Carney shoots down gallant Clogher as Kevin Barrys progress

 Derrylaughan 1-21  Clogher 1-17

DERRYLAUGHAN led from the opening 15 seconds of a high-scoring Intermediate Championship first-round encounter in Stewartstown on Saturday evening, but they were pushed all the way to the final whistle by a spirited Clogher side.

Prior to throw-in, Derrylaughan were red hot favourites to progress against a Clogher side now facing into a relegation play-off encounter against Cookstown, and when Ciaran Quinn found the net seconds after the throw-in, it looked like it was going to be a long, chastening evening for the Eire Ogs.

Not a bit of it, however. Clogher played the shirts off their backs in a really commendable individual display, exemplified by the efforts of  Conor Shields, Sean Bogue (who gave it everything in his battle with towering midfielder Brian Kennedy) and Marc McConnell, whose playmaking, cuteness in possession and ability to take a score was worth the price of admission alone.

To the victors the spoils, however. Even though Saturday constituted something of a scare for the men from the Washing Bay, we wouldn’t want to gloss over the fact that this was still a strong performance. 1-21 was some shooting, and Tomas Carney in particular excelled in that respect. He finished his day’s work with 13 points, four from play, the rest from frees of varying difficulty levels, and that was pivotal in the final end up.

Others who stood out for Derrylaughan included James Donnelly, who ran himself to a stand-still, Ciaran Quinn who racked up 1-2 and subs Joe Donnelly and Ciaran Gervin, who won crucial breaking ball in the frenetic closing stages.

The Kevin Barrys enjoyed by far the brighter start, supplementing their early goal with points from Liam Gervin and two from the on-song Carney, but it soon became evident that Clogher weren’t there to just make up the numbers.

Ciarán Bogue and Ryan McCaughey landed a couple of settling scores from the dead ball and as the half wore on, they stitched together some really fine attacking moves with Marc McConnell’s foot-passing a joy to behold (and it must be said that Derrylaughan were pleasingly direct in their moves forward as well).

Derrylaughan’s Quinn and Carney kept the scoreboard ticking over as they moved into a 1-5 to 0-4 lead with 15 minutes gone, while Clogher’s McConnell landed arguably the point of the game when he sold an exquisite dummy before sending the ball high into the evening sky and between the posts to really emphasise that Derrylaughan were going to have to work hard to win this one.

The remainder of the half ebbed and flowed but Derrylaughan were doing particularly well in the midfield exchanges and ran up a 1-11 to 0-8 lead at the half-time interval.

Clogher reduced the deficit early in the second-half with points from Sean Bogue and Ryan McCaughey, but Derrylaughan rattled off a few scores to open up a 1-15 to 0-11 lead as the final quarter approached.

At that stage, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that the game was as good as over but Clogher kept on plugging away, Conor Shields linking the play to great effort and they kept their opponents honest with further scores from Finbar and Marc McConnell.

Then in the 55th minute, Clogher pounced for a goal, Shields threading through a superb pass to Marc McConnell, who squeezed home a goal that reduced the deficit to a mere three points. The comeback was well and truly on but Derrylaughan were in no mood to throw the game away and almost conjured a goal of their own in the next attack – though they ended up having to content themselves with a Carney ‘45’.

There was a late flurry of scores at both ends of the pitch but Derrylaughan were doing just enough to keep a battling Clogher side at arm’s length. That man Carney and Ciaran Gervin knocked over points in injury time, meaning that Clogher’s late efforts were ultimately moot, but credit must go to both teams for playing their part in a thoroughly entertaining contest that really caught the imagination of the supporters that made their way to Stewartstown for the final championship game of a jam-packed Saturday.

The Scorers

Derrylaughan

Tomas Carney (0-13, 0-8f, 1 ‘45’), Ciaran Quinn (1-2), Stephen McGrath (0-2), Liam Gervin, James Donnelly and Stephen McGrath (0-1 each)

Clogher

Ryan McCaughey (0-7, 0-6f), Marc McConnell (1-4), Ciarán Bogue (0-3, 2f),  Sean Bogue, Michael McCaughey and Finbar McCaughey (0-1 each)