Aodh Ruadh and Naomh Colmcille can't be separated
Intermediate Football Championship semi-final
21 October 2012
Aodh Ruadh 2-10
Naomh Colmcille 1-13
O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny
Aodh Ruadh and Naomh Colmcille must do it all again after the sides fought out an enthralling 2-10 to 1-13 draw in the intermediate championship semi-final in O'Donnell park last Sunday. Naomh Colmcille enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, but two booming long range efforts from Peter Boyle and an own goal from the Inishowen men helped swing the initiative in Ballyshannon's favour. Shane McAteer was the victim for the own goal, getting in the way as Niall McCready attempted to put Michael 'Sticky' Ward through on goals and deflecting into his own net.
While Naomh Colmcille leveled shortly after, points from David Dolan and Brian Roper saw Aodh Ruadh going in at the break with a 1-6 to 0-7 lead.
A Sticky Ward point and a crisp goal from Donagh McIntyre early in the second half took the scores to 2-7 to 0-7 and seemed to have decisively swung the game in Aodh Ruadh's favour. And when Michael Dolan and Martin Gallagher stretched the gap out to eight points the game looked all but over. But Naomh Colmcille had other ideas. The Newtowncunningham men were the more effective in the closing third of the game, racking up a goal and five points to Brian Roper's solitary point to level the game. Despite six minutes of injury time neither side could find the winner, both spurning scoreable chances in that period.
Championship is agreeing with Aodh Ruadh and there is no doubt that the team are playing their best football of the year right now. And with the game attracting rave reviews in the press and media for its openness, creativity and adventure there is likely to be a sizeable neutral following there to see how the replay pans out.
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| Teams |
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Aodh Ruadh Peter Boyle (0-2, 2f); Ronan Drummond, Ciron Whoriskey, Conor Patton; Michael Dolan (0-1), Johnny Gallagher, Eamonn McGrath; James O’Donnell, Barry Ward; Niall McCready, David Dolan (0-1), Martin Gallagher (0-1); Brian Roper (0-3), Michael Ward (0-2), Donagh McIntyre (1-0). Substitutes: Kerry Ryan for Barry Ward: 28 minutes; Stephen Ward for James O’Donnell: 41 minutes; PJ McGee for Ronan Drummond: 49 minutes; Diarmaid McInerney for Niall McCready 60 minutes. |
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Naomh Colmcille Marty Callaghan; Paul Friel, Alex Devenney, Anthony Grant; Gerard Curran, Shane McAteer, (1-0, own goal) Eddie Gillespie; Ryan McKinley, Ciaran Devine (0-1); Joe Donaghy, Mark Dowds (0-1), Ryan McErlean (0-3); Willie Gillespie (0-2), Thomas McKinley (0-1), Matthew Crossan (0-5, 1f). Substitutes: Don Hegarty (1-0) for Joe Donaghy, 38 minutes; William Lynch for Anthony Grant 38 minutes; Andrew Clarke for Mark Dowds 43 minutes; Ciaran Callaghan for Gerard Curran 58 minutes. |
| Referee: Martin Coll (Gaoth Dobhair) |
Last modified: Wednesday, 27 May 2020 at 8:23pm