Hogues hold off revival to reach ‘B’ semi-final

A LATE revival proved to be insufficient for Shelmaliers as they went down at the hands of Ballyhogue in the Greenstar Under-21 football Premier ‘B’ championship quarter-final in Bree on Saturday.

The game was well beyond the Over The Water lads with ten minutes left, as they trailed by 2-10 to 1-4, but they salvaged some respect with a late flurry of scores.

The Shels actually had the better of the opening quarter as, after exchanging scores with their opponents through Cian Manley and Chris Cowman, Shane Neville punched into the net when Conor Hearne’s strike rebounded back from the upright.

From there they only managed one more point before half-time, and Hearne’s single was the only respite from five Ballyhogue minors.

One each from Dylan Dalton and Dean Doyle before a triple courtesy of Mick Condon gave Ballyhogue a one-point lead going into the break (0-7 to 1-3).

Condon got the scoreboard ticking again after the re-start before two Ballyhogue goals effectively ended the contest.

Condon was again in the thick of the action, as his pass supplied Dalton and the midfielder finished from the ground on his second attempt.

Eight minutes later, another piece of fine soccer skill put the game to bed. Dean Doyle finished from the ground into the bottom corner on his first touch as the ball dropped to him 15 yards from goal.

Condon and Noel Roche both raised the white flag to put nine between the sides before the Shels scored again.

Conor Hearne raced through on goal to blast past Darragh Byrne and reduce the deficit.

Substitute Adam Howlin added two from dead-balls in quick succession, but as the game ticked into injury time it looked to be too little, too late.

Condon capped off a stellar performance with his side’s final point before Liam Rockett scored his only minor for Shelmaliers to put just four between the sides.

Referee John O’Loughlin’s fulltime whistle sent Ballyhogue into the ‘B’ championship semi-final, with Shelmaliers’ late resurgence doing little more than adding respect to the scoreline.

Ballyhogue: Darragh Byrne; Shane Fenlon, Fionn Rochford, Colm Parnell; Cormac Byrne, Nick Doyle, Conor Long; Shane Doyle, Dylan Dalton (1-1); Enda Minogue, Mick Condon (0-6, 1 free), Noel Roche (0-2); Liam Rossiter, Peter Kelly, Dean Doyle (1-2). Subs. - Edward Byrne for Kelly (57), Conor Rossiter for N. Doyle (57), Aaron Murphy for Fenlon (59), Cian Rochford for Minogue (59).

Shelmaliers: Aodhán Foley; Mark Power, Paul McCleane, Jamie Larkin; Enda Cloake, Seán Keane-Carroll, Ross Banville; Glen Malone (0-1), Cian Manley (capt., 0-1); Michael Feeney, Chris Cowman (0-1), Conor Hearne (1-1, 0-1 free); Craig Parker, Liam Rockett (0-1), Shane Neville (1-0). Subs. - Adam Howlin (0-2) for Neville (43), Kyle Roche for Parker (43), Adam Hearne for Keane-Carroll (51).

Referee: John O’Loughlin (Moonager-Boolavogue).