Eskra ease past Brack boys into the next round

ESKRA 2-13  BRACKAVILLE 0-7

THERE was no disguising Eskra’s overall supremacy as they produced a controlled Junior Championship first-round performance against Brackaville on Sunday night at Augher.

The Emmetts have a range of scoring options and surged into an early lead with points from Tommy Meegan, Mickey Woods, Niall Marlow and midfielder Eoin McCaffrey, whose ability to break the lines and take a score was a feature of their first-half performance.

Their opponents dug their heels in and mustered points from early sub Tiernan McGlinchey, who was proving a bit of a handul, free-taker Dale McSorley and Jason O’Neill who landed one of the scores of the day.

Eskra still carried a handsome 1-7 to 0-3 lead at the interval and the second half was largely a procession as they soaked up any pressure at the back before hitting their opponents on the counter with large gaps opening up in the middle third.

Defenders Conor Hackett and Paul Shiels put their bodies on the line at the back while veteran Joe McCarroll became increasingly influential as the game wore on, landing a couple of tidy scores.

The Emmetts strung together a couple of goal chances – Cathal Arkinson tore through on goal and with a little more composure could’ve taken a three-pointer while sub Luke Kelly embarked on a diagonal run before his shot spilled wide of the target.

They still held a 1-10 to 0-4 lead heading into the final quarter against a Brackaville side that tried hard but ultimately didn’t have the nous to breakdown Eskra’s well-drilled defensive shape. Their opponents still tagged on a few late scores through free-taker McSorley, but the game was long over as a contest. Eskra pushed for home with sub Cormac Arkinson having a good impact and got a second goal of the game via Tommy Meegan.

TEAMS & SCORERS

Eskra

Daire McCarroll, Conor Hackett, Paul Shiels, Kealan Kelly, Fergal Arkinson, Paddy Irvine, Johnny Hackett (1-1), Eoin McCaffrey (0-2), Cathal Arkinson (0-1), Niall Marlow, Joe McCarroll (0-3), Aaron Kelly, Mickey Woods (0-2), Conor O’Hagan (0-2), Tommy Meegan (1-1). Subs: Luke Kelly for Marlow, Cormac Arkinson (0-1) for Kelly, Cathal Hackett for J Hackett, Paul Turbett for McCarroll, Karl Gartland for Shiels

Brackaville

Jamie Allen, Ruairi McElhatton, Dwayne McKenna, Stephen Anderson, Matthew Campbell, Chris Kearns, Jason O’Neill (0-2) , Cormac O’Neill, Dale McSorley (0-3f), Tiernan Ruddy, Shea Fee, Colm Sharkey, Oisin Brady, Gary Ferguson. Subs: Ronan McHugh (0-1f) for Devlin, Tiernan McGlinchey (0-1) for Ferguson

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