Irelanders pushed to limit by Mals
YOUNG Irelands remain on course for a league and championship double after booking a place in the Junior semi-final thanks to a three-point win over Naomh Malachi at Clan na Gael Park on Friday night.
While the Dundalk men will be very pleased to have advanced to the last four, they will be in no doubt that a vast improvement will be required if they are to get their hands on the Christy Bellew Cup once again.
Having defeated the Malachis by 17 points the previous week to clinch the Division 3 title, the Irelanders were fancied to come through this encounter with little difficulty. However, perhaps the celebrations took the edge off the team as they were sluggish for much of the game and rarely looked fully in control.
The Courtbane men battled throughout the game and were always in contention but just couldn’t get the scores needed to cause and upset. Without doubt they will be bitterly disappointed with the outcome and will reflect on two giltedged goal chances in the first half that might have put a completely different complexion on this game.
The Mals set their stall out from the opening whistle and took the lead inside 60 seconds from a Colin Rooney free. After seven minutes of a cagey opening period the Mals had their first sight of goal but Ronan McElroy saw his goal-bound effort blocked by Ciaran Murray and to make matters worse Peter McStravick levelled from the resultant break.
The Malachis continued to have the better of things and regained the lead through Noel Donaldson and once again had a chance to add a goal but this time Stephen Smith saw his effort go inches wide of the post.
The Dundalk side upped their game and levelled through Dean Maguire before Aidan Sheeky had them ahead for the first time after 15 minutes. Six minutes later the lead was extended to 0-6 to 0-3 and it appeared that they would take a firm grip on the game.
Three points from chief marksman, Colin Rooney, signalled that the Mals were not giving up the fight as they drew level once again as the half-time whistle approached. However, the Irelanders gave themselves a bit of breathing space when Jordan O’Donoghue and Mark Savage
pointed in the final minute of the half to send their team in leading by 0-8 to 0-6.
Donal Begley fired over the first point of the second half to cut the gap to just one and although Dermot Mone cancelled out that score the game was very much in the balance once again.
Crucially, the Young Irelands always appeared to have a greater scoring threat and they extended the gap with a fine score from Sheeky. As the game entered the crucial period, Jordan O’Donoghue took centre stage by clearing a ball off his own line and minutes later found himself at the other end by sending over his second point to make it 0-11 to 0-7.
It was always going to be an uphill task for the Mals to recover from that deficit although they did continue to