Eoghan Ruadh delight as Casey foils Éire Óg’s drive for five

EOGHAN RUADH halted Éire Óg’s drive for five with a two-point win in yesterday’s decider at Healy Park.

County star Damian Casey (above) was the star of the show with a 1-9 haul as the Dungannon side won the Benburb Cup for the first time since 2013.

Branan Molloy and Lorcan Devlin helped Dungannon to a bright start, but the holders struck for a goal in the 14th minute when Kelly swivelled to shoot low to the net, and they moved three clear through Liam Armstrong.

Éire Óg had to work hard for the scores that saw them push into a five-point lead, the best of them a sublime effort from close to the sideline by skipper Bryan McGurk.

Kiefer Morgan and Matthew Mulgrew kept the challengers in touch, but they trailed by 1-8 to 0-6 at the break and as Casey continued to hit the target, he hit the crucial score with a 60th-minute penalty.

Justin Kelly pulled back an Eire Og goal in stoppage time, but they were unable to rescue their five-in-a-row dream. SCORERS — Eoghan Ruadh: D Casey 1-9 (1-0 pen, 0-3fs), M Mulgrew, L Devlin 0-2 each, K Morgan, B Molloy 0-1 each.

Éire Óg: A Kelly 1-4 (0-3fs) J Kelly 1-1, R McKernan 0-2, B McGurk, L Armstrong, P Cunningham 0-1 each.

ÉIRE ÓG: C McElhatton; J Kerr, D Begley, S P Begley; T Hughes, D Rafferty, O McKee; R McKernan, B McGurk; C Grogan, J Kelly, P Cunningham; L Armstrong, P McMahon, A Kelly. Subs: M Grogan for Hughes (25), S Og Grogan for Rafferty (40), R Slane for Armstrong (52), A McKernan for Begley (60) EOGHAN RUADH: P McKillion; C McNally, R Devlin, T McIntosh; L Devlin, S Donnelly, P McHugh; S Donaghy, J Ferguson; B Molloy, K Morgan, P O’Kelly; M Mulgrew, D Casey, M Devlin. Subs: T Morgan for M Devlin (33), B Gormley for Molloy (51), C McErlean for Donaghy (62)

REF — T Conway (Derry).