There was no joy for Monaghan minor champions St Colmans when they travelled to Belfast on Sunday 4th December to take on the Donegal champions in the quarter-final of the O'Neills sponsored Ulster Minor football tournament that is played annually at Shaw's Road. The Monaghan champions never really got into this game after Killybegs had more or less caught them cold with a scintillating first half performance and while the Monaghan champions improved considerably in the second half they never really looked like turning it around. Gary Boyd led by example in midfield and was up there among the best players on view. He got best support from Darren Bishop at centre half forward, Liam Atkinson at centre back and Conor McManus in the full forward line but in they were struggling a little in quite a number of other positions. The Donegal champions on the other hand were able to put some fine flowing moves together and never looked like being caught. Ulster Club Minor Football Tournament quarter final Killybegs 1-11 St Colman's 0-5 A whirlwind first half performance, against the breeze, swept Killybegs to a 1-11 to 0-5 victory over Monaghan champions St Colman's in the quarter-final at Rossa Pitch on Shaw's Road in Belfast. The Donegal champions turned in a superb show over the opening 30 minutes after which they led by 1-7 to 0-1 to lay the solid foundations of victory. St Colman's, a combination of Clontibret and Cremartin, bravely fought back in the second period but could never really threaten. Killybegs, seeking their third outright success in the St Paul's-organised competition, were, by far, the more compact side. Their use of the ball was economical with passing moves carving out early lanes through the opposition defence. It took St Colman's the entire first half to get to grips with the situation but in midfield player Gary Boyd and centre-back Liam Atkinson they had two of the stars of the game. However, it was the better balance of the winners that was evident as they found each other with deft passes when storming forward. Up front, St Colman's lacked finishing power as half-a-dozen times they dropped the ball short into goalkeeper Killian Byrne's hands instead of chalking up points. Those misses allowed the Donegal boys to launch attacks with downfield sweeping movements. St Colman's did have a hard worker in centre-forward Darren Bishop but even he was guilty of failing to put the ball over the bar. Two points by Chris Murrin and Brian McNally in the opening two minutes shot Killybegs off to a good start and after Liam McVicker pointed a St Colman's free-kick it was all Donegal scoring to the break. Half-back Paul McGinley sent over a long-range effort on five minutes and in the ninth minute Pauric Breslin flashed the ball to the Monaghan net. In a downfield raid Gerard McHugh rapped the post with a low drive and Breslin was on hand to first-time the rebound home Brendan Flaherty (2), Brian McCabe and Chris Murrin added further Killybegs points to open a huge 1-7 to 0-1 interval lead. Whatever was said to the Monaghan boys in the dressing room at half-time - or maybe it was the warm soup - worked wonders. They came out a different team after the restart to push Killybegs back into their own half for long periods. Boyd was tower of strength in midfield but still the finishing power was absent with good approach work producing nothing. Winning 'keeper Byrne brought off a good save three minutes after the restart and St Colman's points by Conor McManus (free) and Liam McVicker were offset by two Faherty pointed free-kicks. Faherty pointed another free in the 49th minute, McMahon got one back for the losers and after Faherty scored from play McManus had the last say from a St Colman's placed ball to leave Killybegs easy 1-11 to 0-5 winners. The Donegal champions will meet holders Rostrevor in the semi-final on December 18th. KILLYBEGS - K Byrne; D O'Donnell, S Boyle, J Noctor; P McGinley (0-1), S Coleman, S McBrearty; C Murrin (0-2), C Tully; R McNelis, B Faherty (0-6, 0-3 frees), P Breslin (1-0); B McCabe (0-1), G McHugh (0-1), B Maguire. Subs: S Murrin for G McHugh, M Mullin for R McNelis, G Cunningham for B McCabe. ST COLEMAN'S: A Morgan; P Rooney, C Greenan, J Tomany; P Markey, L Atkinson, F McNally; G Boyd, R Marray; K Brennan, D Bishop, L McVicar (0-2), S McMahon (0-1), C McManus (0-2) R Murphy. Subs: C Fanning for K Brennan, F Duffy for L McVicar. Referee - M Convery (Derry). Tweet

Most Read Stories