Maghera master wind to reach Brock final

April 14, 2018

Danske Bank Brock Cup semi-final : St Patrick’s Maghera 2-9 St Patrick’s Cavan 0-7
Played with a strong breeze blowing from one end to the other in Pearse Ógs Armagh on Saturday, this game boiled down to the ability to control the game against the elements.
For the opening ten minutes the Cavan defence managed quite well with Cormac Smyth and Richard Ayodele looking good in a packed defensive unit.
However eventually Jamie Duggan opened the scoring for Maghera with a long range point and over the following ten minutes Matthew Downey seemed to create space around him and he slotted three points in quick succession with Darragh O’Kane and Duggan bringing the tally to six by the 21st minute.
Then came the two goals that changed the game, the first from Sean O’Neill taking advantage of a defensive handling error and then the second, a good move involving Liam and Matthew Downey with Charlie Diamond palming home Matthew’s cross-goal pass from close range.
To their credit Cavan responded positively with three points before the break from Shane Tynan, Colin McKernan and sub Peter Smyth, but 2-7 to 0-3 looked a safe interval advantage.
And so it proved with Maghera’s defensive formation yielding little during the third quarter, by end of which the score read 2-8 to 0-5. Then there was another turning point with a Cavan defender red-carded for an off-the-ball incident.
There was never going to be any late dramatics after that and Maghera have reached another final with good performances from Ronan McFaul, Lee Brady, Tiarnan Higgins and Michael Farren.
Maghera : Sean O’Neill 1-0, Charlie Diamond 1-0, Matthew Downey 0-4, Michael Mulholland 0-2 frees, Jamie Duggan 0-2.
Cavan : Shane Tynan 0-4, 0-2 frees, Colin McKernan 0-2, Peter Smyth 0-1.