GORMLEY U PVC SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Clontibret 0-19
Carrickmacross 1-11

Reigning champions, Clontibret, made a strong opening statement in the defence of their title when they powered their way to victory over Carrickmacross in Inniskeen on Friday evening last. Central to their victory was the virtuoso display of Conor McManus who put on an exhibition of point scoring that helped the champions pull away in the second-half. McManus scored 11 points in all, six from frees, and proved a real handful for the Carrickmacross defence with various players deployed to try and limit his influence but to little avail. McManus finished top scorer in the senior championship last year and opened his account as early as the first minute of this game, a match that developed into a cracking contest in the wide open spaces of Pairc Grattan. It wasn't just a one man show though as great team work and support play was a feature of Clontibret's strategy and on this display they will again be a team to be reckoned with in deciding the destination of the Mick Duffy Cup this year. Clontibret got down to business right from the start and open an early 3 points lead but Carrickmacross sprang to life with a goal by Andrew Callan in the 14th minute and they went on from there to lead on five occasions as the first half developed into an exhilarating affair with some great fielding, excellent tackling, great passing movements and excellent scores with the game played at a helter-skelter pace. Clontibret were forced to field without the services of Vincent Corey who is still out injured but John Paul Mone started on the 40 and played a crucial role in Clontibret consolidating during the second-half. Dessie Mone too was one of the stars of the show with some great defensive work as well as breaking forward to boost the attack and scored three excellent points from play. Clontibret started with two minor players in their line out, Pauric Boyle at wing halfback and David Savage and both acquitted themselves extremely well. Anthony Rooney and Paul McGuigan worked tirelessly in midfield but it was up front where Clontibret really possessed the greater firepower with great displays by Fergal Mone and Eoin Greenan supplementing the genius of Conor McManus. Carrickmacross though can take heart from this performance despite losing the game but they will need to be wary of dropping off as they did in the second-half when legs seemed to tire. They were forced to field without the services of James Conlon and they sorely missed his presence in midfield although Peter O'Hanlon and Mark McNally stuck manfully to the task. Up-front Stephen Gollogly worked tirelessly throughout with good support from the Downey brothers, Mark and Sean, but they found themselves running into increasingly heavy traffic as Clontibret moved things around in the second half and they also missed a couple of good chances from frees. Conor McManus scored the first of his 11 points in the opening minute and Clontibret were off target twice in quick succession before McManus notched his second at the end of a counter attack that was started by Colin Duffy who got in some timely tackles and interceptions throughout the match. Another attack in the fifth minute started by Martin Corey saw Dessie Mone break through for the first of his three points to put Clontibret three in front after five minutes. Within a minute though that lead had evaporated completely as Peter O'Hanlon and Stephen Gollogly contrived an opening for Andrew Callan whose shot found the bottom left-hand corner of the Clontibret net to bring the sides level for the first time. Carrickmacross then went on to take the lead for the first time with a good point from Sean Downey after excellent work from Mark Downey and Patrick Lonergan but two minutes later in the ninth minute Conor McManus brought Clontibret bread level with an excellent point from out on the left wing. It was a very even contest at this stage with Carrickmacross driving forward and Stephen Gollogly fouled with Patrick Lonergan converting to restore Carrickmacross to the lead. From the kick out Sean Downey was an excellent position to put them two points up but his shot dropped short to Paul McElroy. A minute later in the 12th he had another chance and made better use of it to put Carrickmacross two in front. By the 17th minute though Clontibret were back to parity with two points from frees by Conor McManus. Again Carrickmacross responded with a lively period that saw Sean Downey converting a free for a foul on Ronan McMahon but within a minute Clontibret were level when Rodney Gorman on Fergal Mone combined to put Anthony Rooney in the clear that he finished well. Again Carrickmacross took the initiative with a point from a free by Stephen Gollogly following a foul on Mark McNally putting them in front for the fourth time in the first half and they were in front again on 24 minutes following an exchange of points between Dessi Mone and Stephen Gollogly from a '45. That though was the last time that Carrickmacross were to be in front with Clontibret finishing the half strongly for three unanswered points, two by Conor McManus, one from a free and the other an excellent finish by Eoin Greenan following good work by Rodney Gorman and Dessie Mone to leave the half-time score Clontibret 0-11, Carrickmacross 1-6.
Three minutes into the second-half Fergal Mone put Clontibret three points in front but two minutes later Carrickmacross had the margin down to two when Mark Downey made the most of a chance that fell to him as Clontibret lost possession coming out of defence. Carrickmacross exerted further pressure and it took an excellent block by Dessie Mone to deny Gary McEnaney. A point from a free by Conor McManus in the seventh minute following a foul on Dessie Mone that saw Carrickmacross full back James McGeown pick up a yellow card, restored Clontibret to a three points lead. Four minutes later Conor McManus played a short free to Dessie Mone and he put Clontibret four up, McManus then on target himself a minute later at the end of a move involving Dessie and Fergal Mone as Clontibret upped the tempo. That little flurry put Clontibret five points in front but by the end of the third quarter Carrickmacross had the margin down to three with two points in quick succession, both from frees, one by Andrew Callan for a foul on Peter O'Hanlon and the other by Stephen Gollogly following a foul on Patrick Lonergan. A lightning Clontibret counter attack initiated by Darach Mooney got an early ball in to Fergal Mone who was hauled down and Conor McManus obliged from the free to restore Clontibret to a four points lead. Anthony Rooney and Paul McGuigan powered forward as the game entered the final 10 minutes with Rooney fouled and McManus again obliging to put Clontibret five in front. Carrickmacross though were not finished as Stephen Gollogly kept them in touch with an excellent point from out in the left corner but the standard of play had dropped a little at this stage and both sides were guilty of poor finishing at the end of promising moves. Wing back Pauric Boyle came through in support and picked off an excellent point for Clontibret following further good work by Paul McGuigan. Back came Carrickmacross with Andrew Callan reducing the margin to four in the 26th minute but Carrickmacross now needed a goal to salvage the situation. To their credit they kept pushing forward but an effort from Mark McNally dropped short and they had a chance to reduce the margin further when Martin Corey was adjudged to have over carried but Andrew Callan was wide from the free. Four points still separated the sides going into the three minutes of stoppage time that were added but Carrickmacross could make no further inroads with Clontibret finishing on a high note as Dessie Mone again drove forward to place substitute Shane Mulligan for the final score of the game that left five points between the sides at the finish and Clontibret worthy winners.
Teams and Scorers: Clontibret: Paul McElroy, Colin Duffy, Colum Greenan, Martin Corey, Darach Mooney, Dessie Mone 0-3, Pauric Boyle 0-1, Anthony Rooney 0-1, Paul McGuigan, Rodney Gorman, John Paul Mone, David Savage, Fergal Mone 0-1, Eoin Greenan 0-1, Conor McManus 0-11 (6f). Subs: Cathal Leonard D Savage, Shane Mulligan 0-1 for P Boyle.
Carrickmacross: Niall McCarthy, John McNally, James McGeown, Cillian Cromwell, Neil McEnaney, Gary McEnaney, Eoin Sherry, Peter O'Hanlon, Mark McNally, Patrick Lonergan 0-1 (f), Stephen Gollogly 0-4 (2f,'45), Ronan McMahon, Andrew Callan 1-2 (0-1f), Mark Downey 0-1, Sean Downey 0-3 (1f). Subs: Paul Conlon for J McNally, David Fox for P Lonergan, Ciaran Ward for J McGeown. Referee: Damien Helferty (Truagh). Tweet

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