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Burt reach Junior semi final
23.09.11
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Burt...4-9 Naomh Pádraig...0-7 Report: Inishowen Independent BURT are into the Junior A semi final after comfortably defeating Muff, last year’s beaten finalists, in this first round play-off in Buncrana last Saturday evening. Three first half goals paved the way for Burt’s win, but Muff will regret the manner in which all three were conceded. Burt’s first goal came on 13 minutes when the keeper misjudged a mis-kicked effort from Martin Donaghey and the ball bounced into the net. Burt were awarded a 20th minute penalty for a foot block on Enda McDermott and the dual star picked himself up to finish smartly to the net for his side’s second. The third came after Muff were penalised for breaking the line from a sideline kick deep in their defence; Burt won the resulting throw-in and the move ended with Enda McDermott finding the net for the second time in six minutes. Leading by 3-4 to 0-4 at half time, Burt had only to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half and they were able to do that, putting the game beyond any doubt with a well-worked Joe Boyle goal in the 51st minute and they had 14 points to spare over their neighbours at the end. |
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Burt will play Red Hugh’s
in the semi final, while Naomh Pádraig must now
concentrate on gaining promotion from Division 4. Muff played with the advantage of the wind in the first half, and Burt lined out with their customary defensive formation that saw nominal forwards Mickey McCann, Rory Grant and Paddy McDermott all withdraw into defence. Joe Boyle drew first blood for Burt with a ninth minute free and Damian Diver responded for Muff with an excellent point from the right wing. But Muff couldn’t get Diver on the ball often enough and they found scores hard to come by. While they started the game well enough, the goals came as hammer blows from which they never recovered. |
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Burt’s first goal came on
13 minutes when Martin Donaghey kicked a hopeful ball
goalwards. Christy Lynch came off his line but
hesitated, and the ball bounced high off the greasy
surface and went over the Muff keeper and into the net.
Boyle added another point before Brendan McColgan
pointed when his long range shot was allowed to bounce
over the Burt crossbar. Enda McDermott and Ciaran Dowds combined to set up Boyle for another point before Burt were awarded a penalty when Enda McColgan executed an illegal foot block on Enda McDermott. McDermott took the penalty himself, hitting the ball to the right while the keeper dived left. Diver hit his second, and Muff’s third, point, but his side was hit with a third sucker punch on 26 minutes. A Muff defender was penalised for stepping onto the pitch while taking a sideline kick. Kevin McDermott won the resulting throw in and the ball found its way to his brother Enda who shook off his marker and finished with aplomb. Rory Grant and Diver exchanged points before the break and Burt took a 3-4 to 0-4 into the dressing room at half time. The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Burt defending in numbers and Muff unable to find a way through the blanket to create the goal chances they needed to get back into the game. Naomh Pádraig were hampered by the absence of team captain, Eunan Keaveney, and his brother Dermot: their strong running might have helped punch a hole through Burt’s blanket defence. The sides traded scores with Paddy McDermott and Damian Diver hitting two points apiece in ten minutes after half time. Eamon Reddin intercepted a clearance from the keeper to set up Joe Boyle for 49th minute point that pushed Burt ten clear and the same two players were involved in Burt’s 51st minute goal. Reddin hit a free from the 65m line high towards goal and Boyle rose high about Laurence Lynch to catch it and raced clear before hammering an unstoppable shot to the net. Paddy McDermott and Paul McHugh, with a trademark outside of the boot effort after a lung busting 50 metre run, closed out the scoring for Burt with John McLaughlin hitting a late consolation point for Muff. Burt: Stephen Gillespie; Jonathan Downey, Paul O’Brien, Mark McGavigan; Paul McHugh (0-1), Martin Donaghey (1-0), Seamie O’Donnell; Kevin McDermott, Eamon Reddin; Paddy McDermott (0-3, 1f), Mickey McCann, Rory Grant (0-1); Ciaran Dowds, Joe Boyle (1-4, 0-1f), Enda McDermott (2-0, 1-0 penalty). Subs: Niall Campbell for C. Dowds (53 mins); Benny Harrigan for P. O’Brien (56 mins). Muff: Christopher Lynch; Gary McKinney, Enda McColgan, Laurence Lynch; Cathal McColgan, Raymond McLaughlin, Brendan McColgan (0-1); Martin Duffy, Gerard McColgan; Aidan Lynch, Barry Hegarty, Mark Duffy; Anthony McColgan, Damian Diver (0-5, 3f), Seanan McColgan. Subs: Charlie Molloy for G. McKinney (half time); Damian Laird for B. McColgan (40 mins); Oisin McColgan for R. McLaughlin and John McLaughlin (0-1) for B. Hegarty (46 mins). Referee: Paddy McGonagle (Buncrana) Man-of-the-match On a night when everything went right for Burt and nothing went right for Muff, all the contenders were from Ronan McLaughlin’s team. In a toss up between the full forwards Joe Boyle and Enda McDermott, it’s the former that gets the nod for his sharp eye for goal and all round play. Referee Paddy McGonagle laid down the law with an early yellow card to Paul McHugh, and kept a tight rein on the game. He rarely played advantage and whistled for 51 frees over the hour, awarding 28 to Burt and 23 to Naomh Pádraig. He showed four yellow cards to Burt, one to Naomh Pádraig and no player saw red. Move of the match One score summed up Burt perfectly. Joe Boyle won a ball in the corner and passed it back to Niall Campbell on the 20-metre line. With full forwards Boyle and McDermott marked, and with the rest of his teammates 60 yards away inside their own half, Campbell had to hold possession for several moments while waiting on reinforcements. Paddy McDermott eventually broke out of defence, took the pass from Campbell and split the posts to make it 4-8 to 0-6. What’s next? Burt will play Red Hugh’s in the Junior semi final, but their focus moves to the small ball game this weekend and the small matter of the Senior Hurling Championship final against Setanta in Letterkenny on Sunday. Muff’s focus will be the league where they sit atop Division 4 with three games remaining against Naomh Ultan, Red Hugh’s and Lifford. Tough enough opponents, but win two of those games, and Naomh Pádraig will be promoted as league champions. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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