Christy Ring & Lory Meagher Cup Round-Ups: The Backdoor GAA – November 1 2020

Christy Ring & Lory Meagher Cup Round-Ups: Down And Kildare Through To Ring Semi-Finals; Fermanagh Advance To Meagher Decider

By Daire Walsh

Down and Kildare advanced to the semi-final stage of the Christy Ring Cup courtesy of their respective weekend victories over Derry and Wicklow.

At Ballycran on Saturday, Down were 1-13 to 0-13 winners over Ulster rivals Derry. This was the second competitive clash between these two teams in the space of 13 days, following their Division 2B league final clash at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh on October 18.

On that occasion, Eoghan Sands and Pearse Óg McCrickard goals helped the Mourne County to claim the silverware (and a spot in Division 2B) on a scoreline of 2-16 to 0-17. While Derry had revenge on their minds, Down took great confidence from their recent win against the Oaf Leaf men.

With just 16 minutes gone on the clock, Down led by four points (0-5 to 0-1) thanks in no small part to the dead-ball prowess of Oisín MacManus. There was a number of tactical tweaks to the Derry team for this game, in comparison to how they lined out in that league showpiece.

It took a while for their system to take hold but with wing-back Mark Craig coming to life, their arrears had been reduced to two points (0-7 to 0-5) in time for the interval. Just two minutes after the resumption, Conor Kelly landed a score from long-distance to move them back on level terms.

They remained inseparable as the whistle was blown for the second half water break (0-9 each) and Derry used this intermission to launch a major push for supremacy. Mark McGuigan and Cormac O’Doherty were beginning to exert their influence and contributed fine scores to give Derry a three-point buffer.

At this juncture, Derry suddenly looked odds-on to progress into the penultimate phase of the competition. That was until Down produced the decisive score of the contest.

Donal Hughes picked up possession in an advanced position and fired past Seán Kelly for the maiden goal of the tie. The wing-forward immediately added a point to his tally and a white flag was also raised for a fine Paul Sheehan strike.

Brian Óg McGilligan (son of former Derry footballer and Derry hurling manager Brian) did marginally clear the woodwork with a goal chance, but it wasn’t enough to deny Down their safe passage into the last-four.

McManus finished with an excellent tally of 0-7, while Hughes capped an accomplished display with a 1-2 contribution. Cormac O’Doherty was scorer-in-chief for Derry with six points and they will now enter a qualifier round alongside Sligo, Offaly and Roscommon.

In difficult conditions at St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge, Kildare were 2-14 to 1-10 victors at the expense of neighbours Wicklow on Sunday. Jack Sheridan was the game’s outstanding performer, contributing 2-5 of the Lilywhites’ final tally.

He shook the Wicklow net in the first half to give Kildare a 1-7 to 0-6 lead at the midway mark. Given they were playing against the breeze during the opening period, the hosts were firm favourites to prevail.

Credit must go to Wicklow, however, as a Daniel Staunton goal cut the deficit to a single point in the 41st-minute. The free-taking accuracy of Christy Moorehouse was also crucial for the Garden County.

He finished with nine points to his name; seven from frees and two from play. When push came to the shove, though, Kildare were able to increase the tempo of their play and ultimately claim the spoils. James Burke (0-3), Cathal Dowling and Brian Byrne (0-2 each) did their bit for Kildare, but it was left for Sheridan to finally kill off the Wicklow challenge with his second goal of the game.

Kildare are two-time winners of this competition, having defeated Kerry and London in the 2014 and 2018 deciders. While this year’s finalists will automatically be promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2021, the Lilywhites will want to enhance their list of hurling honours in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Fermanagh’s 0-16 to 1-13 draw with Cavan at Brewster Park, Enniskillen on Sunday was enough to give them a place in the Lory Meagher Cup final.

With Lancashire unable to compete for Covid-related reasons, only three teams are involved in this year’s competition. Having overcome Louth by the bare minimum at Darver eight days earlier (3-10 to 1-15), a sharing of the spoils means the Erne men can now look forward to a showcase appearance.

They may well be facing Cavan once again, depending on how the Breffni side get on in their forthcoming tussle with Louth.

Fermanagh’s quest for a final spot had looked in jeopardy when Cavan brought a 0-10 to 0-6 lead into the half-time break. Brian Fitzgerald fired over for five points for the latter, with Sean Keating, Killian Sheanon, Enda Shalvey, Diarmaid Carney and Fiachra Hughes chipping in with one each.

On the opposite side, Sean Corrigan shot 0-4 to compliment additional scores from Conor McShea and Caolan Duffy. Moving into the second half, Fermanagh eventually came to the terms with the task at hand.

McShea, Corrigan (two) and Tom Keenan (two) all found the range, whereas a Fitzgerald point was Cavan’s sole third-quarter score. After Fitzgerald and Keenan traded points, a Hughes goal made the Breffni outfit the most likely winners on 61 minutes.

Fitzgerald cancelled out another Corrigan point, but a late Fermanagh surge ensured there was a sting in the tail. After Corrigan’s 0-2 salvo edged them back into the reckoning, John Duffy dissected the posts deep into stoppage-time and Fermanagh can now look forward to a first Lory Meagher Cup final since 2015 as a consequence.

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