Deadly Davidson dazzles as Bredagh get final spot

Deadly Davidson dazzles as Bredagh get final spot

14 September 2016

THE twin towers of Alan Davidson and Donal Hughes wreaked havoc on a disjointed Carryduff offering as Bredagh marched to an historic IFC final against An Riocht.

Davidson operated at centre half forward and provided the springboard for many an attack as well as contributing five points to the scoreboard.

Hughes was sensational and was the perfect target man. He ended up with seven points, six coming from play. Carryduff never got going. Inexperience probably went against them.

The usually dangerous full forward trio of James Guinness, Joe McFlynn and Michael McGrath were superbly marked by Owen Costello, Declan O’Hara and Chris Savage.

This robbed Carryduff of their most potent attacking threat and thus rendered their challenge redundant.

The first quarter saw the teams level at 0-2 apiece. Bredagh’s Donal Hughes and Brian Rice swapped points with Daniel Guinness and Sean McGonigle.

Conor Cassidy had an adventurous goal effort repelled by the upright after a surging run and this would have boosted Carryduff to no end. The wet conditions did not suit Tom Potter’s charges who failed to score for the remainder of the half.

Bredagh were on top at midfield and were having little difficulty in rebuking Carryduff at the back. In the run up to half-time, Rice added his second with Conor Francis opening his account too.

Davidson tagged on two with Hughes at the double as well. Carryduff made a go of it at the start of the second half with McFlynn and Guinness registering.

However, Bredagh always had a response with Hughes and Shields at the ready.

Goalkeeper Mark Hynes kept the damage to a minimum as he pulled off two terrific saves to deny Davidson and Francis.

McFlynn’s second free boosted Carryduff to an extent, but three points in a row from Jody Gormley’s side eased the Ravenhill Road outfit further clear.

Davidson’s second in this period was a stunning ground stroke that had the crowd stunned in appreciation. Ronan Lawlor plundered a fine goal for Carryduff in the 50th minute, but it never looked like rousing a comeback.

In the last ten minutes Bredagh wrapped the game up without much fuss as Hughes registered three times with Carryduff securing a late free through McFlynn.

Barry O’Neill saw red near the hour mark as a miserable night for the losers came to an end. Bredagh were by far the more accomplished side and deserved their victory.

Bredagh: J Duffin, O Costello, D O’Hara, C Savage, M Magee, E Costello, K Dornan, C Hughes, J Shields (0-1, 1f), C Francis (0-1), A Davidson (0-5), M Robinson, D Hughes (0-7, 1F), B Rice (0-2), P McLaughlin. Subs: N Kelly, S Blaney, H Deazley.

Carryduff: M Hynes, P McConnell, C McFlynn, B O’Neill, C McCullagh, D McKeever, J Connery, J Henry, C Cassidy, D Guinness (0-1), S McGonigle (0-1), R Lawlor (1-0), J Guinness (0-1), J McFlynn (0-3, 3f), M McGrath. Subs: P Lavery, R McKay, N McGowan.

Bredagh 0-16

Carryduff 1-6

DOWN IFC SEMI-FINAL