Aodh Ruadh put on a much improved second-half performance to put the game beyond Cloughneely and win the Intermediate Championship B at MacCumhaill Park on Sunday afternoon.
Aodh Ruadh 1-06 Cloughneely 0-07
Report by Charlie Collins at MacCumhaill Park
Ryan Granaghan’s goal in the second half of this Intermediate Championship final was the catalyst for Aodh Ruadh that spurred them on to securing victory against Cloughneely in Stranorlar.
Contributions from Dylan Gallagher and Kerry Ryan was enough to cancel out a poor first half from the Ballyshannon outfit.
The game started at a pedestrian pace as Cloughneely and Aodh Ruadh struggled to make strides going forward in the early stages.
After five minutes, Cloughneely drew first blood, scoring three points in the first eight minutes.
Two well-placed Declan McGarvey free kick’s occurred either side of Ciaran McFadden’s score from slick open play.
Aodh Ruadh offered hardly much going forward for the first 15 minutes but they were gifted two scoring opportunities by Cloughneely.
Midway through the first period, two free kick scores from Declan Selvin reduced Cloughneely 0-03 to 0-02 lead.
A minute later, McFadden should have inflicted more damage when Ronan Cann slipped in the full-forward for a goal chance but Ruadh’s Karl O’Brien pulled off a brilliant stoppage – a solid chance for McFadden who should have done much better.
The last kick of an uninspiring first half came through Gerard Maguire, adding Cloughneely’s fourth point of the afternoon – the score half-time was 0-04 to 0-02.
In the second half, Aodh Ruadh needed to offer more going forward and they eventually found their rhythm after 32 minutes, striking Cloughneely cold.
Ryan Granaghan found the back of the net following a fantastic pass from Paddy Gillespie, which unlocked the Cloughneely defence, giving Ruadh the lead for the first time in the game.
Dylan Gallagher added a further point for Ruadh on 35 minutes but Denis Boyle made the game level 10 minutes later, striking an accurate free-kick and well-worked score.
Approaching the final 10 minutes, the game was there for the taking, both sides being urged on from the sidelines – but it was Aodh Ruadh, so poor in the first half, who came out swinging and adding three more points to seal the Intermediate Championship B.
Two Dylan Gallagher free kicks were followed by a superb long-range score by Kerry Ryan to put the game beyond Cloughneely, despite Declan McGarvey’s score in the dying minutes.
Aodh Ruadh: Karl O’Brien, Daniel Warnock, Patrick McGrath, Conal Sweeney, Ryan O’Brien, Martin Gallagher, Christopher Goan, Can Dolan, Kerry Ryan (0-01), Michael McKenna, Dermot Slevin (0-02 2F), Michael McNeely, Dylan Gallagher (0-03 2F), Anthony Coughlin, Ryan Granaghan (1-0).
Subs: Paddy Gillespie, Cian McCloin, Ronan Drummond.
Cloughaneely: Michael McGinley, Odhran McBride, Michael Mulhern, Fionn McGinley, Neil Kelly, Sean Gallagher, Noel Sweeney, Ronan Cannon, Sean Coll, Blaine Mulligan, Declan McGarvey (0-03 3F), Eamon McHugh, Gerard Maguire (0-01), Ciaran McFadden(0-01), Eugene Maguire.
Subs: Denis Boyle (0-2 2F), Stephen Doogan.
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