Morgan Fuels Down SFC round three
Warrenpoint 0-12 Ballyholland Harps 2-7
BALLYHOLLAND Harps are into the quarter-finals of the Down championship at the expense of Warrenpoint after a thrilling second-half performance.
A four-minute blitz, during which they scored four points in as many minutes, had put Warrenpoint in a decent position going in at half-time in Pairc Esler
There wasn’t much between the teams for the opening minutes and the sides were level on three separate occasions. The game needed someone to take control and Ballyholland’s Ryan Connolly tried to do just that, only for Ruairi McGivern’s perfectly timed block to deny him.
Ruairi McCormack had only a sniff of chance when he fired the ‘Point ahead and it wasn’t even 60 seconds later when Sean O’Hare doubled the lead. Two minutes later, they were four clear with young Callan Morgan and McAleenan on target.
Seamus Loughran converted his and Ballyholland’s fourth score to close the gap but Harps needed to do more in attack if to turn the game around in the second half (0-7 to 0-4).
And that is exactly what they did. By the fourth quarter, they had edged ahead with goals from goalkeeper Aodhan Furlong, who punched in after Loughran’s incisive pass, and then Loughran himself, who danced between three defenders before lashing into the net.
That put Harps one point in front as McCormack and McAleenan had been on target for CPN, but the Harps tails were up and points followed from Connolly and Cathal Rushe before Aaron Joe Magee ended a 20-minute barren spell for Warrenpoint with a fine score.
Mark Walsh and O’Hare traded scores before McAleenan’s fifth converted free left a point between the sides with the first of five additional minutes played. It was a frantic finish but the Harps held on to their lead to advance.
Scorers
Warrenpoint D McAleenan 0-5f; R McCormack & S O’Hare 0-2 each; AJ Magee, C Morgan & J Elmore 0-1 each
Ballyholland S Loughran 1-4 (0-4f); A Furlong 1-0; R Connolly, C Rushe & M Walshe 0-1 each
