Aghabog dominate 2nd half to win
UNIVERSAL GRAPHICS JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Aghabog 1-15, Scotstown 2-10.
A hungrier more resilient Aghabog staged a magnificent second-half turnaround to keep their championship aspirations alive as they recovered from an 8 points half-time deficit to win by 2 and thereby dump Scotstown out of the Junior series in this exciting contest that built to an exhilarating finish in St Mellons Park, Truagh, on Friday evening last. Aghabog looked down and out when Scotstown led by 8 points at half-time having dominated the opening half and they may in fact have thought they had this match won but they had reckoned without Aghabog’s fighting spirit as they chased and harried for every ball and punished Scotstown ruthlessly on counter attacks as they repeatedly squandered possession. The introduction of Oisin Gleeson at the start of the second-half had an impact in Aghabog’s second-half resurgence while veteran Sean O’Brien was executioner in chief with 1-6, his goal 5 minutes into the 2nd half kick starting Aghabog’s recovery. Aghabog took the lead for the 1st time with 9 minutes of normal time remaining and while Scotstown got it back to the minimum as the game went into stoppage time Aghabog defended in numbers and struck for a point by Sean O’Brien deep into stoppage time to seal the issue.
Teams and Scorers: Aghabog: Sean McBride, Martin Fox, Stephen McPhillips, Seamus McMenamin, Patrick McCabe, Shane Brady, Damien Smith 0-3, Michael Smith, Dermot Smith 0-3 (3f), Tyler O’Hanlon, Kieran Logue 0-2 (2f), Cameron O’Leary 0-2, Sean O’Brien 1-5, Fergal O’Hanlon, Liam Kelly. Subs: Oisin Gleeson for T O’Hanlon, Michael Clerkin for S Brady, Shane Kierans for C Logue (Black Card).
Scotstown: Conor Forde, Jamie McKenna, Barry McMeel, Lorcan Murray, Gerard McCrudden o-2 (2f), Ciaran McGuirk, Padraig Meehan 0-1, Ryan Caulfield, Peter Hamill, Shane McMahon, Micheal McCarville 0-1, Cian Mohan, Leonard McDermott 1-2, Jason Carey 0-2, Jamie McCarey 1-2 (0-1f). Subs: Mark Treanor for P Hamill, Nessan McCrudden for J McCarey. Referee: Diarmuid Boylan (Donaghmoyne).
