Slick Shan' progress to last four

GAA SHAY MURTAGH PRECAST INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL QUARTER FINAL

Rodney Farry

A week after scoring 6-16, Shandonagh produced another scintillating display of attacking football to secure a place in the semi-final of the Shay Murtagh Precast Intermediate Championship at the expense of an outclassed Ballinagore side in Cusack Park on Sunday afternoon.

Last year’s Junior A champions struggled to contain Ray Sheridan’s free flowing outfit who have offensive threats all over the park. Young guns Danny Scahill, Adam Treanor and Caelum Faughnan played central roles in Shan’s comprehensive victory and were ably assisted by man of the match Luke Tynan, Eoin Conlon and top scorer Brian Kavanagh.

Ray Sheridan’s outfit, who were narrowly defeated by Tubberclair in last year’s intermediate decider, were tipped by many to go one step further this time around and the manner of their past two victories suggest that they will take a lot of stopping.

However, they still have to go out and do the business on the field and that is exactly what they did in Cusack Park on Sunday.

Shan’ went into the match as red hot favourites and were two points up within the first minute courtesy of scores from Brian Kavanagh and Tom Molloy.

Philip Reynolds opened Ballinagore’s account with a point after a patient team move, but this was quickly cancelled out by Gareth Carr’s fourth minute over.

Darragh Seery was at the heart of all that was good about Ballinagore’s play in the first quarter and he doubled his side’s tally following good work from Tommy McDaniel to leave the minimum between the sides after six minutes.

Michael Ennis’s men drew level a minute later when Philip Reynolds fired the ball over the bar after a well worked free-kick routine.

A brace of points from Brian Kavanagh, the second a free, and man of the match Luke Tynan’s first point gave Shan’ a three-point advantage as the first quarter drew to close.

Ballinagore drew level for the second time when Cathal Kelly reacted quickest to fire a shot past Cian Molloy after Brandon Carey’s effort came back off the bar. With 17 minutes on the clock, it looked as if Ballinagore were going to make a match of it, but in truth, that was as good as it got for them as Shandonagh dominated the second quarter. Shan' scored 3-4 without reply between the 17th and 29th minute to end the game as a meaningful contest. A two-point free from the accurate Kavanagh was quickly followed by goals from Caelum Faughnan and Tynan. Faughnan’s effort was somewhat fortuitous. The influential midfielder appeared to go for a point, but his effort dipped into top left-hand corner. Ballinagore netminder Cathal Daly may feel that he could have done better.

Tynan followed his emphatic close range finish with a point a minute later, before Brendan Killian scored Shan’s third goal in less than ten minutes. Killian’s close-range fisted finish came at the end of a five-man move involving Adam Treanor, Danny Scahill, Kavanagh and Boyle.

Danny Scahill and Adam Treanor’s forays into the Ballinagore defence were a feature of the match and Scahill closed Shan’s first-half account with a well-struck point at the end of another excursion up-field.

Tommy McDaniel, who was relatively quiet by his own high standards, ended a tough 30 minutes for Ballinagore on a bright note when he fired over the bar with the last kick of the first half. Half-time score: Shandonagh 3-10 Ballinagore 1-4.

A brace of early Brandon Kelly points reduced the deficit to ten points, but any hopes of an unlikely comeback were quickly dashed when Tynan fired the ball past Daly for his second goal of the game. Kavanagh kept the scoreboard ticking over for Shan' before Ballinagore scored their second goal when Eoin Robinson’s shot was deflected past Cian Molloy in the 40th minute.

After two more points from Kavanagh and Kevin Boyle, and with their victory secured, Sheridan decided to give his strong bench some game time, but sadly for Ballinagore, the scores kept coming. Between the 45th and 51st minutes, Shan' hit a further 1-4 courtesy of a goal and pointed free from Kavanagh and overs from Adam Treanor, Faughnon and substitute Ryan Donnelly.

Darragh Seery was one of Ballinagore’s best players on the day and his late goal gave the scoreboard a veneer of respectability. The centre half-back appeared to be going for a two-pointer, but his effort dipped at the last and appeared to catch Cian Molloy off guard.

Sheridan will know that his team will face a much tougher challenge in their upcoming semi-final against neighbours St Malachy’s, but they will go into the match full of confidence after another impressive display.

Scorers - Ballinagore: Darragh Seery 1-1, Eoin Robinson and Cathal Kelly 1-0 each, Brandon Carey and Philip Reynolds 0-2 each, Tommy McDaniel 0-1.

Shandonagh: Brian Kavanagh 1-8 (one 2pf, 2f), Luke Tynan 2-2, Caelum Faughnan 1-1, Brian Killian 1-0, Tom Molloy, Gareth Carr, Danny Scahill, Kevin Boyle, Adam Treanor and Ryan Donnelly 0-1 each.

Ballinagore: Cathal Daly; Conan Feery, Enda Claffey, Peter Deegan; Cathal Kelly, Darragh Seery, Robbie Keegan; Eoin Robinson, Cody Finnane; Philip Reynolds, Tommy McDaniel, Luke Seery; Colin Coleman, Paddy Ennis, Brandon Carey.

Subs: Donal Barrett for Peter Deegan (27 mins), David Keegan for Paddy Ennis (H/t), Cian Flaherty for Conan Feery (53 mins), Kieran Deegan for Luke Seery (56 mins)

Shandonagh: Cian Molloy; John Fry, Danny Scahill, Ben Treanor; Gareth Carr, Adam Treanor, Matty Scully; Caelum Faughnan, Eoin Conlon; Conor McCrossan, Brendan Killian, Luke Tynan; Tom Molloy, Brian Kavanagh, Kevin Boyle.

Subs: Ryan Donnelly for Kevin Boyle, Aaron Craig for Conor McCrossan (43 mins), Peter Reynolds for Brandon Carey (45 mins), Rory O’Brien for Eoin Conlon, Jack O’Brien for Ben Treanor (47 mins), Jake Costello for Brian Kavanagh (51 mins)

Referee: Niall Ward (Garrycastle).