OB Construction Intermediate Football Championship
Glenravel 0-14 Gort na Mona 1-01
Glenravel won this OB Construction Intermediate Football Championship quarter final fairly comfortably but both teams deserve medals for playing through numerous rain showers of biblical proportions making free flowing football impossible. Glenravel totally dominated possession in both halves with Gort’s relying on counter attacking from turnovers which did prove fruitful but only on one occasion in the first half where they got their goal. Whilst the Turf Lodge men did actually hold the lead for a period they never looked likely to create the string of scores they would have needed to threaten the men in green and white.
Eoin Hynds and Callum Higgins nudged Glenravel ahead in the opening ten minutes but a loose pass from the home side gave Gorts a counter attacking opportunity and a long ball through to Patrick McCaffrey was fired to the net to give the Belfast men the lead. Glenravel reined back control (no pun intended) as both teams’ substitutes sought shelter in the dugouts whilst the grey skies unleashed a downpour. Thoughts of Noah and his ark were more prevalent than any football game. To their credit both teams soldiered on and Glenravel started to find their range with Hynds and Higgins levelling and nudging Glenravel back into the lead before an audacious attempt from Rian Lennon almost on the end line some how found it’s way over the bar and the home side led 0-06 to 1-00. In a rare foray upfield Gort na Mona earned a forty five which their goalkeeper Thomas McCaffrey slotted over with half time almost upon us. Sadly for Gort na Mona that would be the last time they would score in this game. Conor McNeil pointed a free and referee Karol Doherty called time as both teams headed for the dry changing rooms. Glenravel leading 0-07 to 1-01.
The ferocity of the rain had subsided slightly in the second half but there was still a constant flow; indeed the half would be seven minutes old before a flag was raised. Eoin Hynds converting a free and Aiden O’Donnell did likewise four minutes later. Cormac McKeown and Cathal Hynds from distance added to the Glenravel lead and it seemed Gort na Mona’s race was run as they now trailed 0-11 to 1-01. Callum Higgins added more misery to the Belfast men and when Aiden O’Donnell’s piledriver went just over instead of under the bar the result was a forgone conclusion. With only a couple of minutes remaining Cormac McKeown burst through and his goal attempt was thwarted by the woodwork. Finally Aiden O’Donnell delivered the game’s final score and confirmed Glenravel’s berth in the semi final where they will face Sarsfields in two week’s time. Coincidentally both teams also met in last year’s semi-final so no doubt Sarfsfields will be seeking to avenge the defeat they suffered that day.
