Reserve Football Cup Semi Final
Wednesday 2nd September 2026
Report by Niall Kelly
O`Donovan Rossa 1-11 Con Magee’s Glenravel 0-10
O’Donovan Rossa edged out a battling Glenravel side on a dull, humid Wednesday evening at Pairc Rossa, booking their place in this year’s Reserve showpiece. Having recently met in the Senior Championship only ten days prior, these two have been familiar foes and the game panned out as such in what was a tight affair. Peter Byrne’s major in the seventh minute proved the decisive factor in a game that was in the melting pot throughout the sixty. Conal McDonald was the provider in chief for the hosts tallying 0-06 over the hour with Aidan O’Donnell matching the same scoring feat for the men from the tenth glen.
Rossa drew first blood on the fourth minute with McDonald getting the scoreboard ticking over thanks to a fine point. With their tails up in the early exchanges, the hosts capitalised as Peter Byrne rattled into the onion bag finishing off an impressive solo run from midfield.
Aidan O’Donnell responded in superb fashion for the men in green with a long range free to raise the orange flag. McDonald and O’Donnell once more cancelled each other out with the later sending over yet another spectacular two-pointer keeping the deficit to the minimum midway through the half.
As Chris Brown’s half-time whistle approached, it was Rossa who finished the half the stronger of the two with James Aughey and McDonald seeing their efforts split the posts. Ruairi McDonagh then found his bearings as he fired over the first of two for the evening in response to yet another O’Donnell point to leave the scores 1-05 to 0-05 in favour of the hosts at the interval
The second half saw spills and slips aplenty on the greasy surface as both sides sought to take the initiative. It was the Con Magee’s who started brighter this time as O’Donnell pointed from a close range free before Cormac McKeown narrowed the gap to a single score firing over a beauty off the outside of his right foot in what was arguably the score of the game.
Perhaps this provided the catalyst for Rossa to flex their attacking muscle again hitting two on the bounce with corner back Setanta McDonnell and James Aughey raising the white flag. When Fergus Donaghy fisted over on the forty fifth minute, it seemed as though a comeback could be on the cards for the visitors but an excellent two-pointed free from marksman in chief, McDonald, proved to be vital as Rossa now had an insurance point with their lead now at four with ten minutes left on the clock.
Joe Martin hit back with a clever effort of his own before Aidan McCafferty rolled back the years with a fine score. However, Rossa remained composed and saw out the game on the front foot with McDonald and McDonagh rounding off the evening’s scoring with the light dimming in the early Autumn evening.
Teams:
Rossa:
M McEnhill; J McGurk, E Flavin, S McDonell (0-01;) J Morris, P Moyes, M McKernan; D Morgan, P Byrne (1-00;) R Grant, R McDonagh (0-02,) D Boylan; F McDonnell, C McDonald (0-06 1tp & 0-04,) J Aughey (0-02)
Glenravel:
C O’Loan; E Carey, C McIlhatton, N Dickson; L McQuillan, SP McKenna, C Henry; F Hodgson, S McAuley; J Martin (0-01,) S Óg O’Neill, A O’Donnell (0-06 – 2tp & 0-02;) C McKeown (0-01,) D Higgins, F Donaghy (0-01,)
Substitute Scorer:
A McCafferty (0-01)
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