By P.J. Cunningham
Clonduff and Castlewellan served up a thrilling
encounter for the large crowd in Leitrim on
Saturday evening in this Century Electrical
Wholesale Senior Ch’ship Semi-Final.
It was cat and mouse in the first quarter
as both teams sounded each other out and it
was nearly ten minutes before Clonduff raised
the white flag for the first score of the
game. An unlucky rebound off the ‘Town’
keeper gifted the yellows their goal and in
a 5 minute period of dominance they added
a further point to move 3 points clear.
Castlewellan found their feet before the
end of the half and a searching ball into
the full forward line caught the Clonduff
defence napping, the Castlewellan full forward
elected to try and pick up the ball with only
the keeper to beat and the chance quickly
evaporated. The Town did get their goal with
the last kick off the half when a side line
ball eluded the Clonduff keeper and sailed
into the net. Half-time score Clonduff 1-04
Castlewellan 1-04. Clonduff started the 2nd
period with a flourish nailing on 2 points
and were the more direct in their approach,
it was tit for tat as both teams tried to
find the opening that would change the game.
Clonduff moved 3 points clear with ten minutes
to go and it didn’t look good for the
Town girls but they pulled it back to the
minimum with a couple free kicks with only
minutes remaining on the clock. A fantastic
move by Castlewellan involving no fewer than
five players cut through the Clonduff rearguard
unchallenged and with only the keeper to beat
the Town player lost her footing and scuffed
the shot inches wide. Clonduff broke down
field and added on a further point to advance
to the final on a score of Clonduff 1-12 Castlewellan
1-10. They will meet the winners of Downpatrick
and Bredagh who play this Sunday in Carryduff
@ 7:00pm
Shamrocks romped into the final of the New
Mourne Trophies Junior Final with an emphatic
5-08 to 0-07 win over Aughlisnafin. Shamrocks
have been the best in this division in 2008
and despite a gallant effort by the Fin girls,
the Shamrock firepower was just too much to
handle.
Downpatrick and Bredagh meet on Sunday evening
for a place in the Century Electrical Wholesale
Senior Ch’ship final against Clonduff.
The hoops will enter this game as the underdogs
with Bredagh the strong favourites to advance.
That’s how it looks on paper but as
we all know, championship football doesn’t
always follow the rule book. Bredagh are a
vastly experienced side and past winners so
they know what it takes to make the cut. Downpatrick
have been making great improvements at Senior
level and have a young talented side who will
battle to the very end. I can’t see
Downpatrick being overawed by this encounter
but I think the Bredagh Belles will have enough
experience and know how to see off the challenge
and renew acquaintances with Clonduff in the
final
Carryduff will meet Kilcoo on Sunday @ St.
Johns in the Ground Coffee Sandwich Bars Intermediate
Final. This should be a classic encounter
against two very well matched and organised
outfits. Kilcoo may start as slight favourites
given the clinical way they disposed of a
hotly fancied Rostrevor side in the semi-final.
Carryduff have certainly had the tougher route
to the final seeing off both Ballymartin and
Bright and they will feel more than confident
of causing an upset on the day. This game
is just too close to call and I wouldn’t
rule out extra time but either way come 8:00pm
we will have new Intermediate champions in
Down. Neither team has won this trophy before
so the celebrations will start in earnest
and probably run into the wee hours of Monday.
The New Mourne Trophies Junior Championship
semi-final between Drumgath and St. Michaels
will take place at 3:00pm in Drumgath on Sunday.
Looking at the league placings Drumgath will
start as favourites. This is a very young
side that will run all day for each other
and if the forwards click they are capable
of knocking up the scores to advance to the
final. St. Michaels have been here before
and though their league outings this year
haven’t been to their liking they are
going through a rebuilding phase and what
better way to start than an appearance in
the decider.
The U-14 Championships also get up and running
this weekend with some entertaining football
guaranteed. Be sure to check out these games
and support your clubs
Back to the leagues Rostrevor defeated Bredagh
2-06 to 1-07 and Ballymartin overcame Bright
4-07 to 0-04 to force a play-off for the Intermediate
league title. There is no date fixed as yet
for this decider.
Fixtures:
Thursday 28/8/2008
U-14 'A' Ch'ship Q/F @ 6:45pm
Carryduff v Bredagh (Louise Baker)
Sunday 31/8/2008
U-14 'A' Ch'ship Q/F @ 12:30pm
Burren v Ballymartin (Shane McGreevy)
Kilcoo v Bryansford (Paula Cairns)
U-14 'B' Ch'ship Q/F @ 12:30pm
Saul v Downpatrick (Frank McMullan)
Teconnaught v Rostrevor (Jenny Fitzsimmons)
U-14 'C' Ch'ship Q/F @ 12:30pm
Castlewellan v Tullylish (Colleen Laverty)
Drumgath v Aghaderg (Peter McClorey)
New Mourne Trophies Junior Ch’ship S/F
Drumgath @ 3:00pm
St Michaels v Drumgath (P.J. Cunningham)
Century Electrical Wholesale Senior Ch’ship
S/F
Carryduff @ 7:00pm
Downpatrick v Bredagh (Eugene O'Hare)
Ground Coffee Sandwich Bars Ch'ship Final
St Johns @ 6:00pm
Carryduff v Kilcoo (Barry Andrews)
Results:
Century Electrical Wholesale Senior Ch’ship
S/F
Clonduff 1-12 Castlewellan 1-10
New Mourne Trophies Junior Ch’ship S/F
Shamrocks 5-08 Aughlisnafin 0-07
Intermediate League
Bright 0-04 Ballymartin 4-07
Rostrevor 2-06 Bredagh 1-07
