Ballyshannon and Milford have to go again
Intermediate Football Championship
11 September 2015
Aodh Ruadh 1-10
Milford 0-13
Convoy
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Kyle Black sent over a last-gasp equaliser to salvage a draw for Milford against Aodh Ruadh in Convoy on Friday night.
The Ballyshannon men led by three points at the break thanks to Seamus Kane's goal, but a resurgent Milford side came back into it in the second half.
Milford were wasteful in the second half - hitting 10 wides - but they still led by a point after two minutes of injury-time. However a gritty Aodh Ruadh plundered two points to take the lead.
Milford's championship aspirations looked to be at an end, but they were granted one more opportunity, and Black held his nerve to score the equaliser six minutes into additional time.
The sides had met twice this year already and they shared a victory apiece.
Another close battle was forecast, but Milford started brightly with Cathal McGettigan converting a free after three minutes, and Kieran McLaughlin tagged on a point from play one minute later.
McGettigan floated over another fine free from the right wing, before Christopher Barrett kicked a brilliant score from an acute angle with the outside of his right foot.
Barry Mulligan got Aodh Ruadh off the mark in the ninth minute.
TJ Evesson replied with a point for Milford, but the Ballyshannon men then struck for a goal in the 11th minute.
Diarmuid McInerney played a clever ball into Seamus Kane, who was running towards the endline. The corner-forward did very well to power past his marker Kieran Sheridan and he hammered the ball to the net.
Shane McGrath and David McGurrin quickly tagged on points from play for Aodh Ruadh as they got into their stride.
Packie McGrath's team had joy when they ran at their opponents, and Diarmuid McInerney helped himself to three points from frees.
Milford went 21 minutes without scoring, but Enda McHugh notched an important point just before the half-time whistle.
Milford manager Shaun Paul Barrett introduced Luke Barrett and Darragh Black at the break in an attempt to get the team going again.
They made a big impact with Luke Barrett scoring a free after 33 minutes, before Black found his range moments later.
Cathal McGettigan scored two frees, before Peter Boyle scored Aodh Ruadh's first point of the second half with a long-range free in the 51st minute.
Barrett responded with another free and McGettigan pushed Milford in front when he swung over a point from play in the 53rd minute.
However, they were then dealt a blow when Joey Cullen was shown a second yellow by the referee Andrew Mullan for kicking the ball away.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Milford did get the next score when Darragh Black curled over a splendid point off his left foot.
David Dolan reduced Aodh Ruadh's deficit to one point, before Darragh Black had a goalbound shot deflected wide, when he should have opted for a point.
Milford led by the minimum as the game entered injury-time and they managed to keep Aodh Ruadh at bay for the first two minutes of additional time.
But they eventually cracked and the Ballyshannon side equalised when Sean Black kicked the ball straight to Dolan, and he made no mistake.
Milford didn't learn from that mistake, and seconds later, TJ Evesson was penalised for over-carrying 35 metres from his own goal.
Michael 'Sticky' Ward scored the resulting free, and Aodh Ruadh appeared to be through to the semi-finals.
However, Mullan did not blow his full-time whistle and Pauric Curley lofted one final ball into the forward line.
Kyle Black claimed the ball ahead of Eamonn McGrath, sped away from his opponent and then slotted over the bar to secure a replay for his team.
| Vital Statistics |
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| Teams |
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Aodh Ruadh Peter Boyle (0-1, 1 45); Mickey Dolan, Conor Patton, Diarmaid McInerney (0-3, 3f); Ronan Drummond, Johnny Gallagher, Nathan Boyle; Johnny Gethins, Damien Cleary; Barry Mulligan, David Dolan (0-1), David McGurrin (0-1); Seamus Kane (1-0), Michael ‘Sticky’ Ward (0-3, 1f), Shane McGrath. Substitutes: Philip Patton (0-1) for Barry Mulligan, Niall Harley for Ronan Drummond, Kerry Ryan for Seamus Kane, Michael Ward for David McGurrin. |
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Milford Sean Gallagher; Kieran Sheridan, Sean Black, Gary Merritt; Gavin Grier, Enda McHugh (0-1), TJ Evesson (0-1); Jonny Logue, Joey Cullen; Kieran McLaughlin (0-1), Christopher Barrett (0-1), Pauric Curley; Kyle Black (0-1), Cathal McGettigan (0-4), Paddy Peoples. Substitutes: Luke Barrett (0-2) for Logue, Darragh Black (0-2) for McLaughlin, Adam Serrinha for C. Barrett (BC). |
Last modified: Friday, 29 May 2020 at 6:24pm