Fintona finish with a fluorish while Eglish survive scare

FINTONA secured a deserved 1-20 to 0-11 victory over Brackaville in yesterday’s Junior Championship first-round clash at Donaghmore.

The final scoreline didn’t reflect the competitive nature of the contest for 45 minutes, but Fintona turned the screw in the final quarter, flashing over one score after another to set up a quarter-final meeting against Aghaloo or Drumragh.

Perhaps the defining score of the game was a goal from Peter McGlinn on the stroke of the half-time whistle as it opened up a 1-6 to 0-6 lead for the Pearses. Brackaville battled hard after the break, but FIntona’s superior attacking strength paid dividends as they scored 12 points in the final between the 46th minute and the end of the game.

Cathal Starrs, Tommy McGrath, McGlinn and substitutes Niall Kelly and Pauric Kelly all found their range late on as Fintona got their championship campaign off to a winning start.

In the second of Saturday’s double header at Donaghmore, Division Two champions Eglish were made to work extremely hard for a 1-13 to 1-9 victory over Clogher. It looked like Eglish were on course for a handy afternoon when they eased into a 0-5 to no score lead in the opening 10 minutes, but Clogher, inspired by forward Ciaran Bogue, dug their heels in and trailed by only a single point at the break.

A shock was on the cards when Mark Connell scored a penalty midway through the second-half to open up a 1-8 to 0-8 lead, but Eglish did enough to prevail with Seamus Muldoon’s stoppage-time finally quashing a valiant effort from rank outsiders Clogher.