Clonoe ease past Eglish in promotion battle

Clonoe 2-21 Eglish 0-13

By Niall Gartland

ANOTHER week, another statement of intent from Clonoe as they continue their seemingly inexorable march towards the Division Two title.

The fading evening sun at Fr Connolly Park last Wednesday evening set the scene for another resounding victory over one of their leading rivals for promotion, and with so much at stake – Eglish could’ve moved into the number one spot on the head-to-head rule with a win – the O’Rahilly’s were in no mood to mess around.

With 24 minutes on the clock, the scoreboard read thus: Clonoe 2-11, Eglish 0-3. Consider that this was first versus second in the table and it gives you some indication of the unflappable, unrelenting nature of Clonoe’s performances on their final ascent to the summit of Division Two football.

Eglish kept on chipping away in a forgettable second-half, the highlight of which was probably an outstanding save from former Tyrone goalkeeper Michael O’Neill to deny Ethan Jordan a certain goal, but Clonoe coolly kept the scoreboard ticking over and never looked in any undue danger.

While Ryan Donnelly got the show on the road for Eglish in the second minute, Clonoe soon assumed control of the contest with Declan McClure in absolutely imperious form – and not just in the midfield exchanges. He carried the fight to their opponents with two early scores, while Ryan Quinn and Ryan Morrow also got their names on the scoresheet.

Then the floodgates swept open. Connor McAliskey – who’s in a brilliant run of form – played through a sumptuous over-the-shoulder pass to the on-rushing McClure, who played through Danny McNulty who duly complied with the goal at his mercy. High-quality stuff and it was already looking like a long evening for Eglish.

And the hits kept on coming. Using their midfield dominance as the launchpad for their regular raids forward, further scores from McAliskey and Quinn extended their advantage to 1-7 to 0-1, and from an Eglish perspective, it was only going to get worse before it got better.

Back-to-back two-pointers from McAliskey and Ciaran Corr compounded matters as Clonoe continued to go for the jugular, and then the killer blow: a second goal of the game and it was another peach, an outstanding catch from the outstanding Shea Coney the catalyst for another devastating attack, this time Rhys Donnelly perfectly placed to apply the finish.

In between times, all Eglish had mustered in response was a nice score from Ethan Jordan, and while they tagged on four frees without reply in the final stages of the half, they were still a full 11 points in arrears at the half-time whistle.

Not quite mission impossible, but not far off it, and while they delivered a perfectly respectable second-half performance thanks to the determined efforts of Jordan, Turlough Muldoon, Conall McNulty and others, the Clonoe rearguard kept its shape and Eglish were forced into quite a number of rash efforts which put the clampers on any lingering chances of a comeback.

Jordan tagged on a few more frees while Daniel Muldoon scored from play, but Clonoe were equal to it with scores of their own from full-back Conall Coyle and Danny McNulty. Eglish did muster a couple of goal chances, though between one thing or another, none came to fruition – Michael O’Neill saved twice while a soccer-style blaster from Conor Holmes pinged off the crossbar and wide.

There was a sense of inevitability about the whole thing as the clock counted down. Clonoe sub PL Lavery was making a good impression and set up a Darragh McGrath score, while Tommy Taggart was also introduced from the bench and landed a score with 55 minutes gone.

At this stage, having weathered those earlier goal chances, Clonoe were comfortable as could be, aside from the concession of a fine two-pointer from Eglish midfielder Conor McCann. Fittingly, it was the in-form Connor McAliskey who had the final say with another two-pointer, and that was very much that.

Scorers

Clonoe: Connor McAliskey (0-6, 2 2pts, 1f), Danny McNulty (1-2, 1 2ptf), Darragh McGrath (0-3), Rhys Donnelly (1-0), Ryan Quinn and Declan McClure (0-2), Ciaran Corr (0-2, 1 2pt), Ryan Morrow, Conall Coyle, Tommy Taggart and Daire Devlin (0-1 each)

Eglish: Ethan Jordan (0-8, 6f), Conor McCann (0-2, 1 2pt), Ryan Donnelly, Nathan Horsfield and Daniel Muldoon (0-1 each)

Teams

Clonoe: Michael O’Neill, James Taggart, Conall Coyle, Shane Hughes, Darragh McGrath, Ronan Corey, Shea Coney, Declan McClure, Ryan Morrow, Rhys Donnelly, Danny McNulty, Ryan McCabe, Ryan Quinn, Connor McAliskey, Ciaran Corr. Subs: PJ Lavery for McCabe, Tommy Taggart for Quinn, MJ Mansell for Coney, Daire Devlin for Donnelly.

Eglish: Jack Gibney, Ciaran Donnelly, Jack Muldoon, Aaron Daly, Conall McNulty, Conor Holmes, Ryan McKenna, Nathan Horsfield, Conor McCann, Michael Owens, Daniel Muldoon, Paul Mason, Ryan Donnelly, Turlough Muldoon, Ethan Jordan. Subs: Enda O’Donnell for Mason, Emmet McKenna for Owens.

Referee: Sean Hurson (Galbally Pearses)