Antrim
Goalkeeper Kevin Mullan was Portglenone’s hero in their 1-10 to 0-11 victory over St. Gall’s in the Northern Switchgear Antrim SFC quarter-final. He made two crucial saves, the best of them coming early in the second half to deny Niall Burns from close range. St. Gall’s missed two other goal-chances whereas Portglenone took the one that came their way when Aidan McAleese hit the back of the net for their only score of the first half.
In the three other quarter-finals Ruairi McCann inspired Kickhams Creggan to a 1-14 to 1-10 win over Rossa, Dunloy resisted a second-half rally from St. Brigid’s to win by 0-14 to 0-13, while reigning champions Cargin enjoyed a comfortable 4-20 to 0-9 win over Aghagallon.
The Antrim SFC semi-final line-up is as follows:
- Cargin v Kickhams Creggan
- Portglenone v Dunloy
Armagh
St. Peter’s, Carrickcruppen, Killeavy, and Madden are all through to the quarter-finals of the Cormac Leonard Commercials Armagh SFC after weekend wins. Killeavy produced the stand-out performance in their 1-21 to 1-12 win over Mullaghbawn. Exciting young forwards Fergal Boylan and Aron Magennis notched 1-6 and 0-4 respectively for the Stevie McDonnell’s team.
St. Peter’s showed character to come from seven points down to defeat Culloville by 1-14 to 2-10. Niall McConville started the comeback with four points early in the second half while James Moore kicked the late winner.
An Eoin Woods goal was the key score as Carrickcruppen defeated Granemore by 1-10 to 0-10. Madden were impressive in their 0-25 to 1-08 win over Armagh Harps, hiting 13 points without reply either side of the half-time whistle to comfortably book their place in the last eight.
The Armagh SFC quarter-final line-up is as follows:
- Maghery v Madden
- Cullyhanna v St. Peter’s
- Crossmaglen v Carrickcruppen
- Clann Eireann v Killeavy
Cavan
Reigning champions Crosserlough are into the last four of this year’s Kyle Powertech Cavan SFC after a hard-fought 2-17 to 0-19 win over Arva. Last year’s Intermediate champions started brightly but were pegged back when Stephen Smith struck for Crosserlough’s first goal. The holders were up 1-14 to 0-10 at the break, with 12 of their points scored by county star Paddy Lynch. Arva came on strong in the second half and drew level thanks to a couple of two-pointers by Peter Morris but Crosserlough then got their vital second goal from captain Peter Smith.
In the weekend’s other quarter-final, Gowna defeated Cavan Gaels by 1-22 to 0-11 with Conor Madden’s second-half goal paving the way for a comfortable enough win.
The two other quarter-finals were postponed and have been refixed for this week.
Mullahoran will play Ramor United in Kingspan Breffni on Tuesday at 8.15pm while Kingscourt Stars will play Ballyhaise at the same time and in the same venue on Wednesday.
Derry
Newbridge got the defence of their O’Neills Derry SFC title back on track with a resounding 24-point win over Loup in the preliminary quarter-finals. Loup briefly threatened an upset when they raced 1-4 to 0-0 ahead, but they wouldn’t score again while Newbridge kicked 1-25. Derry U20 star Oisin Doherty scored 1-7 while the Young brothers, Eamon and Sean, scored seven points between one another.
Damon Gallagher was the main man for Bellaghy in their 2-20 to 3-11 win over Faughanvale, scoring an impressive 1-9.
A first-half goal by Oisin Feeney proved decisive for Banagher in their 1-18 to 0-17 win over Dungiven, while Niall Toner scored 1-11 as Lavey cruised to a 1-20 to 0-5 win over Kilrea.
The draw for the Derry SFC quarter-finals is as follows:
- Magherafelt v Bellaghy
- Steelstown v Newbridge
- Glen v Banagher
- Slaughtneil v Lavey
Donegal
The big news from the preliminary quarter-final round of the Michael Murphy Sports & Leisure Donegal SFC was Termon’s elimination of reigning champions St. Eunan’s on a scoreline of 1-16 to 0-18 after extra-time. The winners led by 1-9 to 0-5 at the break but needed injury-time points by Oisin Harkin and Aaron Reid to send the game to extra-time. Termon were that bit better in extra-time as points from John James Sweeney, Daire McDaid, Patrick Fegan, and Enda McCormick helped them to a famous victory. 2023 champions Naomh Conaill are through to the quarter-finals after a 3-15 to 2-10 win over Killybegs. Two goals from Shay Malone proved to be decisive scores.
The Donegal SFC quarter-final line-up is as follows:
- Sean MacCumhaill v St. Michael’s
- Naomh Conaill v Termon
- Four Masters v Dungloe
- Kilcar v Gaoth Dobhair
Down
Portaferry and Ballygalget both maintained their 100 per cent records in the Morgan Fuels Down SHC over the weekend. Champions Portaferry were very impressive 18-point winners over Ballycran, but it was much tougher for Ballygalget who edged out Bredagh by two points. The two teams will play one another in the final round of group games in two weeks’ time with the prize on offer for the winner a semi-final against the fourth placed team. A draw would suffice for defending champions Portaferry because of their superior scoring difference.
In Round 3 of the Morgan Fuels Down Senior Football Championship, Loughinisland hung on to defeat Bredagh 0-16 to 1-12. Bredagh led by two at halftime 0-9 to 0-7, but Loughinisland dominated the third quarter, scoring nine consecutive points to take a commanding 0-16 to 0-9 lead. A late Bredagh goal by Benny Hassen followed by a Donal Hughes score reduced the deficit and made for a tense finish.
Glenn produced a composed performance to defeat Castlewellan 1-14 to 0-11, pulling away in the second half with a goal from Ronan McLoughlin to put the game beyond Castlewellan’s reach.
Ballyholland versus Drumgath was postponed and has been refixed for 7.30pm this evening at Burren, while RGU Downpatrick meet Clonduff in the remaining Round Three game at the same time in Pairc Esler.
Monaghan
Inniskeen and Clontribret are straight through to the semi-finals of the Monaghan SFC after topping their respective groups. Inniskeen were already through before this weekend’s final round of group games, and Clontibret joined them courtesy of a 2-20 to 0-19 win over Cremartin.
In the quarter-finals, Corduff will play Magheracloone and Latton will play Scotstown. Corduff’s confidence will be high after beating reigning champions Scotstown. They were 0-18 to 0-13 down with just seven minutes to play but Fergal Hanratty hit two two-point frees and Keith McEnaney bagged a goal for a great comeback win.
Tyrone
Trillick defeated Dungannon by 0-23 to 1-16 in the pick of the Round 1 games in the Connolly’s of Moy Tyrone SFC. Lee Brennan’s late two-pointer sealed the victory after a rip-roaring hour of football, and he finished with a personal tally of eight points for last year’s beaten finalists.
Edendork’s late scoring blitz saw off Dromore 2-19 to 2-16 to book a quarter-final place in a thrilling tie. Dromore led by two points going into the final three minutes, but the St Malachy’s struck for 1-3 in the space of three minutes to turn the game in their favour.
Danny Fullerton also had a weekend to remember, scoring 2-7 as Carrickmore booked their last eight spot with a 10-point win over Moortown.
A spectacular derby game saw Donaghmore eventually get the better of parish rivals Galbally by 3-24 to 1-24, while reigning champions Errigal Ciaran coasted to a resounding 4-21 to 1-7 win over Ardboe.
There were also first round wins for Pomeroy over Gortin, Loughmacrory over Killyclogher and Omagh over Derrylaughan.
The draw for the quarter-finals is as follows:
- Trillick v Pomeroy
- Edendork v Carrickmore
- Errigal Ciaran v Omagh
- Donaghmore v Loughmacrory
By Michael Devlin Mon 15th Sep
