Harps rescue their season
Intermediate Football C’ship Relegation Semi-final Eastern Harps 2-16
Castleconnor 3-9
A YEAR on from exiting the Homeland Senior Football Championship, former kingpins Eastern Harps have avoided a second successive relegation season.
Last Saturday’s four-point defeat of fellow strugglers Castleconnor in the Connacht
Gold Intermediate Championship relegation semi-final, with teenager Matt Henry supplying a brilliant 2-3, keeps Eastern Harps in the Intermediate tier for 2022.
West Sligo’s Castleconnor, who will fall to the Junior ‘A’ ranks unless they overcome Tourlestrane in the relegation decider, had a star performer in Sean Carrabine, who delivered an outrageous tally of 3-7 at Cloonacool Community Park. The county player would have had a fourth goal but for a super stop from Eastern Harps goalkeeper Alan Davey. While Carrabine was excellent, he was essentially the only reliable scoring source for a Castleconnor side who finished with 13 players because of two black cards.
Eastern Harps, in contrast, had a variety of scorers. The burden wasn’t just on Matt Henry’s shoulders, with Caelan Hunt, Shane O’Grady and Shawn O’Hara each impacting on the scoreboard.
The winners were four points to the good at half-time, 2-8 to 2-4. They needed Matt Henry’s second goal and a point from Shawn O’Hara to retake the lead after a goal by Sean Carrabine and a point from Jason Earlis brought Castleconnor level, 2-4 to 1-7, during the last 15 minutes of the opening period.
Eastern Harps: Alan Davey, Kevin Gallagher, Barry Cryan, Luke Taheny, Ronan Mulligan, Cian Higgins, Bryan Molloy, Tony Taylor, Kyle Cosgrove, Dylan Walsh, Shawn O’Hara (0-3), Michael Clarke (0-2), Matt Henry (2-3), Shane O’Grady (0-4, 2f), Caelan Hunt (0-4, 1f)
Subs used: Darragh Madden, James Kiernan, Conor Higgins
Castleconnor: Liam Donegan, Rory Healy, Keith Earlis, Rian Winters, Patrick Cooney, Cian Barrins, Eoin Kent, Paul Flynn, Jason Earlis (0-2), James Tully, Oisin Flynn, Luke Munnelly, Ronan Keane, Sean Carrabine (3-7, 2f, 1 mark), Ronan Wilson
Subs used: Eoin Flynn, Stephen Kilgannon
Referee: Keith Henry