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Killyclogher Snatch Last Minute Dramatic Championship Draw
Saturday 21.09.2024
Last day out on the opening round of the championship and Killyclogher snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a final seconds goal against Omagh. Friday night under the lights in Omagh in front of a bumper crowd, three points down and seemingly heading out of the competition a last minute goal from the hand of substitute Oisin Mc Cann and they turned a three point deficit into a replay winning draw against pre match favourites Carrickmore.
No doubt Killyclogher’s powers of recovery were mentioned a few times at Carrickmore training in the lead up to this game. No doubt they will be mentioned once again as the men in green and gold somehow afforded their opponents the time and space to create the match saving pass from Conall Mc Cann. It may have come very late in the game but it was the least Killyclogher deserved after both sides contributed fully to a real championship battle.
The teams were level twice inside the opening ten minutes as the strong running and pace of Nathan Donnelly, Tiernan Mc Cann and Matthew Murnaghan drove the men in blue forward at every opportunity. Early points from Donnelly and Michael Rafferty were cancelled out by scores from man of the match Tiarnan Murray and Lorcan Mc Garrity.
There was plenty of excitement as both sides played on the front foot. Killyclogher had a goal disallowed for square ball but by the nineteenth minute both sides had found the net with Gavin Potter on target for Killyclogher and Rory Donnelly on target for Carrickmore.
The pace of the game was superb as both teams went in search of scores at every opportunity. Dara Hayes and Daniel Fullerton swapped points before Mark Flanagan concluded the first half scoring with a fine point to send the sides in at the break with Killyclogher leading 1-6 to 1-4.
Carrickmore were slow to emerge from the dressing rooms after the break but when they did they dominated the first fifteen minutes of the half. Killyclogher failed to lay a glove on them as Tiarnan Murray and James Donaghy created mayhem in their opponents defence.
Five unanswered points from Lorcan Mc Garrity (2), Sean Donnelly, Murray and Danny Fullerton turned the game very much in Carrickmore’s favour. Killyclogher needed to stop the rot and as has happened often enough before it was a Mark Bradley score that temporarily lifted the siege.
Rory Loughran made it a three point game once more with a fine finish before Bradley reduced the gap to a single score after two sublime efforts. The diminutive forward won balls he had no right to and found space that was not there before fisting one over and then landing an audacious score to reduce the gap to one. Many in the huge crowd were probably hoping for a replay and more of the same but Carrickmore looked to have put the game beyond their opponents with late points from Lorcan Mc Garrity and substitute Martin Penrose.
With the clock showing thirty two minutes of the second half played and entering the last of three added minutes Killyclogher needed to dig deep and that is exactly what they did. Conall Mc Cann had the presence of mind and where with all to get in behind the Carrickmore defence and play the ball across the square where brother Oisin arrived in time to flick it to the net for the equalising score.
Carrickmore looked somewhat dazed as Killyclogher celebrated another last minute escape .
There will be plenty of soul searching and questions asked over the coming days but after such a gladiatorial contest both sides deserved at least a replay.
The Tyrone GAA public will get a chance to do it all over again with the replay scheduled for Thursday under the superb lights of Healy Park.
Final Score: Carrickmore 1-12, Killyclogher 2-9
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