South Down Under 20 Quarter
final - Rostrevor 1-8 Clonduff 0-10
South Down Under 20
quarter final
REDS SCRAMBLE PAST FEISTY CLONDUFF
Rostrevor 1-8 Clonduff 0-10
Ante post favourites for this competition,
Rostrevor, will have had their odds
lengthened considerably after this scrambling
performance to get past a spirited Clonduff
challenge at Pettit Park.
MISSING
True, Reds were hampered by the absence
of injured midfielders Eamon McConville
and Conor Magee, but they still enjoyed
an advantage in this area due to the
good work of Ryan Watt and Conor Mackin.
The problem was that the withdrawal
of this duo from their attack left them
alarmingly threadbare, and the six forwards
between them managed only six points
over the hour as reds greeted the final
whistle [controversially early?] with
a huge measure of relief.
UNLUCKY YELLOWS
Clonduff, who themselves had to play
without the brilliant Paul McPolin,
deserved better than this. They led
twice in the opening quarter, first
when Conor Og O’hagan had the
first point of the game, and again when
minor Arthur McConville hit two points
in reply to similar scores for Rostrevor
from Anthony Donnan and Dermot Morgan.
But Conor Mackin, the best player afield
crashed in a penalty in the twentieth
minute and a couple of scores from Colm
Clerkin left reds 1-4 to 0-3 clear.
RALLY
But Clonduff rallied strongly. Noel
McPolin and Darren O’Hagan pointed,
Shane O’Hagan converted a 45,
and ten minutes into the second period,
Arthur McConville tied the scores at
0-7 to 1-4. Reds found the range once
more as Colm Clerkin restored their
lead, and midfielders Ryan Watt and
Conor Mackin soon increased it to 1-7
to 0-7. But after that Rostrevor had
to survive some fierce pressure, relieved
only by a spectacular point from Richie
Reynolds five minutes from time. That
score proved crucial in the end, for
while Conduffs efforts yielded points
by Shane O’Hagan, Arthur McConville
and Paul McGreevey, the equalising point
eluded them, though there was some controversy
that the final whistle arrived rather
earlier than Yellows fans might have
expected, though certainly not earlier
than Rostrevor fans were praying for!
BEST
Best for a relieved Rostrevor were Conor
Mackin and Ryan Watt at midfield and
Colm Murney and Gary Magee at the back,
but in a weak attack only Colm Clerkin
and Anthony Donnan troubled the Clonduff
rearguard though sub Nicholas Mills
made an impact in the second half. Clnduff
can be pleased with their overall performance
nad especially with the play of Shane
O’Hagan, Rory Grant, Darren O’Hagan,
Conor Og O’Hagan and Arthur McConville
Rostrevor scorers; Conor Mackin [1-1];
Colm Clerkin [0-3]; Ryan Watt [0-1];
Dermot Morgan [0-1]; Anthony Donnan
[0-1]; Richie Reynolds [0-1]
Clonduff scorers; Arthur McConville
[0-4]; Shane O’Hagan [0-2]; Darren
O’Hagan [0-1]; Conor Og O’Hagan
[0-1]; Paul McGreevy [0-1]; Noel McPolin
[0-1]
Rostrevor team; Padraig Mulholland;
Shane Murney , Gary Magee, Michael Boyle;
Paddy Mooney, Colm Murney, Sean Magee;
Conor Mackin, Ryan Watt; Dermot Morgan,
Colm Clerkin, Sean Mackin; Brian Keenan,
Anthony Donnan, Richie Reynolds.
Clonduff team; Pat Gribben; John Killen,
Neil Trainor, Noel Brown; Rory Farrell,
Rory Grant, Noel McPolin; Shane O’Hagan,
Darren O’Hagan; Liam McParland,
Conor Og O’Hagan, Conor Maginn;
Arthur McConville, Paul McGreevey, Bernard
Brannigan.
Man of the match: Conor Mackin [Rostrevor]
McLarnon Cup
LOUIS MOVE TOWARDS KNOCK-OUT STAGES
St Louis Kilkeel 5-10 Ballyshannon 0-3
St Louis Kilkeel played some scintillating
football as they moved a step closer
to the knock-out stages of the McLarnon
Cup with this super win over Ballyshannon
in Cookstpwn last week.
INTO BREEZE
Despite starting into a slight breeze,
the Mourne lads were in commanding form
from the beginning, and, after Kyle
Morris had hit their opening goal they
moved towards a 2-3 to 0-2 half time
lead, with all three points scored by
Ben O’Reilly, and the second goal
arriving just before half time from
his county minor colleague, Michael
Higgins.
DOOR SLAMMED
The door was slammed on any prospects
of a second half recovery by the donegal
lads when Ben O’Reilly drove a
St Louis penalty to the net in the 36th
minute. After that it was all one way
traffic. Bryansfords marc harbinson
came off the bench to grab two goals.
Another sub, Rory Cunningham managed
a point. But the bulk of the scores
still came from the customary sources,
with Ben O’Reilly shooting another
four points and Michael Higgins one.
St Louis scorers; Ben O’Reilly
[1-7]; Marc Harbinson [2-0]; Michael
Higgins [1-1]; Kyle Morris [1-0]; James
McDowell [0-1]; Rory Cunningham [0-1]
St Louis team; B.Allen [An Riocht];
R.McDonald [Bryansford], P.Campbell
[Attical], C.Rawlinson [Bryansford];
R.Sloan [Attical], C.Philips [An Riocht],
L.Trainor [Bryansford]; A.McDonald [Bryansford],
R.Green [Ballymartin]; K.Morris [An
Riocht], Christopher Killen [An Riocht],
James McDowell [Glasdrumman]; Cathal
Doyle [Ballymartin], Ben O’Reilly
[Loughinisland], Michael Higgins [Ballymartin]
