Senior Championship - Group C
St. Mary's 0-12 Bornacoola 0-7
Bornacoola bid farewell to the 2000 Masonite senior championship when they were defeated by St. Mary's in an entertaining encounter in Cloone on Sunday July 9th.
It was a severely understrength Bornacoola which took the field for this make or break game with county midfielder Pat Farrell being the latest name added to the list of absentees. Nonetheless it was Bornacoola who made all the early running and for long periods looked like they might be able to take the honours.
It was an impressive first half display from Bornacoola which gave them a 0-6 to 0-2 interval lead, based on rock solid defending from Derek "The Digger" Duignan and excellent mopping up work by Brian Mallon and John Reynolds. At Midfield, Morgan Shanley and Gary Mc Closkey were more than holding their own, while upfront Mark Mc Closkey and Micheal Duignan carried the biggest threat.
It was points from Duignan, a Philip Howard free, Mark Mc Closkey and a wonderful Jonathan Duffy effort which had most pleased the Bornacoola support in the first half. Indeed at half-time it looked odds on an upset.
But St. Mary's emerged a team transformed for a second half in which nothing went right for the Bors. With Brendan Guckian moving to midfield, Brian Duignan coming in at full forward and Tom McGuinness stepping up the pace, Bornacoola were under pressure from the off.
Five unanswered Carrick points moved them into the lead before Duffy again kicked an inspirational score for the Bors from well out on the right wing to draw the sides level. Brendan Guckian edged the townsmen back in the game before a crucial five minute spell which was to ultimately decide Bornacoola's fate.
Awarded a penalty, Mark Mc Closkey took on the reponsibility for the Bors but was denied by a magnificent save from Darren Glancy. Within a couple of minutes an already depleted Bornacoola had lost Shane Reynolds and Brian Mallon through injury and the writing was very much on the wall.
Bornacoola: Daragh Cox, Brian Mallon, Derek Duignan, John Reynolds, Shane Reynolds, Seamus Mallon, Dermot Shanley, Gary Mc Closkey, Morgan Shanley, Johnathan Duffy (0-2), Micheal Duignan (0-3), Trevor Howard, Philip Howard (0-1), Feargal Mc Gill, Mark Mc Closkey (0-1). Subs: Ray Hanley for T. Howard, Bernard Faughnan for B. Mallon and Aiden Reilly for S. Reynolds.