Ulster club SFC: four off as Ballinderry down Kilcoo
November 17, 2013
Kilcoo's Ryan Scott and Ballinderry's Paul Devlin
©INPHO/Presseye/Russell Pritchard
Kilcoo (Down) 0-9
Ballinderry and Kilcoo both finished with 13 men as the Derry champions qualified for their first Ulster club SFC final since 2008 at the Athletic Grounds.
Martin McKinless' side laid the foundations for their win in the first period when Michael McIver's goal helped them to a 1-5 to 0-1 lead after 18 minutes. But the main talking point afterwards was the four red cards brandished by referee Martin Higgins.
Ballinderry had experienced defender Kevin McGuckin sent off on a straight red in the 22th minute, and he was followed for an early shower by Ryan Scott after he received a second yellow 11 minutes into the second half.
Conquerors of Crossmaglen after a replay, a weary Kilcoo also finished with 13 players after Ryan Johnston and Paul Greenan were sent off for separate incidents late on.
Darragh O'Hanlon opened the scoring for Kilcoo from a free, but it was all Ballinderry after that as they hit 1-5 without reply. McIver and Daniel McKinless had both missed glorious chances before the former finally raised a green flag to put the Derry men in control.
Kilcoo rallied to trail by 0-4 to 1-6 at the break, and further scores from subs Jerome Johnston and Sean Devlin left just a goal in it after the restart. But they couldn't get any closer as McIver kicked the insurance point before the late dismissals ended the Down champions' challenge.
Ballinderry - M Conlan; R Scott, C Nevin, M McIver (1-2); R Wilson, G McKinless, D Lawn; K McGuckin, J Conway; D McKinless, K M McGuckin, D McGuckin (0-1); C Devlin (0-3f), R Bell (0-2), C Gilligan (0-2). Subs: D Conway for K M McGuckin, E Muldoon for Gilligan, A Devlin for D McKinless, F Bell for D McGuckin, P Crozier for Wilson.
Kilcoo - S Kane; N Branagan, N McEvoy, D Branagan; D O'Hanlon (0-3f), S O'Hanlon (0-1), Gerard McEvoy; P Greenan, A Branagan; P Devlin (0-2, 1f), N Morgan, R Johnston; J McClean, C Laverty (0-1), Gary McEvoy. Subs: J Johnston (0-1) for Morgan, S Devlin (0-1) for McClean.
Referee - M Higgins. Tweet
