Goals key to Maghera’s Rannafast win

Danske Bank Rannafast Cup semi-final
St Patrick’s Maghera 5-6 St Colman’s Newry 1-10
TWO Cathal Chambers goals inside two minutes at the start of the second half opened a gap for St Patrick’s Maghera in their semi-final Derrytresk and opponents St Colman’s Newry simply couldn’t close that gap over the remaining 28 minutes.
In a game where both teams were missing scoring chances particularly from frees, the Maghera goals were crucial to slowing down a Newry side that dominated the opening 20 minutes and led by 1-3 to 0-1 – although they could well have been further ahead.
Callum O’Neill scored the goal after 12 minutes and Oisin Logan finished the half with three points, Dara O’Neill and Donal Scullion also on target.
However Maghera got back into contention when Jude Moore grabbed a 22nd minute goal and right on half-time St Colman’s conceded a penalty which Cathal Chambers converted to tie the teams at 2-2 to 1-6.
And Maghera continued on the re-start where they left off with Chambers shooting two goals in the opening two minutes of the half. They then added two points (Chambers and Cormac Mullan) and had pulled clear of St Colman’s.
The Newry side had to chase the game and, by pushing up, they left gaps at the back which Maghera were able to exploit.
Donal Scullion tagged on two points, Logan and sub Michael Murdock two more, but that work was undone with a breakaway goal from Jack McGroarty that sealed the win and set up a south Derry final for the end of next week.
St Patrick’s : Cathal Chambers (3-2, 1-0 pen.), Jude Moore (1-0), Jack McGroarty (1-0), Peter McCullagh (0-1), Cormac Mullan (0-1), Patrick McGurk (0-1).
St Colman’s : Callum O’Neill (1-0), Oisin Lagan (0-4), Donal Scullion (0-3), Dara O’Neill (0-2), Michael Murdock (0-1)