Morgan Fuels Down SFC semi-final
Glenn 0-10 Kilcoo 0-17
THERE were no surprises in Páirc Esler on Saturday as holders Kilcoo booked their place in the final with a seven-point win over Glenn.
Magpies manager Karl Lacey had admitted pre-match that he wasn’t familiar with the Division Three winners Glenn but the gulf in class was evident from the start.
Kilcoo led by eight at the break and had seven different scorers in that first half. They did miss a couple of goal chances, something that Lacey had aimed to rectify from the quarter-final, but it mattered little on this occasion.
“You’re never fully pleased,” said Lacey after the win.
“We could have conceded a couple of goals and we created our own couple of chances that we didn’t take either.
“So, there’s a pattern developing, but the number one thing is that we’re in the county final. We never take anything for granted. That’s one thing I’ve learned from these boys. They’re very humble and they take each day as it comes and each opposition as it comes. So we’re just very grateful and thankful that we’re into another county final.”
Jerome Johnston pointed the first of the game in the first minute but even then he knew he should have aimed lower as he held his head in his hands.
Kilcoo sent three more over the bar courtesy of Anthony Morgan, goalkeeper Niall Kane, who was on song from the dead ball, with a 45 and Daryl Branagan.
Joe Sands got the scoreboard moving for Glenn on 10 minutes, but it would be another 10 before their next point from Denis Murtagh.
Kilcoo kept the scoreboard ticking over with another Kane 45 and points from Niall and Daryl Branagan. Three more from frees by Paul Devlin, Eugene Branagan and Kane made it 0-10 to 0-2.
Right before half-time, Glenn did engineer a couple of goal chances. Cormac Clarke got on the end of a high ball into the box but his scuffed effort was parried away by Kane. The ball fell to Dylan Bagnall, whose shot was well blocked by Ryan McEvoy.
Shay Millar and Sands reduced the deficit to six after the restart and while Devlin and Morgan cancelled those scores out, Glenn were playing with more purpose and looking for goals, with Oran Byrne coming close and a poor kick-out by Kane on 42 minutes again leading to a goal opportunity that Glenn couldn’t convert.
While Glenn supporters still willed their team on with 10 minutes left on the clock, the sting was gone out of the game as Kilcoo led 0-16 to 0-7.
The Magpies, hungry as ever, were still looking for better, however, as Rooney, like Johnston at the start of the game, held his head in his hands at a wrong decision, taking a point when a goal was on.
The crowd momentarily came alive again when Millar broke just as Kilcoo introduced Down boss Conor Laverty to the fray, but as the Glenn man raced straight towards Kane his point-blank shot was straight at the Kilcoo keeper.
Matty Bagnall pointed for Glenn as soon as he came on, but Kilcoo led 0-16 to 0-9 by then and with stoppage-time looming the win was well in the bag for the Magpies, with traded scores between Eugene Branagan and Millar sealing the 0-17 to 0-10 victory.
While Ryan Johnston is still on the mend from an ankle injury, Lacey has plenty of options in his panel of 30 players and competition for places is strong.
“For example, Tiernan Fettes didn’t come on the last day and he’s played the whole league for us and he came in today,” said the manger.
“He’s fighting for a place like everyone else. It’s a great headache to have, the more headaches we have like that the better.”
Glenn J O’Hare; T O’Brien, C Cranny, D Murtagh (0-1); N Rogers, D Bagnall, P Brooks (0-1); N McParland, J McCartan (0-1,f) ; O Byrne, S Millar (0-4,2f), C Clarke; J Sands (0-2), D Carville, L Bagnall
Subs C Lyons for Byrne (47), R Byrne for Rogers (49), M McArdle for Sands (52), M Bagnall (0-1) for Carville, R O’Brien (58) for D Murtagh (58)
Kilcoo N Kane (0-3, 2 ‘45, 1f); N Branagan (0-1), M Hynes, C Rogers; M Rooney (0-1), D Branagan (0-1), E Branagan (0-3,1f); A Morgan (0-2), R McEvoy; C Rooney, A Morgan, S Johnston (0-1); J Johnston (0-2), P Devlin (0-3,1f,) C Doherty
Subs S McCusker for Rooney (44), T Fettes for Hynes (47), N Rogers for Doherty (54), C Laverty for J Johnston (54), J Devlin for P Devlin (59)
Referee Brendan Rice (Warrenpoint)
