Roes consign Stewartstown to the drop

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP

OWEN ROES 1-17 STEWARTSTOWN 0-7

OWEN Roes belatedly found their shooting boots after a wasteful opening half to advance with ease into the Intermediate Championship quarter-finals and consign Stewartstown to the drop in the process on Friday night.

In contrast to one or two other thrilling ties served up over the weekend, this clash at Healy Park won’t live long in the memory banks, but for Barry Tracey’s charges it was a case of job done and move on. Leading by three at the break (0-6 to 0-3) they at least recaptured their mojo after the interval.

Inevitably captain Cathal McShane led the scoring stakes for the victors with nine points to his name, while further back Peter Kirk, Stephen Kelly and the midfield tandem of Conall McCormack and Tony Devine each put in sterling shifts.

For the Harps Tiernan Rush, Conor Quinn and Gareth Devlin in attack refused to throw in the towel but they emerged a distant second best on the night and must now gear up for Junior football again in 2026.

The Glenmornan boys shortcomings in attack throughout the first period helped to keep their opponents in contention, as they hit nine wides and spurned other decent opportunities.

McShane did maraud through to blast over the opener in the fourth minute, before Devlin turned sharply to hoist over the leveller soon after.

Stewartstown then secured their only lead of the night with Devlin again on target, coolly splitting the posts on his trusty left peg.

Just after the ten minute mark Dara Dooher lit up the match with a touch of real quality, cutting inside to curl over a delightful score, and his colleague Aidan Hegarty followed suit with a top notch effort of his own soon after.

For the first quarter at least though the Harps were hanging in there and Jude Lowe picked out Macauley Quinn to confidently land the equaliser.

Things took a turn for the worse for Stewartstown in the remainder of the half as Owen Roes back unit held them scoreless, though they weren’t really being punished at the other end.

A McShane scoring brace (one free) opened a little daylight, but it took an alert catch by McCormack on his on goal-line to prevent a long range free from Harps keeper Ruairi Dillon finding the net.

When half-back Damien McCrossan sent over a thunderous two pointer in the 39th minute, having been picked out in space by Hegarty, the writing was already on the wall for the Harps.

McShane (free), Conn Tinney and sub Adam Coyle converted scores, demonstrating a more clinical edge to the side’s finishing instincts and then in the 45th minute McShane put Dooher in the clear and he slipped a shot into the net after rounding keeper Dillon.

Devlin broke the Harps half hour scoring duck with a free, and before the close himself and Dan Lowe (two) added on consolation scores. Indeed it required a brilliant intercept on the line by Kelly to divert Devlin’s shot behind for a ’45’, but with McShane continuing to add to his personal tally with converted frees Owen Roes strolled across the winning line.

Scorers

Owen Roes: Cathal McShane (0-9, 6f), Dara Dooher (1-1), Conn Tinney (0-2), Aidan Hegarty (0-2), Damien McCrossan (0-2,tp), Adam Coyle (0-1)

Stewartstown: Gareth Devlin (0-4,1f), Dan Lowe (0-2,1f), Macauley Quinn (0-1)

Teams

Owen Roes: Ryan McShane, Gerard Devine, Peter Kirk, Aodhan Gormley, Callan Doherty, Stephen Kelly, Damien McCrossan, Conall McCormack, Tony Devine, Michael Dooher, Cathal McShane, Conn Tinney, Aidan Hegarty, Niall McAleer, Dara Dooher. Subs used:Adam Coyle for M Dooher (43mins), Conor O’Neill for N McAleer (45), Ronan McNulty for D Dooher (56), Ryan McAleer for P Kirk (58), Daire McGonigle for C Tinney (58)

Stewartstown: Ruairi Dillon, Cumhai O’Neill, Darren Devlin, Jason Park, Eoghan O’Donnell, Mark Rooney, Tiernan Rush, Conor McIlhatton, Kyran Robinson, Jude Lowe, Conor Quinn, Dylan McElhatton, Dan Lowe, Gareth Devlin, Macauley Quinn. Subs used: Stephen Talbot for T Rush (39mins), Anton Coyle for J Lowe (49)

Referee: Martin McErlain (Clonoe)