Pomeroy victory condemns Gortin to the drop

ACL DIVISION ONE RELEGATION PLAYOFF

Pomeroy 1-16 Gortin 0-13

POMEROY piled further misery on Gortin as they defeated them for the third time this season at blustery Plunkett Park on Sunday afternoon to condemn St Patrick’s to the drop.

The men from the Glens must be heartily sick of the amber and black stripes of their opponents at this stage, having also lost to them in the first round of the Senior Championship a month ago. If anything the stakes were much higher in this crunch relegation tie but a fisted goal by full-forward Hugh McNamee midway through the second half proved to be the decisive score.

Gortin had their opportunities playing with the wind at their backs in the second half, but a whole raft of wides curtailed any hopes that they could mount a concerted come from behind triumph.

The hosts bossed the exchanges for much of the first half and by the break had built up a seven point cushion, 0-12 to 0-5.

Despite the absence of Tyrone star Kieran McGeary (off on his honeymoon) there was a purpose and focus to Pomeroy’s approach as they sought to avail of the blustery elements in their favour.

Impressive half-back Jude Campbell darted through to knock over the opening score on five minutes (though Gortin keeper Cathal McCullagh got a touch to steer it over). That effort arrived just moments after Campbell had produced a fine diving block at the other end to divert away a shot from Peter Keenan.

Gortin midfielder Fiachra McNulty levelled things up with an assured strike, but a driving run and conversion by inspiring captain Ronan Duffin and then an excellent two point strike by Frank Burns had the home side three to the good.

Liam Og Mossey slipped over the first of his three first half frees to keep Gortin in the hunt, though crucially for them he failed to reappear after the break.

By that juncture Pomeroy midfielder Ryan Loughran had raised two orange flags with a brace of sublime attempts from outside the 40m arc, while McNamee also planted a two point free, and the energetic Campbell marauded up the centre to split the posts.

Daniel Daly did fist over a Gortin score right on the short whistle but it seemed they had their work cut out for them.

McNamee extended Pomeroy’s cushion to 0-13 to 0-5 in the 36th minute with a close range free, but after a spell of some errant shooting Sean Og McAleer brought Gortin’s challenge to life with two sparkling two pointers (one from the placed ball), while Fiachra McNulty was denied a goal when keeper John McCourt pulled off a stunning close range save at his near post.

Another McNamee score kept Pomeroy ticking over but when Ruairi Keenan thundered through to rifle over, and McAleer floated over another spectacular long ranger, the gap was suddenly down to two- 0-14 to 0-12.

However when Peter Rafferty cut in along the endline and centred for McNamee to fist to the net in the 47th minute it appeared to sap the life out of Gortin, and a fisted Rafferty score and another accurate finish from Duffin put the issue beyond doubt.

Scorers

Pomeroy: Hugh McNamee (1-4,1tpf,1f), Ryan Loughran (0-4,2tps), Jude Campbell (0-2), Frank Burns (0-2,tp), Ronan Duffin (0-2), Peter Rafferty, Marty Coyle (0-1 each)

Gortin: Sean Og McAleer (0-6,2tps, 1tpf), Liam Og Mossey (0-3,3f), Fiachra McNulty (0-2,1f), Ruairi Keenan, Daniel Daly (0-1 each)

Teams

Pomeroy: John McCourt, Micky McDonald, Lorcan Kilpatrick, Ryan Begley, Jude Campbell, Brendan Burns, Keezy Armstrong, Ryan Loughran, Frank Burns, Peter Rafferty, Gavin Goodfellow, Ronan Duffin, Marty Coyle, Hugh McNamee, Peter McGoldrick. Subs used: Ryan McCallan for P McGoldrick (36mins), Packie Quinn for H McNamee (50), Ronan McKenna for G Goodfellow (58)

Gortin: Cathal McCullagh, Cormac Bradley, Daire McSwiggan, Peter Bradley, Ciaran Brolly, Peter Keenan, Cian McConnell, Fiachra McNulty, Ruairi Keenan, Mark Havlin, Liam Og Mossey, Odhran Brolly, Lucas McGarvey, Sean Og McAleer, Daniel Daly. Subs used: Darragh Ward for L Mossey (h-time), Shane Clarke for M Halvin (42), Ultan McConnell for L McGarvey (42)

Referee: Kieran Eanetta (Omagh)