By Michael O'Rourke, An Riocht

An Riocht reached the last eight of the All-Ireland sevens in Kilmacud losing by the minimum margin to eventual winners Aghada from Cork.

In the group stage at St.Blenduis College venue, An Riocht won their four matches to qualify for the quarter-final stage at the Kilmacud HQ.

First up for An Riocht was Roundwood from Wicklow. In this tough opening match An Riocht won by 3-10 to 1-07, goals from John Clarke, Gary Cunningham and Connor Annett plus a wonderful point from County Goalkeeper Brendan McVeigh got An Riocht off to the perfect start.

Match two saw An Riocht come up against Clan na nGael from Tyrone. With the sides level at halftime, goals from John Clarke and Gary Cunningham helped An Riocht to a 2-10 to 0-07 victory.

In the final group game, An Riocht needed to beat Castleisland Desmonds from Kerry to top the group and qualify for the fourth round play-off. An Riocht gave a masterful performance and won quite easily. Goals from Brian Sloan (2) and Aidrian Annett helped An Riocht to a 3-15 to 0-07 victory.

In the fourth round match An Riocht came up against Portglenone from Antrim. This was a very tough and tight match with both teams exchanging points on each attack. Just before halftime Brian Sloan scored a great goal to give An Riocht a five point lead at the interval. Portglenone started the second half very well and a goal from Antrim county player Martin McCorry gave them the lead. Then some long range points from Michael Harper and Paddy Cole and coupled with an outstanding save from Brendan McVeigh helped An Riocht to a 1-14 to 1-11 victory.

As the sole Down team left in the competition, An Riocht now faced Aghada from Cork in the last eight. County player John Lavery scored a great point from the throw-in, however the Cork men hit back with a penalty goal. Once again some magnificent long range points from John Clarke and Paddy Cole helped An Riocht reduced the lead, and the teams were level at halftime. In a close and tough second half An Riocht maintained a two point lead up until the final 30 seconds, when the Aghada team worked the ball up the left side of the pitch and scored the winning goal.

Overall An Riocht can be proud of their displays in the All-Ireland sevens. Each of the 10 player and the management team gave there all in the five games.

Team:- Brendan McVeigh, Declan Reilly, Connor Annett, Aidrian Annett, John Lavery, John Clarke, Gary Cunningham, Paddy Cole, Michael Harper and Brian Sloan.

The team stayed in Dublin and had an enjoyable nights 'craic'. Young Paddy 'Grip' Cole was rooming with County Stars John Clarke and Brendan McVeigh, and stated that it was a great experience to be sharing with this calibre of player.

TG4 will be showing highlights on Monday night.