Ballymachugh 2-13
Munterconnacht 2-12

A late free from Richard Fitzsimons proved the difference for Ballymachugh in the end as they edged past Munterconnacht in the junior championship this evening at Kingspan Breffni Park.

Stephen Baxter's men dug their deepest in the dying stages to grind out this win after surrendering an early second-half lead which had wiped out a two-point deficit at half-time.

Had Mark Kiernan not netted on the eve of half-time to cancel out Stephen Sheridan's effort on the half-hour mark it could have been a different ball game, but the winners battled on bravely in the second-half with Fitzsimons' sound free-taking keeping them in front and after James Kiernan goaled in the 51st minute they had enough to get over the line, despite a late major from Munchies' talisman John McCabe.

Ballymachugh started in decent fashion, opening with three scores in the first six minutes via Alan Donohoe and full-forward Fitzsimons (2).

Darragh Carroll had Munterconnacht off the mark on seven minutes with a fine effort and the corner-forward repeated the trick a minute later. A McCabe free followed and the former county senior steered the Munchies into their first by the 12th minute before Killian Smith levelled at the other end.

Carroll was having plenty of joy at this stage though and landed his third point from play off the back of a quickly taken free given away by Vincent Ellis, who was red-carded by referee Tony Gregory for the afters.

Mark Kiernan and McCabe (free) traded  frees to keep the difference at the minimum and when Carroll opened up a first two-point lead for the blue and whites they looked to be on course.

In a sour twist, however, Carroll would too see red for striking out at an opponent but it didn't seem to derail his team mates all too much as they had the ball in the back of Ballymachugh's net within two minutes following a nice sweeping move which saw Stephen Sheridan send the ball in low off his left boot.

It didn't put the fight out of Stephen Baxter's men though. They grinded in the added minutes to raise a green flag of their own which saw Mark Kiernan quickest to pounce after a high ball into the square wasn't dealt with, leaving it at 1-7 to 1-5 in Munterconnacht's favour at the break.

Two Fitzsimons frees had Ballymachugh level after three minutes of the restart and they made the most of open gaps in their opponents' defence to regain the lead and double it by the 35th minute via reliable outlets Mark Kiernan and Fitzsimmons.

Padraic O'Dwyer grabbed a badly required score at the other end to help stem the tide and when Danny Nolan sent over a sweetly struck '45' it squared the sides for the fourth time.

McCabe and James Kiernan swapped frees to keep it even heading into the final quarter, where it was a brave burst through the centre from Shane O'Reilly that gave the Munchies their lead back. Another placed ball from McCabe doubled it but there was simply no keeping 'the Hughs' down as they made the most of a break up field which saw a blocked shot land in the path of James Kiernan and he tucked it away to the net nicely.

Darragh Kiernan and Fitzsimons (free) raised white flags to swell the advantage to three, much to the delight of the Ballymachugh support, as time began to run out on James Cole's team.

Trailing by that deficit a goal was needed, and the trailers would play ping pong with Ballymachugh's posts late on before eventually getting the green flag when some quick thinking from McCabe saw him blast his 25-metre free to the back of the net.

The goal gave Munterconnacht a chance in the dying stages, but a Fitzsimons free a minute from time kept them at bay and booked a coveted spot for Ballymachugh in the next round.

Ballymachugh: Paddy Baxter; Vincent Ellis, Micheal Halton, Brendan McLarney; Christopher Rooney, Anthony Baxter, Finbarr Sheridan; Liam Buchannon, Darragh Kiernan (0-2); Alan Donohoe (0-1), Killian Smith (0-1), James Henry-Fitzsimons; James Kiernan (1-1), Richard Fitzsimons (0-6, 5f), Mark Kiernan (1-2). Sub: Padraig Galligan for A Donohoe (60mins).

Munterconnacht: James Baugh; Sean Meehan, Terry McCabe, Brian Cullen; Padraic O'Dwyer (0-1), Tadgh Morrissey, Niall McHugo; Sean Nolan, Danny Nolan (0-1, '45); Jack Lawless, Stephen Sheridan (1-0), Eoin O'Shea; Shane O'Reilly (0-1), John McCabe (1-5, 5f), Darragh Carroll (0-4). Subs: Declan Hetherton for S Nolan (3mins, b/c), Mark Flynn for N McHugo (37), Conor Cooney for B Cullen (56).

Ref: Tony Gregory (Bailieborough)

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