Lough sink Donaghmore to create a bit of club history

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

Donaghmore 2-10  Loughmacrory 1-17

MAKE room for one more! With the established order in the form of Errigal Ciaran, Trillick and Carrickmore returning to familiar territory by again reaching the Senior Championship semi-finals, upstarts Loughmacrory ventured into the last four for the first time by virtue of a tense victory over Donaghmore on Sunday afternoon in Dungannon.

Despite the concession of two goals in either half, expertly dispatched by St Patrick’s captain Joey Clarke, St Teresa’s greater cohesion, patience as well as incisive edge helped them to ride out a few rocky moments to progress.

With captain Nathan Kelly a commanding presence at the back, alongside Arnoldas Macidulskas, and the Donaghy brothers again asserting their assurance and drive on proceedings, the Lough always held the edge despite the best efforts of Fergal Donaghy, Joey Clarke and Cormac McCann for Donaghmore.

Both these teams may not have the Championship pedigree of the other three semi-finalists but that didn’t prevent a bumper crowd of expectant supporters from each camp descending on a sun-kissed O’Neill Park for this much-anticipated contest.

The St Teresa’s got off to a flyer with Pauraic Meenagh belting over a two pointer on thirty seconds and that set the tone for a breezy and enterprising start from the Lough boys who settled much the better.

They could have found the net in the third minute when Ruairi McCullagh set Cathaoir Gallagher away but Donaghmore keeper Cormac McCartan produced a fine save to deflect the ball away for a ‘45’.

However, the green flag Loughmacrory threatened came soon after. A bit of wizardry from Eoin McElholm drew a couple of markers and he fed McCullagh. His fierce drive was touched away by McCartan but Oisin McCallan was on hand at the back post to guide the rebound into the net.

With Gareth Donaghy steering over a sublime effort to extend the Lough lead, the St Patrick’s were in need of a boost and it duly arrived courtesy of a smartly taken Ronan Donnelly two pointer.

Before long they were right back on the coat-tails of their opponents as Ronan Cassidy slipped a ball inside to Joey Clarke and the Donaghmore captain made no mistake with an assured finish at his near post.

There is an added steel though to Loughmacrory these days and wonderful conversions by Cathaoir Gallagher and Cathal Donaghy (two pointer) kept them firmly in the box seat.

It was tit for tat much of the way as an absorbing first period drew to a close. Ronan Cassidy and Cormac McCann (twice) kept the scoreboard ticking over for St Patrick’s though a diligent Lough rearguard was giving them nowhere near the room they enjoyed against Galbally last time out.

And with McCullagh and wing back Shane Dobbs registering, it was St Teresa’s who enjoyed a three point interval cushion – 1-9 to 1-6.

That was still the gap as Ronan Cassidy and McCullagh (‘45’) traded scores but after a scrappy spell, Loughmacrory produced another concerted spell of pressure which yielded points from Eoin McElholm and Pauraic Meenagh.

Seven in arrears with just 12 minutes remaining, Donaghmore were in danger of making a limp Championship exit, a series of poor wides also sagging their morale.

However, after Conor Cush sent a rocket of a two pointer over the black spot, they received a real tonic as Noah Grimes picked out Clarke who lashed a shot past keeper O’Kane.

Were we to witness another Loughmacrory hard-luck story? Well not on this occasion, an excellent score by Cathal Donaghy demonstrating that they are a different animal in 2025.

To their credit Donaghmore kept battling as McCann knocked over a free, but a brace of injury time frees by McCullagh copper fastened the Lough’s triumph. Now bring on Carmen in a fortnight!

Scorers

Donaghmore: Joey Clarke (2-0), Cormac McCann (0-4,2f), Ronan Cassidy (0-2), Ronan Donnelly (0-2,tp), Conor Cush (0-2,tp)

Loughmacrory: Ruairi McCullagh (0-6,2f, 1tp, 1’45’), Cathal Donaghy (0-3,1tp), Pauraic Meenagh (0-3,1tp), Oisin McCallan (1-0), Gareth Donaghy (0-2), Cathaoir Gallagher, Eoin McElholm, Shane Dobbs (0-1 each)

Teams

Donaghmore: Cormac McCartan, James McCann, Paul McCann, Dermot McCann, Ronan Donnelly, Joey Clarke, Sean Donaghy, Thomas McGuigan, Tom Grimes, Fergal Donaghy, Ronan Cassidy, Ryan Cush, Cormac McCann, Conor Cush, Noah Grimes. Subs used: Johnny McKenna for F Donaghy (42mins), Peter McKenna for S Donaghy (42), Niall McKenna for T McGuigan (56)

Loughmacrory: Oisin O’Kane, Dara Curran, Nathan Kelly, Arnoldas Macidulskas, Shane Dobbs, Ronan Fox, Shea Conway, Aodhan Donaghy, Cathal Donaghy, Gareth Donaghy, Eoin McElholm, Cathaoir Gallagher, Pauraic Meenagh, Ruairi McCullagh, Oisin McCallan. Subs used: Michael McNamee for O McCallan (43mins), Ryan Grimley for P Meenagh (55), Enda Donaghy for R Fox (60)

Referee: Paul Gallagher (Castlederg)