Rahillys shift through the gears after the break

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL

Clonoe 1-18  Aghaloo 0-9

EMBROILED in a real armwrestle in the first half of this scrappy Intermediate Championship semi-final, Clonoe eventually asserted their class on Sunday night at O’Neill Park to surge past a battling Aghaloo side.

The teams were locked together at five points apiece at the interval, with the O’Neill’s gameplan proving effective in swamping the Rahillys attacking intent but it was an altogether different story in the second period, as the likes of Darragh McGrath, PJ Lavery and Connor McAliskey imposed their quality on the tie.

The Rahillys came into this contest as white-hot favourites to progress to the decider but from the off Aghaloo showed they were no respecters of lofty reputations, as Niall McElroy and the McGlone brothers – Jody and Ruairi – carried the fight to the league champions.

However across an encouraging first period they were repeatedly let down by their finishing and a tally of nine wides across the half an hour punctured their early zest and optimism.

McAliskey knocked over an early free for Clonoe yet throughout the first quarter they struggled for any cohesion or fluency in the face of a gritty and tenacious foe.

Both midfielders Jody McGlone and Stewart Douglas carved gaping holes in the Rahillys rearguard with powerful surges down the spine, but each screwed their efforts off target.

One man who does know where the posts are for Aghaloo is reliable sharpshooter Niall McElroy and he jinked into space in the tenth minute to skilfully split the posts.

Clonoe’s attack were feeding off scraps for the most part but McAliskey swivelled after latching onto Ryan Morrow’s pass to plant a lovely point.

It seemed that they were set to catch fire as impressive half back Darragh McGrath was the beneficiary of fine perseverance by Shea Coney to stretch their lead but Aghaloo’s fire was burning brightly inspite of their shortcomings in the shooting zone.

McElroy floated in an attempt from outside the 40m arc which Clonoe keeper Mickey O’Neill flicked over his own bar, and then drew the sides level with a skilful conversion, after selling an audacious dummy.

A marvellous interception by Douglas on Danny McNulty before he could pull the plug epitomised the determination and doggedness coarsing through Aghaloo’s veins, and a well struck Jody McGlone two point free further fuelled their self-belief.

However their profligacy was still letting them down inside the opposition ’40’ despite the wind favouring them, and a brace of close range McAliskey frees restored parity at 0-5 apiece at the break.

Tommy Taggart raised an orange flag with a placed ball strike on the restart and also found a pocket of space amid the congestion to arch a shot over, as Clonoe at last gave themselves some breathing space.

While Oliver Sherry and Jody McGlone did register quality scores for Aghaloo, they looked to be running out of puff, as Clonoe’s stamina began to bear fruit.

The likes of Danny McNulty exploited the greater room being afforded to drill over from close range, although it was a gilt-edged goal opportunity, while Declan McClure provided a typicaly languid finish to leave it 0-10 to 0-7.

The clinching score however was Rhys Donnelly’s cracking goal strike in the 43rd minute, PJ Lavery with the superb pick out, and with Aghaloo visibly flagging, Clonoe sensed their chance to stick the knife in.

They outscored their opponents 1-9 to 0-2 in the last quarter, as the gulf between the sides belatedly began to unfold.

Aghaloo’s sole score down the home straight was a well-struck Jody McGlone two point free, but with fatigue kicking in they couldn’t quell the attacking onslaught from the Rahillys.

McAliskey helped himself to a hat-trick of scores (two frees), while Declan McClure and man of the match Darragh McGrath (twice) compounded Aghaloo’s misery as the match ticked towards its close.

Clonoe’s double dream remains very much alive.

Scorers

Aghaloo: Jody McGlone (0-5,2tpfs), Niall McElroy (0-3), Oliver Sherry (0-1).

Clonoe: Connor McAliskey (0-7,5f), Tommy Taggart (0-3,1tp), Darragh McGrath (0-3), Rhys Donnelly (1-0), Declan McClure (0-2), Danny McNulty (0-2), Ryan Quinn (0-1).

Teams

Aghaloo: Jason Mulgrew, Mark McCormick, Conor Mullen, Miceal Muldoon, James O’Hara, Enda McGarrity, Michael Maguire, Jody McGlone Stewart Douglas, Harry McGinn, Niall McElroy, Jay Douglas, Connor Quinn, Ruairi McGlone, Oliver Sherry. Subs used: Darragh Muldoon for S Douglas (41mins), Tiarnan Donnelly for C Quinn (48), Daniel McGee for M Maguire (55).

Clonoe: Mickey O’Neill, James Taggart, Michael O’Neill, Shane Hughes, Shea Coney, PJ Lavery, Darragh McGrath, Declan McClure, Ryan Morrow, Rhys Donnelly, Danny McNulty, Ryan McCabe, Tommy Taggart, Connor McAliskey, Ciaran Corr. Subs used: Pascal McClure for R Morrow (37mins), Conall Coyle for C Corr (41), Eoin Mansell for R McCabe (55), Ryan Quinn for T Taggart (60), Daire Devlin for C McAliskey (60).

Referee: Michael Kelly (Urney).