Loughmacrory and Carmen must do it all again

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL

Carrickmore 1-16  Loughmacrory 0-19

By Niall Gartland

WELL that game certainly lived up to its pre-match billing. An utterly frenzied Senior Championship semi-final encounter between Carrickmore and Loughmacrory ended up all square on the scoreboard at a heaving Plunkett Park on Sunday afternoon, and now they must go out and do it all over again.

The game reached a thundering crescendo and time itself seemed to stand still in injury-time when Eoin McElholm, who was superb by the way, spilled possession 30 yards from goal and James Donaghy swooped in before making a beeline for the posts. And talk about a reprieve – it was McElholm himself who somehow managed to get his mitts on the ball and avert what surely would’ve been a winning point – or goal.

It was riveting stuff and from a supporter perspective, must have been almost too much to bear given the context to this particular duel. Indeed, having waited 50 plus years for a first ever appearance at this level, Loughmacrory will get another crack at a second senior championship semi-final within the space of a week.

But if this was a seismic moment in the annals of the Loughmacrory club, it was almost a mirror image for the Carrickmore lads. The idea of losing to the old parish rivals was simply unthinkable – for both teams – and thankfully, while there were surely plenty of little mishaps, neither team found themselves overwhelmed by the occasion.

With throw-in delayed by a full ten minutes to accommodate the supporters still making their way in, both teams flew out of the traps when the moment did belatedly arrive. Carmen got their account up and running with a fine score from Cormac Munroe, and added a second with an eye-catching effort from Seamus Sweeney, while the aforementioned McElholm enjoyed a lightning start to proceedings, contributing three points from play in the first seven minutes. Classy efforts they were too.

Both teams racked up their fair share of wides over the hour, and Carrickmore made amends for a few wayward efforts early doors when Lorcan McGarrity flung over from a tricky position.

Loughmacrory were working their angles well and opened up a 0-5 to 0-3 lead with back-to-back scores from the hugely-influential Ruairi McCullagh and Pauraic Meenagh, while Carrickmore were dealt an early blow when Danny Fullerton was hauled ashore with injury in the 16th minute.

They did, however, pounce for the only goal of the game when Loughmacrory were turned over in their own half and a few quick handpasses later, Tiarnan Loughran had the ball in the back of the net.

On that note, turnovers were plentiful at either end and that contributed to what was a breathless affair. The midfield battle was well was a sight to behold – titans of men duking it out from every restart. In that respect, it was probably honours even between the two teams: Rory Donnelly had some big moments in particular for Carrickmore, but so too did his Loughmacrory counterparts.

Loughmacrory struck for the next two scores – Dara Curran and Cathal Donaghy (two-pointer) momentarily restoring their advantage before Carmen levelled through Niall Allison and Tiarnan Loughran.

It was St Teresa’s who finished the half stronger though with a classy effort from Ruairi McCullagh followed up by a spectacular effort from outside the arc by corner-back Arnoldas Macidulskas on the stroke of half-time.

0-11 to 1-5 – it wasn’t an insignificant lead in the circumstances.

Loughmacrory extended their lead via Meenagh two minutes into the second-half, though Carmen did well to conjure a score from Ruairi Loughran before Lorcan McGarrity nailed a tough free for a two-pointer.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this one was going to go right down to the wire, though Loughmacrory stretched ahead for a brief spell again through Cathal Donaghy and Cathaoir Gallagher, with stalwart Shane Dobbs really starting to exert his authority on proceedings.

Carrickmore kept pouring forward though and got their reward with their latest two-pointer, this time from Loughran, and they came so close to getting a second goal only for a smart save from Oisin O’Kane after a shot from Jonathan Munroe.

McCullagh tapped over a free but Carrickmore edged ahead with scores from McGarrity (a brace of two-point frees) and Allison, while in between times McCullagh did extremely well to come round on the loop and split the posts.

That second two-pointer from McGarrity opened up a 1-15 to 0-16 lead with seven minutes remaining, though McCullagh was having a stormer and hit the target again after some composed build-up play. They then levelled matters with a superb individual effort from McElholm, setting up a grandstand finish. Allison banged over a 58th minute point, though not after a moment of hesitation from the umpires, but Loughmacrory didn’t take long to draw level again through a Meenagh free.

Three minutes of injury-time were called for so there was plenty of time for someone to make a hero of themselves.

Both teams spurned opportunities on the home straight, while referee Kieran Eanetta made a couple of calls favouring the respective defences. And when all was said and done, both teams had to content themselves with a replay. From our point of view, we’ll gladly take it, because if it’s as entertaining as yesterday’s contest, we’ll be in for another treat.

Scorers

Carrickmore: Tiarnan Loughran (1-3, 1 2pt), Lorcan McGarrity (0-, 2 2pt f), Ruairi Loughran (0-3, 1 2pt), Niall Allison (0-3), Seamus Sweeney and Cormac Munroe (0-1 each)

Loughmacrory: Ruairi McCullagh (0-5, 1f), Eoin McElholm (0-4), Pauraic Meenagh (0-3, 1f), Cathal Donaghy (0-3, 1 2pt), Arnoldas Macidulskas (0-2, 1 2pt), Cathaoir Gallagher and Dara Curran (0-1 each)

Teams

Carrickmore: Declan Grimes, Seamus Sweeney, Oran McKee, Mattie McCallan, Niall Allison, Ruairi Loughran, Cormac Munroe, Lorcan McBride, Jonathan Monroe, James Donaghy, Rory Donnelly, Colum McCrory, Daniel Fullerton, Lorcan McGarrity, Tiarnan Loughran. Subs: Tiarnan McGarrity for Fullerton, Pierce Byrne for McCrory, Martin Penrose for Monroe, Aidan Woods for T Loughran

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: Michael McNamee for McCallan, Enda Donaghy for Gallagher, Ryan Grimley for Conway, Colm Logue for Fox

Referee: Kieran Eannetta (Omagh)