David Morgan scored 2-4 from play as Donaghmore/Ashbourne proved too good for Nobber in the second Lagan Group IFC semi-final at Pairc Tailteann and booked a final date with Castletown. Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-10 Nobber 1-8 Morgan's second goal arrived in the last meaningful action of the game and stamped out a Nobber rally that cut a six points deficit to the minimum as the clocked ticked into stoppage time. The full-forward's first goal came six minutes after the restart when he slipped the ball past Nobber netminder Barry McEntee having gathered on long delivery from impressive midfielder Eoin Reilly. That left it 1-7 to 0-5 and when Reilly placed Andrew Tormay for a point in the 42nd minute it was 1-9 to 0-6. Colin Clarke and Gavin Farrelly began to get a grip around the middle of the field and Nobber enjoyed a good spell hitting 1-2 without reply between the 48th and 52nd minutes. The Nobber goal arrived in the 49th minute when a wayward low drive from Brian Farrell was diverted to the Donaghmore/Ashbourne net by Jamie Owens. But an Alan Farrell point from a '45' proved to be Nobber's last hurrah and the same player was narrowly off target with an attempt to level matters with a free kick from a slightly longer range in the first minute of added time. Had Andy McEntee's charges lost, they would have been left to rue 12 wides while Nobber managed just three. At the interval the wide count was 7-0 while the scoreboard read 0-7 to 0-5 to the eventual winners. While Morgan did most of the scoring for Donaghmore/Ashbourne, five of his team mates also got off the mark. Apart from Brian Farrell, Andrew Hayes was the only Nobber player to get more than a single score. Nobber's Gordon Weldon passed up three great goal chances in the second period. Moments after the restart he steered the ball wide at the town end. Later he had another attempt deflected for a '45' and then with the minimum margin between the sides he fired a shot at Donaghmore/Ashbourne 'keeper Padraig Durkan. Also in the final quarter a Colin Clarke goal attempt was comfortably dealt with by Durkan. Despite going behind to an early Niall Farrell free, Nobber bounced back and led by 0-3 to 0-1 after eight minutes. When Hayes sent over his second point, it was 0-4 to 0-2 to Ciaran Conlon's charges. Then Donaghmore/Ashbourne took control and his five points on the spin with two efforts from Morgan, one with either foot in first-half stoppage time being the highlights. Nobber's Michael O'Halloran was stretchered off with a leg injury after 22 minutes and a 19 minute scoring blank was ended when Brian Farrell cut in from the left before firing over the bar on the call of half-time. That score didn't lift Nobber sufficiently and Donaghmore/Ashbourne got those crucial scores just after the restart that set them deservedly on their way to the final. Donaghmore/Ashbourne - P. Durkan; J. Long, C. McGill, P. Finn; S. Harmon, C. Byrne, E. Riordan; E. Reilly (0-1), R. O'Connor; A. Tormey (0-1), I. Dowd (0-1), J. Broderick (0-1); K. Lanigan (0-1), D. Morgan (2-4), N. Farrell (0-1, free). Sub - E. Carroll for Lanigan (51 mins). Nobber - B. McEntee; M. O'Halloran, B. O'Reilly, A. O'Brien; P. McEntee, P. Clarke, P. Weldon; C. Clarke, G. Farrelly; B. Heffernan, A. Farrell (0-1, '45'), A. Hayes (0-2); J. Owens (1-0), B. Farrell (0-5, 3 frees), G. Weldon. Subs - C. Barry for O'Halloran (23 mins), D. Lambe for Hayes (50 mins). Referee - J. Gordon (Walterstown). Tweet

Most Read Stories