Westerns shoot down the Mitchels
WESTERNS remain on course to make the last eight of the Junior Championship after brushing aside the challenge of John Mitchels at Stabannon on Thursday evening.
Following their victory over Sean McDermotts in the opening game much was expected from the Mitchels in this game, but a disappointing display saw them fail to mount any real challenge.
The Reaghstown men were simply too strong in every sector and went about their business in a very disciplined manner throughout the game. The contest was all but over by half time as the Westerns went in ten points to the good, with the Mitchels failing to register a score during that 30 minutes.
Having opened their Group 4 account with victory over the Wolfe Tones, the Westerns looked determined from the outset to keep themselves on course for the quarter-finals with some good swift attacking play saw them take charge, with Tommy Durnin not surprisingly at the heart of it all.
However, it was brother, Anthony, who opened the scoring inside four minutes before Tommy picked out Conor Kerr on eight minutes to score the first goal of the game.
The Mitchels had no answer to their opponents and Cathal O’Hanlon’s side pressed home their advantage as points from Ciaran Campbell, Terence Sweeney and Johnny Lynch extended the gap to 1-4 to no score on 18 minutes.
The Ballybailie side rarely threatened at this stage and saw Tommy Durnin kick two points before their first real efforts on goal saw two ‘45s’ from Ben O’Brien fall short of the target. Just before the half time whistle Tommy Durnin pointed to make it 1-7 to 0-0.
Lynch and Trevor Baylon extended the gap to 12 points before Robbie Coyle finally got the Mitchels off the mark on 36 minutes from a 30m free.
However, the Westerns response was to underline their dominance and after another Baylon point, Tommy Durnin burst through to set up Lynch for a well-taken second goal and extend the gap to 2-10 to 0-1 after 50 minutes.
With the victory all but assured, the Westerns relaxed their grip on the match, allowing the Mitchels to enjoy their best spell in the final quarter. After Conor Reilly added a second they did get the consolation of a goal on 21 minutes when Barry Kirk flicked home a MikeyNulty centre.
Reilly added another free late on but the Reaghstown men wrapped up the victory with scores from the Durnin brothers and sub Patrick Kerley.
The victory is almost certain to send the Westerns through but they can confirm their place by avoiding defeat against the Sean McDermotts in the final group outing in a game the Mountrush side need to win to have any hope of progressing.
Meanwhile the Mitchels will still fancy their chances of getting into the knock-out stages as they take on Wolfe Tones in their final match. However, the Ballybailie men will need to turn in an improved performance next time out but they will still be optimistic of making it through to the last eight. WESTERNS: Peter Shields; Michael Martin, James Ward, Colin Martin; John Murray, Stephen Boylan, Sean McGuinness; Tommy Durnin 0-4, Trevor Baylon 0-2; Terence Sweeney 0-1; Anthony Durnin 0-2, Dylan Ogle; Johnny Lynch 1-2, Conor Kerr 1-0, Ciaran Campbell 0-1. Subs: Andrew Kerr for C Campbell, Gerry Curtis for T Baylon, Patrick Kerley 0-1 for J Lynch, Shane Matthews for M Martin, Andrew Murray for S Boylan, Damien Boylan for T Sweeney.
JOHN MITCHELS: David Anderson; Mitchel Keenan, Emmet Farrell, Aaron Kane; Anthony Coyle, Neil Reilly, Brendan McDonnell; James Clarke, Aaron Keely; Ben O’Brien, Conor Reilly 0-2, Stephen Coyle; Alan Mackin, Robert Coyle 0-1, Barry Kirk 1-0. Subs: Rory Durnin for A Mackin, Mikey Nulty for C Reilly, Conor Reilly for N Reilly, Neil Reilly for S Coyle, Gareth Finnegan for A Coyle.
REFEREE: A Briscoe.