Milford make Irish News final

Danske Bank Irish News Cup semi-final
Loreto Milford 3-10 Our Lady’s & St Patrick’s Knock 1-8
LORETO Milford set down another marker in the MacLarnon Cup series by reaching the league final with victory over Our Lady’s & St Patrick’s Knock at windy Garvaghey yesterday evening.
Knock had a poor first half, scoring just three points and were 3-7 to 0-3 down at the break, but they had 70% of the second half possession and held Milford to just three points although they could not reel in the Donegal boys.
The cross-field wind may have made life difficult but it was Milford’s quick counter-attacking that really caught out Knock in the opening half.
Johnny McGroddy scored the opening goal in the fifth minute, Mark Gallagher added a second in the 13th and Matthew McLaughlin scored a third a few minutes from the break and the north Donegal side were very comfortable leaders at the turnaround.
However they were far from impressive during the second half as Knock tried to claw back that advantage although McGroddy continued to cause trouble, supported by defenders Dean McBride and Evan Colman with Liam McGrenaghan also working hard.
Knock’s Joe Tunney was a driving force and he scored their goal midway through the second half, while Finn Collins and Josh Gray were others to catch the eye.
Milford await the winner from the second semi-final tomorrow at the Dub between St Pius X Magherafelt and Our Lady’s Castleblayney while Knock will await the draw for the MacLarnon quarter-finals at the end of the month.
Loreto : Johnny McGrddy (1-8, 0-6 frees), Mark Gallagher (1-0), Matthew McLaughlin (1-0), Aaron Reid (0-1), Ciaran Moore (0-1)
Knock : Joe Tunney (1-5, 0-3 frees), Finn Collins (0-1), Emmet Rodgers (0-1), Shea Haughey (0-1).