Drumragh U14 boys are through to the championship semi-final following a hard-fought win away to Pomeroy on Saturday morning.
Drumragh were made to battle for this by the home side, but they showed plenty of determination and fighting spirit to secure their place in the last four.
The sides were level at half-time after a tight first half. Drumragh withstood some early pressure with Luke Hagan and Tiernan O’Donnell winning a number of turnovers. And from one of those turnovers, Drumragh were able to take the lead. The ball came out to Cahir Keyes, and his smart pass forward found Joseph Taggart in space and Joseph sent the ball over the bar with a confident finish.
A few minutes later, Ollie Hagan and Niall Gormley combined to allow Lorcan Starrs to kick a smart point. Ollie then won a kickout and his pass into Matt Gallagher meant Drumragh increased their lead, when Matt pointed from distance. James Gallagher then came up from half-back and kicked another excellent point.
Pomeroy got on the scoreboard, but Matthew Barrett responded for Drumragh with a nice score after he had exchanged passes with Lorcan Starrs.
The home side were then in the ascendency for a period and a quick 1-2 put them in front. However, Drumragh managed to get themselves level on the stroke of half-time thanks to a point from Niall Gormley.
Drumragh captain Matthew Barrett with the referee and Pomeroy captain before the start of the game
Drumragh got off to a good start in the second half. James Gallagher sent in a brilliant pass to Joseph Taggart, who carried the ball in and finished well past the Pomeroy goalkeeper. Niall Gormley then increased Drumragh’s lead with a point after Cahir Keyes, Conor Fyffe and Niall Burt had combined to create the chance, while Matt Gallagher also added an excellent score from play.
Pomeroy got back into the game with a goal, but the Drumragh defence was playing superbly. Oisin Walsh, Matthew Barrett and Tom Barrett were able to stop a number of dangerous attacks from the home side with some important interceptions. Matthew O’Doherty also proved to be a safe pair of hands in the Drumragh goal, coming off his line to deal with a few long balls in.
With the help of the subs introduced, Drumragh were able to make sure of the win with a strong finish to the game. A foul on Eamon Barrett gave Drumragh a penalty, with Conor Fyffe stepping up and firing the ball into the bottom corner.
A fantastic team move involving Shea Mullin, Eamon Barrett and Joseph Taggart ended with Lorcan Starrs palming the ball into the net. Not long after, Lorcan got his second goal of the game, with a good finish after Cahir Keyes had set him up. That move was started with a great bit of defending from Oisin Walsh in the full-back line.
And with that, the referee blew the full-time whistle with Drumragh deservedly sealing a place in the last four.
SCORERS: Lorcan Starrs 2-1, Joseph Taggart 1-1, Conor Fyffe 1-0, Matt Gallagher 0-2, Niall Gormley 0-2, Matthew Barrett 0-1, James Gallagher 0-1
TEAM: Matthew O’Doherty, Luke Hagan, Oisin Walsh, Tiernan O’Donnell, Tom Barrett, Matthew Barrett, James Gallagher, Joseph Taggart, Shea Mullin, Niall Burt, Matt Gallagher, Cahir Keyes, Ollie Hagan, Niall Gormley, Lorcan Starrs
SUBS: Padraig Gormley, Christopher Forde, Eamon Barrett, Ethan Montague, Conor Fyffe, Lorcan McDevitt, Sean Sloan, Paul McSorley, Connor Grimes, James Green, Conor Murray, Che Corry, James Donnelly, Mark Walsh, Ruairi Doherty, Eoghan Boyle
Drumragh forward Cahir Keyes on the attack during the game
