Clarkes beat Eglish and the weather

Dungannon 1-10   Eglish 0-4

THE elements weren’t exactly conducive to free-flowing football but Dungannon produced a stellar performance in spite of everything to get the better of neighbours Eglish in Sunday’s Senior Championship first round encounter.

Incessant rain put a damper on things with pockets of the pitch resembling a mud bath in front of a sparse enough attendance at Edendork.

The game itself was strangely watchable between the slipping and sliding and a healthy scattering of lovely points from play from the elegant Paul Donaghy, and there was no doubting that Dungannon were deserving victors on the day as they handled the conditions superbly. On they go and on yesterday’s evidence they remain one of the foremost teams in the county.

The Clarkes had an enterprising start and opened the scoring with a well-taken point from their Duracell bunny Dalaigh Jones, who moments later got in a hand for an expertly-timed tackle down the other end of the pitch. They racked up a few early wides – understandable given the rain was belting down like nobody’s business – but tagged on the second point of the game through late inclusion James Quinn.

The aforementioned names combined to deadly effect for a 13th minute goal, Jones forcing a turnover (again) before cleverly teeing up Quinn who coolly finished to the net.

The Clarkes led by 1-2 to no score, a lead not to be sniffed in the conditions, and while Eglish have a potent front six, they were struggling to make any sort of imprint on the contest. They also fielded without their big midfielder Michael McGleenan, who is in recovery after a recent operation. Eglish did, however, muster a goal chance which was spurned by Ryan McKenna. The ease with which Ethan Jordan tore through the centre in the lead-up drew the ire of the Clarkes goalkeeper Daire Martin, but on the whole it had been a stellar start from Dungannnon.

If anything the weather was getting even worse but Eglish belatedly got off the mark through Seamus Muldoon in the 21st minute. Celebratory beeps emanating from the cars prudently stationed at the back of the stand greeted their long-awaited first point of the day.

Paul Donaghy scored a free in response after which Eglish rang the changes as half-time approached, bringing on usual starters Matthew Og McGleenan and Ethan Jordan.

The soggy underfoot conditions were proving difficult for the respective forward lines who were getting bogged down, quite literally, on their forays into enemy territory. Dungannon’s powerful middle eight was an undoubted factor in their dominance but they too were struggling to extend their advantage on the scoreboard.

Roving centre-back Ryan McKenna won a free after he was stood up by Dalaigh Jones, converted by Seamus Muldoon with the last kick of the half.

Dungannon carried a 1-3 to 0-2 lead into the break and they got the first score of the second-half. A fine score it was too as Mark McKearney and Dalaigh Jones showed quick hands to tee up Paul Doanghy who curled over a beaut. Luke Donnelly pointed a good free for Eglish. Donaghy did likewise for Dungannon with scores from a play at a premium and plenty of unsightly scrambling for possession on a mucky pitch.

Donaghy made it 1-7 to 0-3 in Dungannon’s favour with another effort from the dead ball and already the game seemed to be slipping away from Eglish. Eglish got their second point from play via Dan Muldoon with 20 minutes remaining. The rain continued to batter down so credit must go to both sets of players for their tireless efforts on a day you wouldn’t put the dog out in.

Donaghy flashed over two points, one from play as the Clarkes reassumed control of proceedings with their ball-handling an impressive facet of their play given, y’know, the conditions.

With Mark McKearney pulling the strings in the middle third and an eight-point advantage on the scoreboard, Dungannon were in cruise control heading into the final quarter.

Donaghy nailed his latest free while Eglish attacks were coming to nought at the other end of the pitch with the Dungannon defence in no mood to yield an inch. And so it came to pass, the Clarkes move into the quarter-finals and it’ll be interesting to see how the 2020 champions fare.