Morgan Fuels Down SHC round four
Ballygalget 0-23 v 1-17 Portaferry
PORTAFERRY suffered a shock loss in the fourth round of the Morgan Fuels Down SHC as Ballygalget, the surprise package of the season, kept their 100 per cent record.
The Ards derby was the clash of the top two sides in the series so far this season with Ballygalget having already pulled off a shock in the first round of fixtures when they beat Ballycran 1-23 to 1-17 at home.
Last year’s Down champions and Ulster semi-finalists Portaferry seemed to shade it in the first 15 minutes but ‘Galget produced a massive second quarter, scoring 13 and only conceding three points and going into the half with nine points over the favourites.
Portaferry rallied back slightly in the third quarter, pulling back a couple of scores and looking to rescue their perfect start to the season and tighten their grip on the title they have held for three out of the last four seasons.
However, despite a goal from Tom McGrattan, they were unable to overturn the deficit and had their first championship defeat of the year dished out to them.
Ballygalget are now guaranteed to top the group and play the fourth-placed team in the semi-final, leaving the holders with a repeat of the last six finals against Ballycran.
Carryduff 1-11 v 2-24 Ballycran
BALLYCRAN kept their push for a seventh straight final appearance with a convincing win over Carryduff.
The black and amber started well, scoring a goal after six minutes and never really letting up from there.
By the halfway point, they were five points to the good with a scoreline of 2-10 to 1-8 and Ballycran were already looking like they had their eyes fixed on the knock-out phase of the competition.
In the second half, it was more of the same, but the defence from the visitors was the key attraction as the Ards side held Carryduff scoreless in the second half for 20 minutes.
Nine scores in the last 10 minutes reflected the gulf in class between the two sides and the gulf in sides from east and west of the Ards Peninsula.
Bredagh 3-21 Liatroim Fontenoys 3-20
A GOAL at the start of injury-time from substitute Ryan Curran put Bredagh ahead in this tie for the first time and the south Belfast club held out for a victory few would have anticipated beforehand.
Liatroim were favourites to pick up their second victory and the evening got off to a good start for them when Pearse Óg McCrickard was dragged to the ground in the fourth minute and Déaglán Murphy buried the penalty.
Although Bredagh hit back to make it 1-2 to 0-4 by the 10th minute, Tiarnán Murphy’s goal opened a gap and points from the McCrickard brothers made it 2-4 to 0-4.
However, Déaglán Murphy picked up a straight red card for an incident involving an umpire in the 17th minute and although his brother Tiarnán responded with a 23rd-minute goal to make it 3-6 to 0-5 he too was to retire injured before the break.
Bredagh were on the ascendancy after the red card. Jarlath McCollum lifted them with a goal and there was a flurry of points before the break, by which stage the gap had been narrowed to 3-9 to 1-11.
The second half turned into a scoring battle between Pearse Óg McCrickard, who hit eight points, seven from frees, and Bredagh’s free-takers Ben Christie (five) and Tiarnán Sheehan (two).
In the midst of that, Dónal Hughes added a 40th-minute goal to bring the teams level. McCrickard kept edging his side ahead and when Chris Kelly-McEvoy and DJ Farrell chipped in with points they had opened a gap of three points with five minutes remaining.
However Bredagh, who were guilty of some bad shooting at times, finished strongly and Curran’s goal made the difference.
Scorers
Bredagh B Christie 0-8 (0-5f); J McCollum & D Hughes 1-2 each; R Curran 1-0; T Sheehan 0-3 (0-2), E Kennedy 0-2, O McFlynn (f), L Hogan, C McMullan & N McFarland 0-1 each.
Liatroim P Óg McCrickard 0-12 (0-9f); T Murphy 2-0; D Murphy 1-0 pen; C McCrickard 0-3; DJ Farrell 0-2; PJ McComiskey, E McCrickard & C Kelly-McEvoy 0-1 each
