Senior Football Championship semi-final replay
Lamh Dhearg v Casement’s
The Dub 8-00 Thursday
Lamh Dhearg and Portglenone cross swords again tomorrow night at the Dub. Take 1-five days ago ended in dramatic fashion with the Ports coming with a late late penalty goal from Conall Delargy to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
The Hannastown side had controlled matters from early on and led all the way and two goals in the opening quarter of an hour from Terry McCrudden and Ben Rice had the Hannahstown men leading 2-05-0-06 at the interval.
The five-point deficit separated the sides until the 48th minute when Conall Delargy found the net and despite the Lamhs restoring their advantage Patrick Kelly netted to set-up a grandstand finish to a dramatic evening.
The Casements have been no strangers to drama in this years championship and in the opening game of this year’s campaign it was they who were in the drivng seat for most of the game against St. John’s but had to rely on a late point to earn a replay.
They will look to that replay with some confidence as they go into tomorrow night’s replay and despite reservations about playing on the artificial grass at Colaiste Feirste they controlled the contest and were leading by six against the Johnnies with time almost up.
A late St. John’s goal put a better look on the scoreline for the Whiterock side but conceeding soft goals is something that the Casement’s management will surely have tried to address this week.
Lamh Dhearg will be kicking themselves for letting Saturday’s encounter slip away and with Ryan and Conor Murray, Paddy Cunningham, Terry McCrudden and Ben Rice in a sharp looking attack are unlikely to take their foot of the accelerator should they find themselves in the driving seat late in the game.
Portglenone will take great heart from last day’s ‘great escape’ and their performance against St. Johns in the previous week’s replay and in Johnny Convery, Dermot McAleese, Fergal O’Kane, Niall McKeever and the Delargy clan they have the players to push the Hannastown side right to the wire.
