Ederney secure senior status as Teemore drop to Intermediate
Ederney 1-13 Teemore 1-11 (aet)
Ederney secured their Senior Championship status for 2023 but they were pushed all the way by Teemore who now drop into Intermediate for next season.
There was little separating the sides at any stage of the contest although with two minutes of normal time left Ederney were two points to the good before two Ronan Mccaffrey points sent the tie to extra time.
It was the St. Joseph’s side though who made the better start to extra time as scores from Declan Mccusker, Ryan Morris and Aaron Dennison pushed them three clear.
Teemore did hit back with an Eoin Mcmanus point before Ronan Mccaffrey fired over at the start of the second period to cut the gap back to the minimum.
However, Ederney responded with points from Eoghan Donnelly and Conor Mcgee to edge three ahead again.
Right at the death then Mccaffrey had a chance for Teemore but his effort on goal flew over the bar much to the relief of Ederney who held on win by two.
Teemore manager Barry Owens felt that the championship was a steep learning curve for his players but is hopeful that they can bounce back.
“We gave the ball away a bit too much, especially the first half, and Ederney punished us.
“We found out the hard way this year that you get punished by the better teams at championship level.
“It’s disappointing for the lads but hopefully they learn from the four games we’ve just played and are able to bounce back up as quick as possible,” he said.
Ederney had landed the first score of the game through Paul Mccusker but Teemore answered with a goal from Aaron Mcmanus, who gathered a ball from Mccaffrey before turning and rifling to the roof of the net.
Points from Pól Mckervey and Enda Cassidy levelled up matters before an Eoin Mcmanus free nudged Teemore back ahead but this was followed by an Ederney goal in the 22nd minute.
Declan Mccusker latched on to a wayward pass and raced forward before firing to the net to make it 1-03 to 1-01.
And with the sides sharing the next four points, Mcmanus and Mccaffrey on target for Teemore and the influential Marty Mcgrath and Finbarr Gillen registering for Ederney, it left it 1-05 to 1-03 at half time.
It was again tit for tat in the second half as Mcmanus converted three frees for the Shamrocks while Mckervey (2) and Mcgee tagged on points for Ederney to leave it 1-08 to 1-06 with 58 minutes played.
Mccaffrey’s late brace though sent the game to extra time but it was Ederney who would prevail over the added 20 minutes as it finished 1-13 to 1-11.