U21 B Football Championship semi-final
Creggan 1-13 Lamh Dhearg 1-7
Kickham’s Creggan finished strongly to earn their place in the U21 B Football Championship final when they overcame the challenge of Lamh Dhearg at their Staffordstown Road ground on Sunday.
The Kickham’s led 1-5 to 0-4 at the short whistle thanks to a goal from Shea McCann in the 12th minute but the introduction of Patrick Tumelty to the visitor’s ranks for the second half threatened to turn the game on its head.
The bustling Tumelty pointed with his first touch of the ball in the 2nd minute to bring the Hannastown side to life with Creggan keeper Joel Dudley then pulling off a good save to deny Evan Stanley.
Tumelty brought the travelling support to their feet as he pointed the resulting ‘45’ and a pointed free from Adam Murray closed the gap to one with only 8 minutes of the half gone and Creggan looked in a spot of bother.
The visitor wouldn’t score again until late in the game as a Fintan Close pointed free in the 13th minute finally opened the home side’s second half account and seemed to settle them and they would push on to win convincingly in the end.
Shea McCann, Fintal Close, Sean Duffin 0-2 and Conor Johnston were the Creggan first half point scorers with Cian Graffin kicking three for the visitors and Fegan Lappin getting the other Lamh Dhearg first half point.
Fintan Close’s second half opener saw the home side take advantage of some wayward tackling from the visitors which resulted in a stream of pointed frees from Shea McCann 0-3, Conor Johnston 0-3 and fine effort from play by substitute Ronan McGuckian.
Lamh Dhearg were struggling to get back in touch following that early second half burst but they kept going right to the end and were finally rewarded for their efforts when Fionn Mervyn climbed above the pack in a crowded goalmouth to fist a Patrick Tumelty free to the net.
A good win in the end for the South West side who had sharp forwards in Shea McCann, Conor Johnston and Fintan Close while Sean Duffin drove them forward with some strong running and Odhran Hampsey, Liam McLarnon and Sean McAuley were solid in defence.
The Kickham’s now meet Cuchullian’s Dunloy, who defeated Tir na nOg in the other semi-final and on the evidence of today’s encounters it should prove to be an interesting final with both sides looking impressive.
Kickham’s Creggan: 1 Joel Dudley, 2 Paedar McGuckian, 3 Odhran Hampsey, 4 Caolan Hughes, 5 Liam McLarnon, 6 Sean McAuley, 7 Anton Martin, 8 Aidan McIlwee, 9 Tristan McCann, 10 Fintan Close, 11 Sean Duffin, 12 Oisin McAteer, 13 Shea McCann, 14 Cian Graffin, 15 Conor Johnston, Subs: 19 |Ronan McGuckian
Lamh Dhearg: 1 Oisin Devlin, 2 Corey Camin, 3 Declan Young, 4 Odhran Lee, 5 Sean McCarthy, 6 Niall McGarry, 7 Rudi Smith, 8 Ciaran Boyd, 9 Fionn Mervyn, 10 Evan Stanley, 11 Fegan Lappin, 12 Eoghan Breen, 13 Eoin Campbell, 14 Adam Murray, 15 Donal Martin,
Subs: 20 Aidan Morrow, 22 Patrick Tumelty, 23 Fiachra Clenaghan, 29 Conal McGarry, 30 Aidan McCague
Referee: Paul Burns (Naomh Comhghall)
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