By 
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
Loughmacrory 1-16 Carrickmore 4-6
AFTER decades living in the shadows of their illustrious neighbours from up the road, Loughmacrory have well and truly come into the light, securing their first ever appearance in the Senior Championship Final with a one point victory in a thrilling replay at Healy Park on Friday night.
Of course it wasn’t straightforward! Carrickmore are never going to slunk off tamely into the night. That simply isn’t in their DNA.
So while St Teresa’s bossed much of this encounter, certainly as regards the possession stakes (the midfield was a near complete wipe up at times), they just couldn’t put the contest to bed and three Carmen goals in the last quarter made for a pulsating finale.
Two late penalties (one missed by Loughmacrory, one dispatched by Carrickmore) merely added to the late drama, but nobody could really deny that the better team prevailed on the night.
Special mention has to go to young Ruairi McCullagh, who saw his 57th minute spot kick come back into play off the post. With Tiarnan Loughran making no mistake with his penalty at the other end to put Carmen one up, it was ‘Rooster’ who had the final say for the Lough, showing the conviction and courage to belt over a sublime two pointer to seal a memorable triumph.
After the enthralling drawn encounter the previous weekend, both sides sprung out of the traps again in front of another huge crowd.
It was St Teresa’s who enjoyed the dream start, Cathaoir Gallagher blasting to the net on the rebound in the second minute after an attempt for a point by Gareth Donaghy came back down into his path off the upright.
Midfielder Cathal Donaghy, one of the stand out performers for Loughmacrory throughout the Championship, then belted over a beauty to increase their advantage, but as the half unfolded they found scores increasingly difficult to come by.
The response of Carmen to this early Lough blitz was emphatic, as they carved out a goal similar to the one they conceded themselves. Full-back Oran McKee embarked on an adventurous dash before seeing his low shot strike the inside of Oisin O’Kane’s post. However his alert team-mate Aidan Woods was on hand at the edge of the square to collect the loose ball and smash it into the Lough net. Seven minutes elapsed and the stage appeared set for another humdinger.
Yet while there was no faulting the inspiration and effort from both sets of players, they each subsequently struggled for a clinical edge as the remainder of the half unfolded, Loughmacrory in particular spurning a litany of goalscoring opportunities.
Wing-back Shea Conway darted in from the right wing and drilled a rising shot into the Carmen side netting, and shortly after Ruairi McCullagh and Cathaoir Gallagher linked up to slice open the opposition defence, but the latter’s handpass inside had too much pace on it for the onrushing Ronan Fox to gather.
A lovely conversion on the burst from Aodhan Donaghy on the quarter hour mark eased St Teresa’s two in front, before his midfield opponent Jonathan Munroe split the posts at the other end with an assured strike.
Much of the action continued to be centered around the large square in front of Carmen netminder Declan Grimes, with a stunning last gasp diving block by Rory Donnelly diverting away McCullagh’s piledriver.
Pauraic Meenagh and Tiarnan Loughran traded points as each side toiled to chisel out point scoring opportunities from open play, but after James Donaghy clipped over an equaliser, McCullagh had the final say of the half, floating over with real conviction to hand Loughmacrory a narrow 1-4 to 1-3 cushion at the turnaround.
While Lorcan McGarrity (who was to have a monster of a second period for Carmen) knocked over the leveller soon after the resumption, St Teresa’s continued to assert a degree of control, the Donaghy brothers very much to the fore in this regard, while Eoin McElholn and Cathaoir Gallagher were also looking alert and lively in the forward sector.
Belatedly it appeared they were translating that dominance into scores as they rattled off four on the spin. The evergreen Shane Dobbs cut in to fist over, while Gallagher also gobbled up a loose ball to split the posts, and both McCullagh and Pauraic Meenagh converted frees.
Carmen ended the Lough scoring spree courtesy of a McGarrity free, but with Gallagher responding with another quality effort, St Teresa’s appeared to be set up nicely heading towards the three quarter mark.
With Carmen wing back Niall Allison finding the side netting when set clear by Ruairi Loughran, Carrickmore could have been forgiven for thinking it wasn’t to be, but a screamer of a goal blasted high to the net from fully 20m out by McGarrity suddenly left Carmen just one in arrears (1-9 to 2-5).
Carrickmore now had their gander up, a greater intensity evident in their play, with Cormac Munroe and Rory Donnelly spearheading their revival.
Loughmacrory though have seen that movie enough down the years, watching on as their neighbours win one big match after another down the home straight. A Gareth Donaghy score and top notch and timely two pointer by Eoin McElholm gave them a bit more breathing space.
Jonathan Munroe and Gareth Donaghy each raised white flags but with six minutes remaining Carrickmore pounced again for a goal, McGarrity with the sliderule handpass into the onrushing Loughran to tuck a low shot past O’Kane.
Gareth Donaghy replied for Loughmacrory but with McCullagh seeing his penalty come back into play off the post, after Gallagher was fouled by the keeper, Carmen still had a pulse.
Incredibly referee Martin Conway then awarded a penalty at the other end after sub Pierce Byrne was fouled, which Loughran tucked away.
Were St Teresa’s going to suffer further Championship agony? Were Carrickmore going to seal another stunning fightback to take the spoils? Not on this occasion as McCullagh proved the last gasp hero for the Lough.
Scorers
Carrickmore: Tiarnan Loughran (2-1,1f), Lorcan McGarrity (1-2,1f), Aidan Woods (1-0), Jonathan Munroe (0-2), James Donaghy (0-1)
Loughmacrory: Cathaoir Gallagher (1-2), Ruairi McCullagh (0-4,1tp, 1f), Gareth Donaghy (0-3), Eoin McElholm (0-2,tp), Pauraic Meenagh (0-2,2f), Shane Dobbs, Aodhan Donaghy, Cathal Donaghy (0-1 each)
Teams
Carrickmore: Declan Grimes, Seamus Sweeney, Oran McKee, Mattie McCallan, Niall Allison, Ruairi Loughran, Cormac Munroe, Lorcan McBride, Jonathan Munroe, James Donaghy, Rory Donnelly, Tiarnan McGarrity, Aidan Woods, Lorcan McGarrity, Tiarnan 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, Michael McNamee
Referee: Martin Conroy (Moy)
