NEWTOWN BLUES 1-19
GERALDINES 2-13

Reigning champions, Newtown Blues were given a huge fright by a gallant Geraldines outfit before finally securing a place in the Senior Championship semi-final.

The clash between the 2013 senior and intermediate champions in Dunleer on Sunday evening turned out to be a highly entertaining encounter with the result in doubt right up to the dying moments.

However, in the end the Drogheda men showed their big game experience as they just edged the contest with late points from Robert Carr and Jimmy Murray helping them set up a mouth-watering clash with St Patricks in the last four.

The early indications were that this would be a straightforward assignment for the Blues as Colm Judge's opening point was followed by two from Robert Carr to ease the Drogheda men into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead.

However, the Gers grabbed the initiative and goals from Jim McEneaney and Josh Arrowsmith helped them take a deserved 2-3 to 0-4 lead inside 20 minutes. To make matters worse for the champions, they also lost Colm Judge to an ankle injury during the first quarter.

However, his side responded well and kicked five unanswered points with Carr and Hugh McGinn leading the charge tie the game up at 2-3 to 0-9. After the next two points were shared it looked as if the team would go into the break on terms but the Blues showed quality with an injury-time blitz that saw them score 1-1 from Derek Kierans followed by a Hugh McGinn point to lead by 1-12 to 2-4 at half time.

The five-point deficit didn't reflect the Gers first half efforts but they moved quickly in the second half to set the record straight with three points on the bounce.

The Blues responded by increasing the gap to four but with McEneaney and Shane O'Hanlon in fine scoring form the game was level at 1-15 to 2-12 entering the closing stages.

The Drogheda men edged two clear before the Gers left the game in the balance once again with another point, but Carr and Murray struck late on to secure their team's passage into the last four.

NEWTOWN BLUES: Conor Barton; Aidan O'Brien, Eoghan Judge, Andrew Tinley; John Connolly, Andy McDonnell 0-1, James Murray 0-1; John Kermode, Keith Lynch; Cormac McQuillan, Hugh McGinn 0-8, Robert Carr 0-5; Keith Arnold 0-1, Conor Brannigan, Colm Judge 0-1. Subs: Derek Kierans 1-1 for C Judge, Barry Sharkey 0-1 for C McQuillan, Niall Costello fro J Murray, Conor Moore for C Brannigan, Emmet Judge for A McDonnell.

GERALDINES: Nathaniel Cooney; Ryan Trainor, Nicky Mackin, Gareth Neacy; Jack Trainor, Gerard Hoey, James Craven; Michael Rogers, Stephen Reidy 0-1; Josh Arrowsmith 1-0, Shane O'Hanlon 0-5, Matthew Corcoran; Conall Hoey, Jim McEneaney 1-7, Glen Traynor. Subs: Sean Watters for R Trainor, Kevin Pepper for J Trainor, Cathal O'Brien for M Corcoran.

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