Brilliant Annaduff blow Allen Gaels away with power packed second half

A superb second half performance from Annaduff saw them blow away Allen Gaels to book their place in the Smith Monumentals Leitrim Intermediate Championship Final for the third time in five seasons on Saturday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

Trailing by a point at the halftime break, Annaduff plundered three second half goals from Kenny Cox, Sean Quigley and Alan Glancy in a devastating 16 minute spell that saw them open up a nine point gap and turn what has been a closely fought and competitive semi-final into a virtual procession by the final whistle.

Aughnasheelin storm into Final as Kiltubrid finish with 12 players

AUGHNASHEELIN 1-8 KILTUBRID 0-5

The victory sees Annaduff back into their third final since 2018 with a radically different and much younger set of players. They face Aughnasheelin in the decider on Sunday October 23, in what is an eagerly anticipated contest.

Both Sean McNabola and Caleb Duffy hitting wides and Emmet Moran hitting the post, this game took a while to get going but Moran cut in along the endline to fist the ball over the Annaduff bar and we were up and running, Hugh Moylan benefitting from Frank Shanley’s burst to point seconds later.

Annaduff took the lead for the first time on seven minutes from a McNabola free but his one wide and it seemed as if Allen Gaels were about to take control when Ciaran Walsh saw his first shot brilliantly saved by Caolan Quigley. Annaduff couldn’t clear the ball, Walsh got the ball back and hammered home despite three Annaduff defenders trying to block his shot on nine minutes.

Crucially, the impressive Hugh Moylan scored from distance a minute later after patient Annaduff play with Caleb Duffy cutting in from the wing to respond midway through the half. It remained tit for tat for the rest of the first half - Sean Quigley pointed after a sideline ball to Jack Hughes with McNabola firing over from distance.

Ballinamore club mourns the death of one of their "greatest"

Colin Moran hit back from an Allen Gaels free but McNabola & Quigley edged Annaduff in front again with a point each in the space of a minute. A superb Ciaran McMorrow mark two minutes before halftime drew Allen Gaels level as Annaduff were hitting some costly wides.

It looked as if they would prove costly with an off-the-ball foul allowing the Gaels move the ball well up the field leading to Ciaran Walsh putting the Durmshanbo outfit into a 1-5 to 0-7 halftime lead.

The Gaels should have extended that lead when a smart passing move ending with an off-target Emmet Moran shot inside the opening 30 seconds. The cost of that miss was exacerbated when, less than half a minute later, Annaduff had the ball in the net - a long ball broke kindly and Sean McNabola won the ball.

With Kenny Cox on his shoulder, McNabola off-loaded and Cox fired to the net despite Ronan Moran’s attempt to stop the shot. Allen Gaels’ attempt at an instant response saw Ciaran Walsh fire badly wide and Kenny Cox added to his tally with a fine point on the run.

McNabola (free) and Duffy, after good work from Ciaran Walsh, swapped points but the sense that Annaduff were growing in confidence and dominance was reinforced when a superb attacking move ended with Sean Quigley palming a cross to the net after good work from Eoin Gill and Conor Reynolds.

Now Annaduff were six clear and they really took control as Allen Gaels’ confidence wilted. Jake Tobin fired over from 40 yards on 14 minutes but a McNabola point was followed by a third Annaduff goal when Alan Glancy’s delivery towards a teammate saw the ball evade both teammate and keeper to end up in the net.

Allen Gaels almost hit back with a goal of their own but the ball spilt from Ciaran Walsh’s grasp before he could get a shot away with Jake Tobin’s resulting fifty easily caught by Aaron Duignan. Annaduff continued with McNabola, Alan Glancy and sub Sean Duignan completing their tally by the 55th minute.

There was a late rally from Allen Gaels with a Ciaran Walsh free and another from Shane Beirne followed by an injury time consolation goal, Caleb Duffy fouled as he shot and Ciaran Walsh converting the penalty in the final action of the game.

Potential is there for Leitrim Gaels to win title says manager Paul Prior

ANNADUFF

Scorers: Sean McNabola 0-6, 2f; Sean Quigley 1-2; Kenny Cox & Alan Glancy 1-1 each; Hugh Moylan 0-2; Sean Duignan 0-1

Team: Caolan Quigley, Sean Gill, Dillon Keane, Frank Shanley, Eoin Gill, Hugh Moylan, Conor Reynolds, Aaron Duignan, Daniel Bosquette, Adam O’Hagan, Alan Glancy, Kenny Cox, Sean McNabola, Jack Hughes, Sean Quigley. Subs: Sean Duignan for Hughes (39); Jason Ward for Quigley (50); Shane Morrison for E Gill (54)

ALLEN GAELS

Scorers: Ciaran Walsh 2-2, 1 pen, 1f; Caleb Duffy 0-2; Ciaran McMorrow (M), Jake Tobin, Shane Beirne, Emmet Moran & Colin Moran (f) 0-1 each

Team: Ronan Moran, Kyle Flynn, Mark Gunning, David Wynne, Conor Flood, Alan Wynne, Martin Raftery, Radek Oberwan, Jake Tobin, Emmet Moran, Shane Walsh, Ciaran McMorrow, Ciaran Walsh, Caleb Duffy, Colin Moran. Subs: Shane Beirne for S Walsh (35); Brian Mulvey for McMorrow (43); Arik Oberwan for Raftery (50); Sean Lynch for C Moran (53); Ryan Higgins for E Moran (58)

Referee: Gareth Foley