Parador Lounge Down JFC Semi-finals
Kilclief 5-16 St Paul’s 2-14
Drumaness 3-18 East Belfast 3-13
By Peter McGrath Jnr
DRUMANESS and Kilclief will do battle in this year’s Junior Championship final. Drumaness were the first to qualify, putting in a fine attacking display to beat East Belfast on Sunday afternoon, while a strong finish saw Kilclief outscore St Paul’s on Monday night to qualify for a second successive junior decider.
Drumaness had to show all their experience to ward off the challenge of East Belfast who fell at the semi-final stage again in championship football. Joe O’Hagan and Oran Carew were to the fore in the scoring stakes.
O’Hagan’s 53rd minute goal finally helped Drumaness into a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Ben Cassidy was a constant threat driving forward from the half back line, Conor Armstrong provided an attacking pivot at full forward and Owen Madine stood out across the hour. Marc Reid reminded everyone of his capabilities at times too, a crucial second half two pointer one of the games’ key scores.
Kilclief and St Paul’s also went toe to toe for long spells of their semi-final on Monday evening.
Trailing by a point with ten minutes to half-time, an Eoin King two-pointer and Callum Shields goal helped wrestle momentum back their way.
The lead went to five before being clawed back to three and St Paul’s missed other chances to close the gap further before half-time. The Holywood men did retake the lead in the second half after a Finn Collins goal and a Kieffer Morgan point.
In the final quarter, Eoin Kelly showed his class close to the posts as Kilclief banged in late goals to secure the win. They return to the junior final for the second year in a row and will hope, this time, they can come away with a more positive outcome.
In the semi-finals, both finalists scored a combined 8-34 (Kilclief 5-16; Drumaness 3-18) but each also showed frailty at the back.
This sets the final up perfectly for a very open contest and, in recent years, the Junior Championship final has consistently been the most open, entertaining and closest of the football finals across the three grades.
This year has the potential to be another cracking contest.
