Clogher condemn Cookstown to the drop

Clogher 2-14  Cookstown 0-12

CLOGHER turned on the afterburners in the second-half as they recorded a crucial victory over Cookstown in a relegation play-off on a blustery Saturday afternoon.

The result means that Clogher’s Division Two survival hopes live on for another day (in the coming weeks they will face the winners of the Division Three play-off series) while Fr Rock’s drop back to the Junior ranks for 2023.

Clogher had the benefit of a stiff breeze at their backs in the first-half on their home patch, but it was Cookstown who started strong, easing into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead in the opening five minutes. Last year’s Junior Championship winning captain Conor O’Hare got the show on the road, while John Gilmore and Matthew Carberry also weighed in with early scores.

It was a fairly open contest, it has to be said, and Clogher enjoyed a purple patch that saw them move into a 1-3 to 0-3 lead. Conor Shield’s effort on goal fell short but bounced over the bar, Ciaran Bogue knocked over a free, and Marc McConnell scored a goal after they’d forced a turnover in the middle of the pitch. It looked like the chance had gone when he momentarily spilled the ball, but he regained his composure and found the net.

The home side were looking strong at this stage – their big full-forward Barry McKenna was imposing himself on the game, while at the other end of the pitch, Ruairi McCaughey was doing his level best to curtail the considerable talents of Matthew Carberry, who still finished his day’s work with three pints from play.

Fr Rock’s suffered a blow when John Gilmore was forced off with injury, and Clogher kept on coming with points from a brilliant individual effort from McKenna, that man Conor Shields, and another free from Bogue. Clogher had the momentum with 10 minutes of the half remaining, but Fr Rock’s dug in their heels. Carberry polished off an intricate passing move, Conor Donnelly did well to win a free which was converted by Carberry and their centre-half back Ryan Pickering found himself in space before pointing with his left foot.

Clogher kept themselves ticking over with a fine point from Mark Bogue, who showed a lot of composure under pressure, and they held a 1-7 to 0-7 lead heading into the second-half.

Matthew Carberry opened the scoring four minutes into the second-half but Clogher’s hard running was posing plenty of problems with Sean Bogue and Conor Shields nicking over points. Cookstown responded with two frees from Carberry, but they found themselves down to 14 men for spell when Conor O’Neill was black carded for tripping Mark Bogue. Clogher have pace in their team and they drew more fouls in that period midway through the second-half, with Ciaran Bogue proving a handful in possession.

Frees from Ryan McCaughey and points from play from Sean Bogue and Michael McCaughey opened up something of a cushion for Clogher – they led 1-13 to 0-10 heading into the closing 10 minutes, and Cookstown suffered another setback when one of their talisman, Ryan Pickering, picked up his second yellow card.

As you’d expect, Cookstown never gave up and they went looking for goals in the final stages. In one of those instances, Conor Donnelly was content to take his point, and Clogher put the game to bed in the 59th minute as Ciaran Bogue scored an excellent goal. Six points in arrears, only a minor miracle would have saved Cookstown at that stage, and Clogher live on to fight another day.