Carmen shock their neighbours with late McBride goal

Carrickmore  2-13  Loughmacrory  0-18

IT’S not really your everyday league encounter, this – a glance around the stands last Wednesday evening at Páirc Colmcille testifies to that. Fit to bursting, almost.

Since Loughmacrory were promoted from Division Two six years ago, their annual liaison with parish rivals Carrickmore has become as close to a must-watch as you can possibly get.

It’s the real deal – a heady atmosphere, thrills and spills on the pitch, and to the victor the spoils. It’s your classic derby fare and while it isn’t championship football, well, the giddy reaction from the Carrickmore faithful at the end of last Wednesday’s match tells its own story.

Invariably, the argument is settled by a point or two on the scoreboard and this was no exception. Loughmacrory won both their 2023 and 2024 meetings in a photo finish, and for long stretches of last Wednesday’s contest, they were on course to chalk their third successive victory against their neighbours down the road.

Leading 0-12 to 0-5 early in the second-half, St Teresa’s looked relatively comfortable, even though they were operating a man in arrears following the sending off of Thomas Duff in the 25th minute.

At that point, they’d rattled off the last seven points, so there wasn’t much to indicate a Carmen comeback. A brace of two-pointers from Lorcan McGarrity was a shot in the arm, and a well-worked goal polished off by Rory Donnelly was another reminder that it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

A word too for veteran Martin Penrose, whose introduction was paying very obvious dividends – he dovetailed superbly with McGarrity up front, landed a two-pointer of his own, and his general energy and work-rate was clear for all to see.

And yet – and yet. As the clock ticked inexorably down, it still looked like it was going to be Loughmacrory’s day. They hadn’t trailed for a single second of a helter-skelter contest, and still held a two-point advantage with 58 minutes on the clock.

The deficit was reduced to a single point from a free, and with the game there to be won, Carmen went for the jugular. A cross-field pass was pounced upon by Lorcan McBride and he went for broke with the goal at his mercy, leathering the ball to the back of the net.

It wasn’t over yet – Loughmacrory’s talented young full-forward Ruairi McCullagh fired over to set up a grandstand finish, but the home side hung on to secure what had looked an unlikely looking victory. And it’s probably also worth mentioning that they’re missing a whole host of regular starters, so they’ll take a great deal of confidence from the win with the championship just around the corner.

St Teresa’s won’t be too despondent. A kick of the ball away from last year’s Tyrone Senior Championship semi-finals, they’re having another strong campaign and the path to the top rarely comes without a bump or two.

They flew out of the traps on Wednesday past with the first three scores of the game, courtesy of Eoin McElholm (who was really sharp throughout), Dara Curran and Cathaoir Gallagher.

The home side worked their way into proceedings with scores of their own from Rory Donnelly, Sean Donnelly and the hugely influential Lorcan McGarrity, but Loughmacrory finished the half in commanding fashion despite the sending off to Thomas Curran, rattling off points from Ruairi McCullagh – twice – and a superb two-pointer from Gareth Donnelly.

Loughmacrory pushed ahead further the other side of half-time via Pauric Meenagh and Ruairi McCullagh and they were playing some really great stuff with Shane Dobbs making himself a useful outlet from Oisin O’Kane’s restarts.

However, Carrickmore, spurred on by their in-form half-back line, started to chip away at their opponent’s lead before Loughmacrory reasserted themselves with three converted frees in a five-minute spell midway through the half.

The away side now led by 0-15 to 0-9 with 15 minutes remaining, but Carrickmore conjured up a goal when Niall Allison and Martin Penrose did the spadework before Rory Donnelly applied a neat finish to the net.

The two sides traded further scores with Loughmacrory still ahead on the scoreboard. Penrose landed a skyscraper two-pointer, though seconds later Oisin McCallan responded with a classy score from the wing for St Teresa’s.

McElholm was getting his hands on plenty of ball and almost caught the opposition by surprise when he showed real invention to go for a goal from around 15 yards out, his cushioned effort falling narrowly wide of the target.

Carrickmore were pouring forward in numbers and they got their rewards when McBride nailed his 59th minute goal to open up a 2-13 to 0-17 lead on the clock.

There was still time for Loughmacrory, just about, but their efforts were ultimately in vain as Carmen held on for a dramatic victory. Great stuff it should be said – credit to both teams on an outstanding contest.

Scorers

Carrickmore: Lorcan McGarrity (0-7, 1 2pt, 1 2ptf), Rory Donnelly (1-1), Lorcan McBride (1-0), Martin Penrose (0-2, 2pt), Tiernan Loughran (0-2, 2f), Sean Donnelly (0-1)

Loughmacrory: Ruairi McCullagh (0-5, 0-1f), Pauraic Meenagh (0-5f), Eoin McElholm (0-2), Cathal Donaghy (0-2, 1 2pt), Shane Dobbs, Dara Curran, Cathaoir Gallagher and Oisin McCallan (0-1 each)

Teams

Carrickmore: Declan Grimes, Mattie McNally, Oran McKee, Matthew McCallan, Rory Loughran, Sean Donnelly, Niall Allison, Conan McElduff, Lorcan McBride, Rory Donnelly, Caolan Daly, Tiernan Loughran, Colly McCrory, Ciaran Cuddy, Lorcan McGarrity. Subs: Martin Penrose for Cuddy, Michael Coyle for Daly, Aidan Woods for McElduff.

Loughmacrory: Oisin O’Kane, Thomas Duff, Nathan Kelly, Arnoldas Macidulskas, Shane Dobbs, Dars Curry, Shea Conway, Eoin Donaghy, Cathal Donaghy, Gareth Donaghy, Eoin McElholm, Cathoir Gallagher, Pauraic Meenagh, Ruairi McCullagh, Oisin McCallan.

Referee: Sean Hurson (Galbally)