Shrule vs Northern Gaels (CT)

 Shrule Glencorrib 5-14

Northern Gaels.1-15

Eoin Horkan 

Shrule 

A superb hat-trick from Stephen Heneghan, split either side of half-time, proved the major difference  as Shrule booked their place in the Junior A county semi-final following an entertaining quarter-final victory on Sunday afternoon.

Home advantage, coupled with a strong breeze, played a significant role as Shrule made the most of their conditions from the outset. They were ahead within minutes of the throw-in when Luke Lydon broke through the Northern Gaels defence before calmly sending the ball over the bar.

Shrule quickly doubled their advantage and then extended it to four points by the seventh minute, with Evan Cawley producing an outstanding two-pointer into the breeze.

Their opponents  responded immediately. A well-delivered ball into the inside line eventually found Ruairí McDonnell, who made no mistake from close range as he fired into the corner of the net to leave just the minimum between the sides.

Cawley restored Shrule's advantage shortly afterwards, once again judging the wind perfectly to send over his second score of the afternoon.

The home side's inside forwards were proving particularly troublesome, with Lydon adding another point before Heneghan got in on the scoring act. Northern Gaels managed to steady themselves, James Forde showing his accuracy from distance with a long-range free.

Shrule then struck for the game's second goal. A flowing team move opened up the Gaels defence and Heneghan was on hand to apply the finishing touch, giving the corner forward his first goal of the afternoon.

Cawley continued to punish Northern Gaels from placed balls, while Forde was doing his best to keep the visitors in touch, finding the target from another difficult angle.

The closing stages of the half belonged to Shrule. Heneghan added a second goal to his personal tally before Lydon found the net soon afterwards.

A free from Marc Munnelly helped stem the Shrule tide, but Cawley had the final say before the interval, converting another placed ball to leave the home side ten points clear at the break.

With the wind now at their backs, Shrule appeared to have put the contest beyond Northern Gaels' reach almost immediately after the restart.

Corner-back Joe Hughes ventured forward and, finding himself in an advanced position, unleashed a powerful effort from around twenty one yards which flew into the back of the net.

The  Gaels, however, refused to surrender the contest. Clarke opened their second-half account with an early point before Munnelly followed with two scores in quick succession as the visitors began to chip away at the deficit.

Shrule responded by making changes from the bench and Nathan McGhee made an immediate impact, raising a white flag to settle the home nerves.

Clarke then added another impressive score from distance, this time from play, briefly giving Northern Gaels hope of setting up a grandstand finish.

Those hopes were extinguished soon afterwards.

Heneghan produced the moment of the match, embarking on a mazy run through the Northern Gaels defence before slipping the ball beyond the goalkeeper to complete a memorable hat-trick and put Shrule firmly in control once again.

The home side added three further points through Lydon, Heneghan and Cawley before Northern Gaels midfielder Owen Loughney had the final word on the scoreboard.

It was ultimately too little, too late for the north Mayo outfit as Shrule comfortably saw out the remainder to secure their place in the county semi-final in two weeks' time.

While there were plenty of positives for Shrule throughout the afternoon, their inside line will undoubtedly be a major threat to any opposition they encounter in the next stages of the Junior A championship.

Shrule/Glencorrib:John Murray;Joe Hughes(1-0),Joe Flood,TJ Canavan;Johnny Naughton,Luke Lydon(1-3),James O’Dowd;Shane Mellett,Conor Bohan;Liam Higgins,Paddy Reilly,Garvan Hyland;Evan Cawley(0-8 1 2ptf 4fs 1 2pt),Colin Gibbons,Stephen Heneghan(3-2 1f).

Subs Used: N McGhee (0-1),N Sheridan,J Sheridan,E Hennelly,C Garvey

Northern Gaels:Daire Devins;Fergal McHale,Conor McHale,Shan Loughney;Mark McDonnell,Daniel Coleman,Kieran Loughney;Owen Loughney(0-2),Craig McCormack ;James Forde(0-3 1 2ptf),Tommy Clarke(0-4 2 2 ptfs)Ronan Murphy;Ruairí McDonnell(1-1),Cathal Boland,Marc Munnelly(0-5 2 2ptfs 1f).

Subs Used: L Ruddy.

Referee:John Finn