IFC round-up: Brides through as quarter-finals decided
July 28, 2014
Ross Kehoe St Brides
Having lost to Glyde Rangers in the opening encounter, Roche needed victory to reach the knock-out stages but the Knockbridge men had just too much for them in the end. As a result, Glyde will play in the last eight while Roche face the dreaded relegation play-offs.
The game started well for Roche as Barry O'Hare hit the net in the seventh minute to give them a 1-0 to 0-1 lead. However, they were unable to build on that score and almost immediately Stephen Hilliard raised a green flag at the other end to help his side a 1-6 to 1-3 lead at the break.
The game remained close through the second half and in the closing minutes Roche had cut the gap to 1-9 to 1-8 but they were unable to get back in front and a Paddy Reilly's fifth point of the game sealed the win.
St Mochtas are also through to the knock-out stages after they held off a Nh Malachi revival to claim a four-point win at Dunleer on Sunday afternoon. Once again Declan Byrne was the scorer-in-chief as he finished with a personal tally of 12 points in a 1-15 to 3-5 win.
The Louth Village men began well and scored the first goal of the game through Philip Englishby. Although the Malachis hit back almost immediately with a Tiarnan Gonnelly goal on 23 minutes, the kicking of Byrne helped the Mochtas take a commanding 1-9 to 1-3 lead into the interval.
That advantage was wiped out inside six minutes thanks to goals from Ronan McElroy and Jason Clarke. Boosted by those scores, the Malachis enjoyed a good share of possession but wasted a series of chances.
St Mochtas took advantage in the closing stages and late points from Byrne and Danny Kindlon put them through to the last eight and sent the Malachis to the relegation play-off.
St Fechins clinched the final place in the Intermediate Championship quarter-finals when they held on to defeat St Josephs by 0-11 to 0-10 at Dunleer.
Their reward for victory is a meeting with St Mochtas, while runners-up St Josephs will take on Group 3 winners Hunterstown Rovers.
St Josephs were already guaranteed to progress so all the focus was on the performance of St Fechins. The Termonfeckin men started with determination not to let their chance slip as they fired over the first four points, with Ronan Holcroft among the scorers.
However, the Joes finally got into their stride and with the help of points from Alan Quigley and Alan McKenna, they drew level, but the Fechins finished the half on top to lead by 0-6 to 0-5.
The greater hunger of the Termonfeckin side was obvious in the second half as they stretched the gap to 0-11 to 0-7 in the closing stages. The Joes did hit back with the final three points, and almost snatched top spot but Alan McKenna's long range free was wide.
The results mean the quarter-final draw is as follows:
Hunterstown Rovers v St Josephs
St Fechins v St Mochtas
Clan na Gael v Glyde Rangers
St Brides v Sean O'Mahonys Tweet
