St Eunan’s strike late to reach Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup semi-final

A goal three minutes from time followed by a two pointer decided a very close Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup quarter-final at the Mid Ulster Sports Arena in Cookstown on Friday evening.

Played in sub-zero temperatures, the ending was a good one for those who travelled from Donegal with Jonah Cannon the St Eunan’s goal hero while Callum McGilloway added the insurance two pointer..

Prior to that late burst, St Eunan's hadn't held the lead since the fourth minute.

Matthew Enright gave them a good start with a point after two minutes, but Castlewellan responded with a goal, neatly finished to the net by Ryan McCourt and that score remained the difference between the teams as they traded scores for the rest of the half. 

Manus Middleton and Rian Walsh were dangerous up front for Castlewellan with Caolán Flannagan picking them out well with his forages forward. However St Eunan's kept in touch with four more points from four different players and the teams turned around with St Malachy's holding a 1-15 to 0-5 lead. 

That advantage however was wiped out inside the first five minutes of the second half with two points from Evan Hickey and one from Callum McGilloway.

St Malachy's rallied however and scores from Middelton (three), Odhrán Toner and Ryan McGrady had the Down team 1-10 to 0-10 ahead after 50 minutes.

It was now St Eunan's turn to rally and they pulled themselves back level with points each from Enright, Cathal Doherty and Pauric Devine to set up an exciting finish.

The Letterkenny goal came next and made a big difference. Callum Travers did brilliantly to save the first effort but the ball broke for sub Jonah Cannon to bundle over the line.

With McGilloway nailing a two pointer free a couple of minutes later, Castlewellan's game was over and St Eunan's had secured a semi-final against either Rathmore Grammar or Holy Trinity Cookstown who meet on Tuesday at 3pm in St Bridget's Belfast.

There is another quarter-final an hour later across the city in Cherryvale with Aquinas Grammar taking on St Louis Ballymena.

Details for the last of the quarter-finals, a home venue for St Mary's CBGS against last year's beaten finalists Dean Mag Uirc Carrickmore, have yet to be finalised, but it will probably take place later in the week.

St Eunan's scorers: J Cannon 1-0, C McGilloway 0-4 (1tpf), M Enright (2fs) and E hickey 0-3 each, C Doherty 0-2, P Devine, S Boyle and P Mullen 0-1 each.

St Malachy's scorers: R McCourt 1-0, M Middleton 0-6 (4fs), R Walsh, O Toner, D McGreevey and R McGrady 0-1 each