariably followed.

Conor Owens whipped over a couple of long-range frees, and also struck a fine point from play, to give the Beragh fans something to shout about, while Jack Campbell and Oisin Donnelly also found the target in impressive fashion.

An Ethan Jordan ‘45’ and Seamus Muldoon’s latest point of the day kept Eglish ticking over, and with less than ten minutes remaining, they still held a comfortable 11-point lead for all of Beragh’s best efforts.

But the Red Knights rattled off 2-1 without reply in the space of five minutes to open the door on what would’ve been a remarkable comeback. Ben McSorley knocked over a point before sub Conor McNamee slammed the ball to the net after strong build-up play from Rodgers and Conor Owens.

Then Jack Campbell palmed the ball to the net after an incisive attacking move, and all of a sudden Eglish were no longer in an especially comfortable position.

But then the ball was brought forward by referee Sean D for a free and Eglish forward Ethan Jordan elected to have a pop from just outside the arc. His effort sailed between the posts to restore a six-point cushion as the clock ticked into injury time, and that was more or less that – Eglish claimed the two league points and will be perfectly contented with their win, but Beragh can also take heart from their resilience and quality of their football when the game looked completely beyond them.

Scorers

Beragh: Conor Owens (0-6, 2 2pt f, 1f), Jack Campbell (1-1), Conor McNamee (1-0), Ben McSorley, Cathal Owens, Matthew McSorley and Oisin Donnelly (0-1 each)

Eglish: Ethan Jordan (0-4, 1 45, 1f, 1 2pt), Seamus Muldoon and Daniel Muldoon (0-4 each), Conall McNulty (1-1), Nathan Horsfield (1-0), Conor McCann, Turlough Muldoon, Ryan Donnelly and Enda O’Donnell (0-1 each)

Teams

Beragh: Jonathan Owens, Fiachra Donnelly, Tiernan McCrystal, Matthew McCartan, Sean McCann, Seamus Grant, Ben McSorley, Patrick Meenagh, Cathal Owens, Conor Owens, Jack Campbell, Matthew McSorley, Niall Owens, Oisin Donnelly, Martin Rodgers. Subs: Johnny Woods for Meenagh, Ruairi Kerr for McSorley, Conor McNamee for N Owens

Eglish: Jack Gibney, Ciaran Donnelly, Nathan Horsfield, Michael Owens, Conall McNulty, Ryan McKenna, Conor Holmes, Conor McCann, Turlough Muldoon, Ryan Donnelly, Daniel Muldoon, Paul Mason, Enda O’Donnell, Ethan Jordan, Seamus Muldoon. Subs: Colm Byrne for T Muldoon, Emmet McKenna for R McKenna

Referee: Sean Devenney (Drumquin)