Wilson stars as Our Lady’s reach 2nd final in 3 seasons
Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup semi-final
Our Lady’s Castleblayney 2-9 St Pius X Magherafelt 1-10
A sluggish opening half from St Pius X Magherafelt ultimately cost them this Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup semi-final in Derrymacash as 2015 winners Our Lady’s Castleblayney secured their ticket back to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh on St Patrick’s Day.
James Wilson was the key man for Our Lady’s with a 2-5 haul, but there were other impressive performances – from Franck Connolly at the heart of the defence and Aaron Courtney who opened the scoring in the first minute.
St Pius X never really got to grips with the game during the opening half and trailed by 1-6 to 0-1 at the break, but there was an amazing turnaround during the third quarter, Conor Quinn’s 38th minute goal sparking a revival that had them within a point of Our Lady’s entering the last ten minutes.
However Wilson just needed one more chance and the Toome attacker got it in the 51st minute, turning his marker and slotting home his second goal. Although St Pius X rallied with three late scores from Caolan Devlin, Castleblayney had done enough to win their second knock-out match by the minimum margin.
The first half was a succession of scores for Our Lady’s after Courtney’s quick opening point. They were four up, two from Wilson, by the ninth minute when Mark McGrogan finally got Magherafelt off the mark with a free.
Two minutes later however a high ball towards towering full-forward Kieran Duffy wasn’t properly dealt with and Wilson pounced on the rebound.
A slow second quarter followed but Blayney were in control and on the re-start, points from Courtney and Wilson stretched Our Lady’s lead to 1-8 to 0-2.
What followed was a remarkable comeback from St Pius X, a 1-4 haul without reply that left them with momentum and within a point. But Wilson broke that momentum to send his team through to a meeting with St Ciaran’s Ballygawley.
Our Lady’s: Kian O’Connor, Tommy Grehan, Calum Blanche, Sean Markey, Craig Callan, Frank Connolly (0-1f), John Gorman, Tiernan Duffy, Hugh McGinn, Gavin Kelly, David Hanley, Daragh Drury, James Wilson (2-5, 3f), Kieran Duffy, Aaron Courtney (0-3).
Subs: Daniel Caraher for K Duffy (36), Mark Mooney for S Markey (50), S Markey for F Connolly (BC 54), Cormac McKenna for A Courtney (58).
St Pius X: Ronan Cassidy, Paul McCrystal, Aodhan Conway, Jamie Gribben, Iarliath Donaghy, Aaron Rocks, Sean Monaghan, Joseph Maybin, Paudie McGrogan (0-1), Aidan McGlone (0-1), Caolan Devlin (0-7, 4f, 1 sideline), Oran Kerr, Nathan Scullion, Conor Quinn (1-0), Mark McGrogan (0-1f).
Subs: Ciaran McKeever for O Kerr (28), Eoin Lynn for C McKeever (46), Oran Kerr for I Donaghy (59).
Referee: Kieran Eannetta (Tyrone).
