Donaghy lands Galbally a berth in the Intermediate Final

DEAD-BALL expert Conor Donaghy landed Galbally a spot in the 2022 Tyrone Intermediate Championship Final as he slotted over two late points (one free, one ’45’) in the second period of extra-time to secure the Pearses a hard-fought 1-11 to 0-12 victory over neighbours Killeeshil on Friday night at O’Neill’s Healy Park.

The full-forward weighed in with a goal and eight points on the night, including a monster 50m free with the last kick of the contest in normal time to square the match up at 1-8 to 0-11 and deny St Mary’s a famous victory.

Killeeshil had raced into a three point lead, with Tomas Hoy and Pascal Donaghy (two) the scorers before Conor Donaghy thumped home a tenth minute penalty goal to restore parity at the other end.

Galbally though only managed to raise two more white flags in the first half, as Killeeshil played with the greater bite and intensity.

With Paul O’Neill and Jason Doyle kicking some quality scores they led 0-7 to 1-2 at half-time.

While half-time sub Daniel Kerr brought some much needed zest and sharpness to the Galbally attack (he slotted a free and two ‘marks’) Killeeshil continued to lead and were four to the good in the 47^th minute.

However Galbally refused to throw-in the towel and slotted the final four points to send the match to extra-time.

Both teams were reduced to fourteen men ahead of the restart, following an altercation between the two sets of players heading down the tunnel, with Patrick McMullan (Killeeshil) and Liam Rafferty (Galbally) seeing red.

The action was cagey as fatigue set in but with penalties looking set to determine the winner, it was Conor Donaghy who had the final decisive day.

Meanwhile in the first half of the Omagh double bill, double chasing Stewartstown proved much too strong for a disappointing Strabane side in the Tyrone Junior Championship semi-final.

The Harps cruised into the decider on the back of an emphatic 5-14 to 1-10 victory.

Macauley Quinn netted twice for the victors, while Dan Lowe, Shea Burke and Shea O’Neill also swooped for goals as Stewartstown cantered across the winning line.

O’Neill’s penalty goal in the third minute set the tone for the evening and despite the best efforts of Danny McBride and Oran McGrath Strabane came up well-short.

Man of the match was Stewartstown midfielder Shea Burke who registered a goal and five points from open play.

Conal Crawford stabbed in a consolation goal for Strabane with just over ten minutes remaining.