Leadon Timber Frames Ulster Minor club Hurling Cup semi-final
Friday 2pm in Ballinascreen
Bredagh (Down) v Glenariffe-Glenravel (Antrim)
Glenariffe-Glenravel, who been inactive since winning the Antrim Minor Championsip back in late September, face a tough challenge tomorrow in Ballinascreen when they take on Down champions Bredagh in the semi-final of the Leadon Timber Frames Ulster Minor Hurling Cup semi-final.
St Killian’s run to the final of the Mageean cup will of course be a benefit as a good number of the panel were members of the Glenariffe-Glenravel team that qualified for the Ballinascreen tournament by beating Dunloy in the Antrim final in Armoy back on September 29th in Armoy.
Orrin O’Connor who played a starring role when his team beat Dunloy in the Antrim final
Apparently the team have trained regularly since that Antrim win, but it has no doubt been disjointed because of the Mageean Cup involvement.
One consolation is of course their opponents will be in similar position. Bredagh secured the Down minor title, their third in a row, with a win over Ballygalget in mid-September at Páirc Esler in Newry. They have been a formidable force for the past couple of years and the fact that they ran the reigning Ulster champions Dunloy to a single point in last year’s decider is an indication of just how good they are.
Glenariffe-Glenravel will go into the game as slight favourites, but they will have to be at their best to overcome a very stiff hurdle.
FonaCAB Ulster Minor Football Tournament , semi-final
Fr Rocks 0-08-1-12 Four Masters
Kevin Herron reports from Pairc Naomh Pol
Four Masters sealed their place in the FonaCAB Ulster Minor Football Tournament final for the third year in a row with a 1-12 to 0-08 win over Fr Rock’s, Cookstown in their semi-final clash on the Shaws Road this afternoon.
Theo Colhoun netted the games only goal a minute from the end of normal time to wrap up the win and ensure the holders will return to West Belfast in 6-days time hoping to defend the crown they won at the beginning of 2024.
They were fastest from the traps with Oisin Doherty swinging over from an acute angle and Thomas Lenehan intercepting Kevin Muldoon’s pass and popping it over.
Lorcan McMurray replied for Cookstown when Eoin Long’s mark looked to be tailing wide until he gathered, and despite his initial effort coming off the large post McMurray converted at the second time of asking and would tie up the scores two minutes later.
A foul on Jack McElhone allowed Eoin Long to nudge Fr Rocks ahead for the first time- though Conor Gallagher McCahill produced an outstanding score almost instantly and a converted Oisin Doherty free had the Champions back in the ascendancy.
McCahill doubled his account for the half with another fine attempt that sailed over but Four Masters would need to negotiate 10 minutes a man light when Kevin Muldoon was black carded for a pull-down in the middle of the field.
The numerical dis-advantage didn’t hinder his team however and by the time Muldoon returned to proceedings his side were an extra point ahead thanks to Callum McCrea’s point.
McCrea closed out the half with another score to ensure the holders were primed for their third final appearance on the spin, leading 0-07-0-03 at the midway point.
Fr Rocks started the second period on the front-foot with four of the first five scores to reduce the deficit to the bare minimum.
Eoin Long converted a free and Karol Wawrynkiewicz shot over between a Conor Gallagher McCahill point for Four Masters.
A close range Lorcan McMurray free was followed minutes later by a fine Michael Lennon point to make it 0-08-0-07.
Four Masters steadied things again thanks to a converted mark from Thomas Lenehan in his last act before departing and Tomas Carr clipped over an angled point at the near post midway through the second half.
Scores were traded as Yasin Baba’s point was cancelled out by Conor Gallagher McCahill’s converted free following a foul on Tiarnan McBride.
McCahill kicked his fifth of the afternoon to stretch his sides lead back to four and the insurance score arrived a minute from time.
Kevin Muldoon saw his shot parried by Sean Og Quinn, Theo Colhoun saw his follow-up blocked before poking to the net at the second time of asking to ensure his sides place in the New Year’s Day decider.
Things went from bad to worse for Fr Rocks when substitute Charlie Hawker was dismissed for an off the ball incident in added time. It would make little difference to the outcome however as Four Masters deservedly advanced to Wednesday’s final against Magherafelt.
Fr Rocks Cookstown: S Og Quinn, S Corrigan, D McHugh, S McElkearney, C Mulligan, K Wawrynkiewicz (0-1), M Lennon (0-1), L Neeson, Y Baba (0-1), J McElhone, L McMurray (0-3, 0-1f), C Sheehy, S Devlin, E Long (0-2f), C Ward. Subs: C Hawker for C Ward (29), C Ward for C McElkearney (59).
Four Masters: L McCaughan, T Lenehan (0-2, 0-1m), D McGinty, E O’Neill, C Gavigan, C McCrea (0-2), A Quinn, Tomas Carr (0-1), T Colhoun (1-0), P McGonagle, Turlough Carr, K Muldoon, C Gallagher McCahill (0-5, 0-1f), T McBride, O Doherty (0-2, 0-1f). Subs: D Griffin for T Lenehan (41), A McHugh for C Gavigan (53), T McGovern for P McGonagle (60+2).
Referee: Colm McDonald (Naomh Gall)
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Four Masters (Donegal) v Fr. Rocks Cookstown (Tyrone)
Reigning Ulster fonaCAB holders, Four Masters will start as firm favourites when they take on Fr. Rocks, Cookstown in Thursday’s semi-final of the St. Paul’s tournament at Shaw’s Road.
A win for the Donegal champions would set up a repeat of last year’s decider against Magherafelt but before that there is the considerable hurdle of the Derry champions to overcome.
It took extra time to separate the Tyrone champions and Mayobridge in the quarter-final as Fr. Rocks made their bow in the tournament against the Down representatives who had already negotiated a preliminary Round encounter.
The Tyrone champions showed great battling qualities with Mayobridge looking to have nicked it late, but the Cookstown club forced the additional time and there was no looking back from there as they built a wind-assisted lead to dominate the final 10 minutes.
Mayobridge played against the breeze in the opening half but they got off to the perfect start as a long ball from Patrick Woods saw Gary Clerkin turn his marker and place Daire O’Keefe to finish to the net.
With the wind behind them in extra time, the Tyrone champions would avail of the advantage with five points on the spin in the first period – two apiece from Karol Wawrynkiewicz and Long (one free) that sandwiched a McMurray score.
A Clerkin point reduced it to 0-18 to 1-11 at the turnaround, but despite the wind advantage for the final 10 minutes, Mayobridge couldn’t turn it around.
They will face a step up in class on Thursday as they face reigning champions, Four Masters. The Donegal Town side won the tournament last year when the age group was U17 and have returned to action with virtually the same side in this year’s tournament which has been changed back to U18.
2023 Ulster Minor holders Four Masters survived the first assault on their crown as they saw off Monaghan Champions Scotstown 3-07-3-06 in their quarter-final clash.
The Donegal kingpins settled into their stride when Callum McCrea broke out of defence and switched to Turlough Carr- he returned a pass to McCrea and in turn feed late replacement Thomas Lenehan to slam home inside of two minutes.
They certainly didn’t get it all their own way against a Scotstown side who pushed them right down to the wire despite leading 2-5 to 1-4 at the interval.
A grandstand finish was on the cards though as Scotstown battled back and hit their third goal in the 53rd minute.
Darragh Keenan bustled his way into a shooting position and sent a bullet of a shot to the net to reduce the deficit to the bare minimum again.
The holders hung on to book their place in the St Stephens Day semi-final against Fr. Rocks and look favourites to advance to their third final in three years but the Cookstown side can take a lot of encouragement from the Scotstown performance.
Magherafelt’s Cathir Spiers cuts through the Clann Eireann defence to score his team’s opening goal
A strong first half performance did the trick as Magherafelt held off Clann Éireann off in Belfast on Sunday to book their spot in the Ulster minor final on New Year’s Day.
They’ll play the winners of the other semi-final between Four Masters and Coosktown who meet on St Stephen’s Day.
A gale force wind blowing across the pitch favoured the Rossa side in the first half. They bagged the game’s first goal. Cathir Spiers cut through the Lurgan defence before hammering to the net for a 1-2 to 0-0 lead with 10 minutes gone.
Kian Maynes and Lorcan Higgins kicked Magherafelt seven clear before Clann Éireann scored.
When it came, it was a much-needed goal. Daire Whitmarsh kept a Cohen Henderson cross in play before beating Campbell with a precise finish at the near post.
A three-minute burst put Magherafelt firmly back the driving seat. With Clann Éireann struggling to secure the ball from their kick-outs, Maynes and Beattie tagged on points.
When Cathair Kerr won a third kick-out, he played in Callum Leacock who blasted to the net.
It got even better for Magherafelt when Conall Higgins was fouled for a late penalty. He took the kick himself to notch a third goal to give Rossa a 3-7 to 1-1 lead.
A high ball into the Magherafelt defence forced a double save from Campbell in the opening minutes of the second-half before Henderson fired over the bar.
With seven minutes gone, Clann Éireann added their second goal after the game’s second penalty. Up stepped Henderson who was denied by Campbell before poking home the rebound.
With nine points between the sides, Clann Éireann went down to 14 men after Adam Furphy’s 41st minute black card.
Magherafelt, beaten by eventual champions Four Masters last year, never looked in any trouble with Finn Campbell and Tiarnan McDonald tagging on late Clann Éireann points.
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