McGourty and McAreavey grab goals as St Gall’s take Ulster title
ST Gall’s claimed a seven-point win over Keady at Newry yesterday to claim their second Ulster Club IHC title.
Goals in each half from CJ McGourty (right) and substitute Sean McAreavey proved the difference and the Antrim champions were full value for the win despite having defender Jackson McGreevy dismissed for a second booking early in the second half.
In a tense, low-scoring first half, it was St Gall’s who made the most of their chances.
Points from Mark Napier, Karl Stewart and Jackson McGreevy gave them a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes with Keady full-forward Paul Green opening side’s account.
Keady managed to level matters at 0-3 all via back-to-back Conor Corvan points. The South Armagh men took the lead for the first time on 22minutes at 0-5 to 0-4 with Corvan converting a free, but it proved to be short-lived.
A miscue from Liam McKee when attempting a clearance afforded the on-coming CJ McGourty a shot at goal and the St Gall’s ace made no mistake to put the Milltown Row side 1-4 to 0-5 ahead. McGourty added another on the cusp of half-time to give his side a threepoint advantage at the break. St Gall’s replaced their goalkeeper Kurtis McGreevy at half-time with Piarais McCaffrey coming into the side while Sean McAreavey was also introduced.
The switches weren’t limited to the St Gall’s team as referee Barry Winters was replaced by sidesman Colin Murray for the second half after picking up an injury.
Murray was soon the spotlight as he flashed a second yellow to St Gall’s wing-back Jackson McGreevy moments after awarding him a free. Following consultation with his linesman, it appeared Murray issued a second yellow for dissent. Despite being a man down, St Gall’s never looked like surrendering their lead.
With Joe McDaniel and Aodhan Gallagher excelling in defence, St Gall’s were able to keep Keady at arm’s length.
Indeed, Keady were indebted to veteran goalkeeper Joby Burke for pulling off an excellent save to deny Sean McAreavey before showing swift reflects to stop McGourty from following up with the rebound.
Yet, he could do little about McAreavey’s next effort, which flew into the corner of the net to put the Antrim champions 2-9 to 0-8 ahead inside the final 10 minutes. Try as they might, Keady couldn’t engineer a meaningful shot at goal with Gallagher making a fine block from a Conor Corvan effort from distance.
St Gall’s extended their lead to seven by the full-time whistle and can now look forward to an All-Ireland semi-final clash with Galway champions Oranmore-Maree in the New Year. ST GALL’S: K McGreevy; S Morrison, J McDaniel, A Hannaway; N O’Neill, S Burke, J McGreevy (0-1); J Hopkins, K Stewart (0-1); C Burke, K McGourty (0-1), T Ó Ciaráin (0-3, 0-3fs); CJ McGourty (1-5, 0-4fs), A Gallagher, M Napier (0-1). Subs: P McCaffrey for K McGreevy (HT), S McAreavey (1-0) for Napier (HT), A Healy for Hopkins (45mins), M Donnelly for S Burke (62mins).
KEADY: J Burke; L McKee, N Green, B Breen; O Keenan, J King (0-1), E McDonnell; D McKenna, S Renaghan (0-1); P McCormack, C Corvan (0-6, 0-1f, 0-1 65), J Harvey; P Breen (0-1), P Green (0-2), J Corvan. Subs: J Short for McKenna (33mins), M McDermott for McDonnell (40mins), O Fullerton for Harvey (50mins).
Referee: B Winters (Tyrone) replaced by C Murray (Down) at HT.