Fontenoys reach end of the road in Ulster

29 November 2023

LIATROIM reached the end of the line in their courageous bid for Ulster glory as they lost out to Armagh representatives Cullyhanna in the semi-final of the Intermediate Football Championship at Castleblayney at the weekend.

The damage was done in the second half, with the Fontenoys overpowered and heavily outscored 0-10 to 0-1.

Nevertheless, Liatroim can most certainly be proud of their efforts this year which has saw the club go from considerable strength to strengths.

In fact, during the first half of this contest it was very much a nip and tuck affair. A PJ Davidson point fired Liatroim into the lead but there were swift

replies from Cullyhanna’s Tony Donnelly and Aidan Nugent (two).

Conor McCrickard notched the first of his three scores to keep his team in touch but Cullyhanna restored the margin through Shea Hoey.

The elements became tougher for the Fontenoys when Colman Doyle was shown a black card before Nugent extended his personal tally to three.

However, the Fontenoys had their chances still, and the tone may have been very different had Michael McAleenan’s rebound-effort from PJ Davidson’s initial kick found the back of the net.

Instead, it was saved and Cullyhanna added another point at the other end.

Conor McCrickard then fired over two on the bounce, including a mark, but yet again the Armagh outfit just wouldn’t let up in their attack.

Cullyhanna were notably misfiring in front of goal, which also allowed Liatroim further chances to reduce the arrears but Nugent added another and all the Fontenoys could muster was an Eoin McCrickard response.

That left it 0-7 to 0-5 in favour of Cullyhanna but this would be as close as Liatroim would get before the tie slipped from their grasp.

Nugent continued to be a thorn in the Fontenoys’ side with McQuillan, Donnelly and Jason Duffy also adding points.

Pearse Óg McCrickard notched Liatroim’s only score of the half but his team was met with yet another mountain to climb when Sean Óg O’Rourke was shown the red card.

Cullyhanna kept the scoreboard ticking over until the full-time whistle but there no doubts that Liatroim have the quality within their ranks to be back again in the future.

Cullyhanna: J Carragher, S Og Irwin, S Connell, G Duffy 0-2, N McCreesh, M Murray, B McConville, P Casey, J Duffy 0-1, C Reavey, S Hoey 0-2, R McQuillan 0-2, K McCooey, T Donnelly 0-2, A Nugent 0-8 (3f)

Subs: G Mackin for B McConville, J Quinn for G Duffy, J McAneney for C Reavey, F O’Rourke for S Irwin

Liatroim: E Cotter, S Og O’Rourke, G McAnulty, C Owens, D Morgan, R McCrickard, C McElroy, L Middleton, E McCrickard 0-1, PJ Davidson 0-1, P Og McCrickard 0-1, R O’Hare, M McAleenan, C McCrickard 0-3 (1m), C Doyle

Subs: E O’Hare for R O’Hare, C Kelly-McEvoy for M McAleenan, K Middleton for L Middleton, O Clarke for D Morgan

Referee: Enda McFeely (Donegal).

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