SFC: high dram between Seans and Joes
July 24, 2017
Holders Sean O'Mahonys advance
<p>SEAN O’MAHONYS 1-7<br />
ST JOSEPHS 0-9</p>
<p>A night of drama at Dowdallshill ended with Senior Champions, Sean O’Mahonys, heading into the quarter-finals as Group 1 winners, while St Josephs and St Marys face a play-off to decide who will join them.</p>
<p>The Joes and Marys drrew their group game before losing to the O’Mahonys by the exact same score which means that they could not be separated by score difference. As a result they will have to meet again to determine who will play the Geraldines in the last eight.</p>
<p>In a tight encounter that brought back memories of the dramatic three-game saga in the Intermediate Championship three years ago, it was the O’Mahonys who edged it, with a goal from Conor Crawley at the start of the final quarter proving crucial.</p>
<p>The Joes went into the game needing just a point to make it to the knock-out stages and the reigning Intermediate champions looked to be on course to achieve at least that when they led by three points early in the second half.</p>
<p>Although they were disappointed not to have finished the job on this occasion, there was also a sense of relief that they did at least get a play-off with Robert Sansom’s excellent late save keeping them in the championship.</p>
<p>The first half of this game developed into a shoot-out between Conor Finnegan and Alan Quigley with both players accounting for all of their side’s scores as the Dundalk men led by 0-5 to 0-4 after 20 minutes.</p>
<p>However, points from Conal O’Hanlon and Alan McKenna saw the Joes take a 0-6 to 0-6 lead into the break.</p>
<p>That advantage was extended to three when Quigley and O’Hanlon fired over, but the Seans turned the game on its head when Crawley fisted to the net, followed by points from Finnegan and David Dowling to make it 1-7 to 0-8.</p>
<p>At that stage, the Joes were heading for a championship exit but O’Hanlon reduced the gap to one with eight minutes remaining. The O’Mahonys finished with 14 men after Conor Crawley saw red but the Joes couldn’t take advantage and lost out by a point.</p>
<p>SEAN O’MAHONYS: Seamus Quigley; Christopher O’Neill, Ronan Byrne, Michael Clarke; Pat O’Brien, John O’Brien, Liam Dullaghan; Conor Martin, Shane Brennan; Conor Finnegan0-6, Ben McLaughlin, Keith McLaughlin; Stephen Kilcoyne, Conor Crawley 1-0, Vincent Smyth. Sub: David Dowling 0-1 for L Dullaghan.</p>
<p>ST JOSEPHS: Robert Sansom; Daire Smyth, Shane McQuillan, Stefan Potts; Cian McGuinness, Killian Staunton, David Kieran; Peter Brennan, Tomas Smyth; Craig Doherty, Alan McKenna (0-1) Conal O’Hanlon (0-3,2f); Alan Quigley (0-5, 4f), Derek Mulligan, Conall Smyth. Subs: Jack Mulligan for K Staunton, Bernard Mulligan for P Brennan.<br />
</p>
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