Templeport 3-14
Mountnugent 0-10

Well-timed goals helped Templeport always stay in control against a plucky Mountnugent in today's junior football championship semi-final at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Eoghan Doonan's early goal was all that separated these sides at half-time, as Mountnugent soon came to terms with the intensity which their opponents brought straight from the throw-in before being devastated by back-to-back goals during a profitable second-half stint for the Bawnboy contingent.

It sets up an intriguing decider between Templeport and Cornafean at the end of the month, with the latter having already defeated Fintan Reilly's men in the group stages earlier in the competition

It was the west Cavan side that made the perfect start to this last four clash, finding the net after 16 seconds through Doonan when Lasse Morgenroth's quick free from centre-field put the speedy wing forward through and he buried past Liam Smyth in the Mountnugent goal.

A Ben Kiernan free moved Templeport four in front after two minutes but their opponents soon came into the contest with points from corner-back Kevin Plunkett, Ciaran Caffrey and Liam Hennessy (free).

Doonan could have erased all that good work soon after, only for his close range goal effort to somehow fly wide, which was a major let off for the Meath border side.

Mountnugent stayed close to their western counterparts instead, with Hennessy sound from frees and Plunkett landing his second to keep the difference to two after overs from Ben Kiernan and Galligan (free). Some great composure from Liam McAweeney saw him cross to Benjamin Kelly for his sole point of the afternoon, before Galligan got his first from play with the interval approaching.

That looked to be a profitable spell for Reilly's charges but there'd still only be a score between them by the halfway stage after Hennessy stroked over his third free, leaving it at 1-6 to 0-6.

Mountnugent were much the better side in the early stages of the second-half ahead of running into an inevitable haymaker from their opponents' danger forwards.

Ciaran Caffrey and Hennesy (2) made it a one-point game within seven minutes of the restart and on the evidence it looked as though Anthony Monaghan's side were the more likely to kick on.

The men from St Aidan's Park still had more ways to hurt the underdogs though and in a three-minute spell the game was over as a contest.

The first blow for Mountnugent came on 41 minutes when splendid work from Doonan put Galligan through for goal and within 60 seconds the ball was in Smyth's net again, leaving the trailers with a mountainous task indeed.

Doonan got his toe to a long ball another long ball sent in by Kiernan to net a low finish to the net and to pile on the misery Mountnugent lost midfielder Darren Hennessy to a red card shortly after, seemingly for lashing out at an opponent.

There was no coming back from that triple blow for Monaghan's players, as Doonan (3), Donal Maguire (2) and sub Ciaran McManus got in some shooting practice before the big showdown with Laurence Brady's Reds on September 27th.

Templeport: Daniel Shannon; Brendan McGoldrick, Sean Dolan, Michael Devine; Lasse Morgenroth, Benjamin Kelly (0-1), Dillon Raythorne; Martin Ball, Oran Duffy; Eoghan Doonan (2-3), Ben Kiernan (0-3, 2f), Donal Maguire (0-2); Killian Smith (0-1), Liam McAweeney, Liam Galligan (0-4, 2f). Subs: Ciaran McManus (0-1) for L Morgenroth (33mins), Martin Baxter for B Kelly (48), Jim Kiernan for O Duffy (50), Conor McAweeney for D Maguire (59).

Mountnugent: Liam Smyth; Frank Conaty, Thomas Brady, Kevin Plunkett (0-2); Raymond Finnegan, Thomas McCabe, Ciaran McCabe; Darren Hennessy, Ciaran Caffrey (0-2); Mark Rehill (0-1), Josh O'Reilly, David Sheridan; Liam Hennessy (0-5, 4f), Adam Rehill, Ronan Kearney. Subs: Ronan Caffrey for K Plunkett (47mins), Robert McCabe for D Sheridan (57), Eoghan Smyth for T Brady (58).

Ref: Conor Dourneen (Ballinagh)

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