Match Reports Sunday 4th May
Clubman Shirts League Cup Final
Cockhill Celtic 1
Clonmany Shamrocks 0
In glorious conditions at Maginn Park on Sunday afternoon Clonmany Shamrocks upset the favourites Cockhill Celtic with an Aaron Poter goal in the 76th minute settling this entertaining contest.In the early exchanges Jay Bradley headed a Fionn McClure cross over while at the other end a Terence Doherty header from a Shane
McCaul cross was easily gathered by Harry Doherty. Cockhill then had a good spell with a Damien Duffy free headed clear by a defender before the same player saw a left footed effort saved at his right hand post by Kieran Friel. The best chance of the half ell to Clonmany in the 19th minute after a superb cross from McCaul on the right found Terence Doherty around the penalty spot but he opted to take a touch when he would have been better to shoot first time and the chance was lost. On the half hour another vrilliant run from McCaul took him to the edge of the area where he laid the ball to the right for Terence Doherty whose angled effort was well turned behind by Harry Doherty. From the corner Gareth Bradleys header was well saved by the keeper at his right hand post. Cockhill had the final chance of the half after a Stephen Duffy effort on the edge of the area was blocked but his follow up went badly off target. Cockhill upped the tempo on the restart forcing the Clonmany defenders deeper . Two minutes after the break Damien Duffy had an effort deflected wide before Lee McColgans powerful header from a corner rattled the crossbar. Cockihll continued on top and Luke Rudden curled an effort wide before Jay Bradley unleashed a long range effort which Friel gathered at the second attempt. Against the run of play Clonmany broke forward and when Ryan McColgan got the bounce of the ball his mis hit effort from the edge of the area found Aaron Porter at the back post to slot low past Doherty.Cockhill laid siege to the Clonmany goal at this stage and substitute Garbhan Friel volleyed over before a jay Bradley header was well tipped over by Friel. Another substitute Corey McBride floated in a free to the back post where Bradley just failed to connect while both Friel and Lee McColgan had efforts saved by Friel. On the stroke of full time Cockhill had another great chance after another substitute Brendan Mclaughlin floated a ball over the Clonmany defender where McBrides superb first touch saw him slide the ball inched wide under pressure from both a defender and Friel. Clonmany saw out the remaining minutes to claim the cup.
MAN Of THE MATCH
As always there were good performances on both sides. For the runners up Lee McColgan, Jack Doherty and Jay Bradley were always prominent while for the winners Shane McCaul, Kieran Friel and Jamie McKinney were to the fore. However on the day the award goes to Clonmanys experienced central midfielder Paddy Doherty who had a superb game throughout with his workrate , challenges and good distribution driving his team forward.
Clonmany
Cockhill
Hannon Greene Insurances Fr O Gara Cup Semi Finals
Moville Celtic 1
QPS 4
In excellent conditions at Glencrow the game started in a very even fashion. Moville were the first to threaten when a ball over the top from Lee McColgan saw Luke McFadden get clear down the left but his effort, which beat the keeper, came back off the bar. Conor Lafferty then saw a shot fly wide of the right hand post after being set up by Michael McNaught. QPS came into the game and scored with their first shot on goal. Darragh McIntyre took advantage of a defensive mix up to score from ten yards after Josh Boyle had done well to get the ball into the box. They almost doubled the lead a minute later but Mark Murray saw his header from eight yards out fly wide of the post from an Oisin McIntyre cross. Moville finished the first half the stronger. Norbert Indyka seeing an overhead kick miss the target. The second half saw QPS start well. Oisin McCool had a shot off target from twenty five yards followed by Lee Barr dragging a free kick just wide. They increased their lead midway through the half after Josh Boyle saw his shot well saved by Evan Hudner but from the rebound, Oisin McIntyre made no mistake from six yards out. Moville to their credit kept battling and reduced the deficit soon after. Daniel McFadden had his header cleared off the line from Indyka’s corner, but the ball fell to Lee McColgan who lashed home from ten yards. Moville pressed for the equaliser but from QPS next venture forward, they made three one. DJ Canavan rose highest to head home an Oisin Mcintyre corner despite the best efforts of Hudner. The contest was ended soon after when Darragh Barron was upended in the box and from the resulting penalty Barron fired low into the bottom left corner as QPS advance to the Fr. O’Gara final.
Moville
QPS
Sea Rovers 3
Carn Res 1
Division Two A winners Sea Rovers welcomed local rivals Carn to Gortnamullin on Sunday morning and they got off to a great start when a Conor McCloskey cross was met by Andrew Gallagher to fire low to the net from
fifteen yards past Carn keeper Ben Miller. They doubled their lead midway through the half after a great run and cross from Daniel Gallagher was superbly finished by Declan McGonagle. But the visitors got themselves back into the game before the break when the ball broke on the edge of the area to Davin McLaughlin who fired to the roof of the net past Marc McLaughlin. The home side began the second half well and were unlucky to see a Michael Glackin effort cleared off the line. Midway through the half good approach play from Darragh O Connor took him past two defenders before laying the ball off for McCloskey to drill low to the net from twelve yards. Carn tried hard to get back into the game but found the home defence in top form. In the final minute Conor Kelly for the home side was denied by a fine save from Miller as Rovers advance to the final.
Sea Rovers
Inishowen Engineering Division Two A
Cockhill Res 4
Clonmany Res 1
Although there was nothing riding on the final league match of the season for either side this proved to be a very lively and entertaining affair in great conditions at the Charlie O’Donnell Sports Ground.Both teams, fielding some good young talent, settled well and it was not long before both keepers were called into action. Clonmany could have taken an early lead on a few occasions but Cockhill keeper, Darragh O’Donnell, made some quality blocks to deny Jake and Niall O’Donnell. At the other end Clonmany keeper Torin Harkin did well to tip a Christy Doyle effort over the bar and showed strong hands to block a fine strike from Finn O’Toole. Clonmany finally broke the deadlock on 20 minutes. Logan McDaid made a good break down the right wing and his cross was turned home with a neat first time finish by Thomas Comiskey. Cockhill levelled things up five minutes later after a quick break. Cahir McDaid played Joe Lavery down the right and his first time cross found Cockhill’s top goalscorer twelve yards yards out and Niall Breslin made no mistake turning quickly and hit the ball on the spin to find the bottom corner. In a similar move Cockhill were ahead just before halftime. Joe Lavery was again played in down the right and he delivered a great cross into the box for Breslin who finished first time past Harkin with a beautifully controlled volley finding the far corner, capping off a fine flowing move. The second half started in a similar vein to the first, both keepers pulling off great saves to keep the score down. Midway through the second half though, Cockhill stretched their lead. Tiarnan Moran was teed up thirty yards out by Cahir McDaid and the Cockhill captain unleashed a fierce strike giving Torin Harkin no chance as the ball glanced in off the post.
The young Clonmany side kept coming and creating chances and were given a chance to reduce the deficit from the penalty spot. After a scramble in the box a Cockhill player was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box. Rolling back the years on the day, Kevin Harkin took the responsibility but he saw his well hit penalty superbly saved by Darragh O’Donnell. Cockhill put the game to bed with 10 minutes remaining with a swift counter. Shayne Gallagher found space in the box and squared the ball to his strike partner Breslin who completed his hat-trick from six yards out for his 35th goal of a hugely impressive season from the big man. The scoreline was harsh on the young Clonmany side who created plenty of chances throughout but found Cockhill keeper Darragh O’Donnell in fine form. As both teams tired in the final minutes in the warm conditions the last chance of the match fell to Cockhill’s Finn O’Toole who’s snap shot on the turn from ten yards was again well saved by Harkin in the Clonmany net, tipping the ball round the post at full stretch.
The young Cockhill side saw out the final few minutes to finish the season with their 16th win from their last 17 league games, going undefeated in the league since early October, as they now look to challenge themselves in Division One next season after clinching promotion in the playoff last weekend.