Drumreilly cruise past Cloone to Fresh Today Junior A semi-final spot

Maybe it is a measure of their superiority but Drumreilly didn’t appear to be working overly hard as they inflicted a 17 point defeat on hosts Cloone in the final round of group games in the Fresh Today Junior A Championship last Sunday.

Leading by four points at the break, Drumreilly simply wore down Cloone on a beautiful day in St Mary’s park, their intense tackling forcing repeated turnovers that eventually led to an avalanche of scores including two goals in the final seven minutes of action.

That ability to strip the ball from the grasp of Cloone players and immediately launch dangerous counter-attacks proved crucial for Drumreilly’s progress but they were also helped by a profiligate Cloone attack that created chances but didn’t take enough to truly test the visitors.

Perhaps the fact that both teams were already locked into their finishing positions meant that neither team was going full gas but Drumreilly would surely have liked a tougher test while the way Drumreilly bossed them in the second half won’t do much for Cloone’s confidence ahead of next Sunday’s quarter final against Kiltubrid in Carrigallen.

Drumreilly will wait to see who they will face but Aughnasheelin, as group 1 winners, are off the list of potential opponents in the semi-final with the destination of the Junior A crown still very much up for grabs at this stage.

Darren Keegan opened the scoring with a fine point but Drumreilly’s response gave an indication of the task facing Cloone as Peter Prior soloed in from midfield and finished low to the corner of the Cloone net.

Brian Mulvey and Ben Hueston swapped points before Keegan got his second under pressure but Drumreilly edged further ahead with points from Conor Edwards and Ben Hueston and when Stephen Meissner fired over on the 15 minute mark, Drumreilly led by four points.

Conor Keegan landed two points for Cloone, either side of a Conor Gaffney free for Drumreilly, before good work from Darragh McNiffe set up Graeme Taylor for a fisted point. It could have been worse for Cloone had Michael McGuinness not made a superb save to deny Ben Hueston a certain goal as the visitors led 1-6 to 0-5 at the break.

If hopes were high that the game would continue to be tight in the second half, Drumreilly set about dismantling that notion, Conor Edwards landing a point inside the opening minute of the second half. The scores weren’t flowing but a throw-ball for a delay of a Cloone kickout led to a Andrew McNiffe point.

McGuinness put a two point free attempt wide as did Peter Prior for Drumreilly but gaps were beginning to open, Stephen Meissner and Darragh McNiffe landing scores after strong runs. Sean Bohan got Cloone’s first score of the second half after 45 minutes but Conor Gaffney took a pass from sub Jimmy Holohan to cancel it.

Drumreilly were lucky not to see Conor Edwards walk for striking out at Cloone’s Niall Keegan and even when Peter Prior swung his arm after winning a free, he escaped sanction with Gaffney tapping over the free.

Jimmy Holohan showed all his wiles when winning an errant Cloone kickout to set up Ben Hueston for a point and the supply line delivered a second Drumreilly goal on 56 minutes, Holohan tapping down a high ball into the area for Hueston to drive to the net.

Dylan Maguire and Conor Edwards added points before Jimmy Holohan set up Ray Fee for a close range goal, Cloone’s Sean Bohan closing the scoring with an injury time point as Drumreilly cruised into the semi-finals.

DRUMREILLY

Scorers: Ben Hueston 1-3; Conor Gaffney (2f) & Conor Edwards 0-3 each; Peter Prior & Ray Fee 1-0 each; Stephen Meissner 0-2; Andrew McNiffe, Dylan Maguire, Darragh McNiffe & Graeme Taylor 0-1 each

Team: Matthew Morris, Daniel Hueston, Damian Mitchell, Jack Donohue, Andrew McNiffe, Archie O’Connor, Peter Prior, Dylan Maguire, Stephen Meissner, Jack Hueston, Conor Edwards, Ben Hueston, Darragh McNiffe, Grame Taylor, Conor Gaffney. Subs: Nigel Maguire for Taylor (44); Jimmy Holohan for D McNiffe (45); Ronan McCartin for Mitchell (47); Ray Fee for J Hueston (50); Declan Maxwell for B Hueston (55)

CLOONE

Scorers: Conor Keegan, Darren Keegan & Sean Bohan 0-2 each; Brian Mulvey 0-1

Team: Michael McGuinness, Michael Tiernan, Dara Tiernan, Cathal Donohue, Niall Keegan, Declan Brennan, Eoghan McNamara, Brian Donohue, Michael Cunningham, Conor Keegan, Niall Quinn, Kevin McNamara, Darren Keegan, Sean Bohan, Brian Mulvey. Sub: Colin McNamara for Quinn (HT); Thomas Casey for D Brennan (35); Aaron McCrann for Cunningham (40)

Referee: Seamus Mulhern