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Eoghan Rua miss out on League play-off place

Eoghan Rua missed the chance to get into the semi-final play-off spot as they went down heavily to Lavey, 2-18 to 0-7, at sunny Pairc Eoghain Rua last Saturday afternoon.

Dungiven, who had their final regular season game conceded to them by Banagher, pipped the Coleraine men to third spot by a point and will meet Slaughtneil in the play-off with Ballinderry awaiting the winner for the League title.

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It was a disappointing end to a very good league campaign for the Eoghan Rua men who fielded only four players from their championship starting side of just over a week ago. None of their dual hurling players started while a number of other senior players were unavailable for one reason or another which must have been a huge disappointment for the Coleraine men as Lavey had a good sprinkling of championship starters on show.

There was never much doubt as to which way this contest was going from an early stage as the Lavey side were stronger all over the pitch, former county man Caileann O’Boyle causing havoc all day whether winning ball in midfield, linking the play up front or getting the scores himself.

The portents were not good for the home side as early as the fourth minute when O’Boyle set up Colm Murphy for Lavey’s first score, a goal. Eoghan Rua did come back well though with two points by the 6th minute from Richard Carey and a Hugh Casey free. That was as good as it got for the homes side in the first half as they failed to register another score while Lavay went on a scoring spree hitting ten points in a row, Cailean O’Boyle and Anthony McGurk doing most of the damage. The home side did create a few chances but their shooting was woeful, they shot five wides, three from scoreable frees. Any hopes Eoghan Rua had of contesting a league play-off were all but gone at that stage.

Coleraine did make a bit of a contest of the third quarter as they matched Lavey score for score, sharing eight points equally, Lavey still in a commanding position though at 1-14 to 0-6. The visitors grabbed their second goal in the 57th minute when Cailean O’Boyle’s long range effort came back off the bar for Kevin O’Neill to palm to the net. Two further points brought the curtain down on both team’s league season, lavey comfortable in mid-table while Eoghan Rua missed out on a shot at the league title.

Camogs back at the top in Derry

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Eoghan Ruas camogs are back on top in Derry as they dethroned reigning champions Slaughtneil to win the Premier championship final last Sunday afternoon at Owenbeg. It was a lot closer than the winning seven point margin of 2-11 to 2-4 would suggest as there was only three points between the sides with five minutes left, a goal from Katie Mullan and a last minute Grace McMullan point embellished Eoghan Rua’s victory.

Eoghan Rua mad a great start playing with the aid of the wind in the first half they raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead by the 17th minute. The sides were level after three minutes, Katie Mullan for the winners with Claire Doherty replying for Slaughtneil, but four in a row, Maureen Heneghan, Grainne McGoldrick (2) and Maeve Dillon had the Eoghan Rua side in a good position.

However over the last ten minutes of the half the winners missed a few chances that could have come back to haunt them, they only managed one more point in the half going in 0-6 to 0-2 ahead. That series of missed chances was looking even more serious just a minute into the second half when a high ball in from Denise McGuigan was not dealt with and Cara Ní Caisde bundled the loose ball to the net. Moments later Slaughtneil were on the attack again in search of a second goal but a ‘45’ resulted that was sent wide, a good chance to level matters gone.eoghan Rua stretched the lead to three with a couple of Grainne McGoldrick points but took a big step towards victory with their second goal Katie Mullan hand passing to the net nine minutes into the half.

Moments after that score Slaughtneil had another chance to get right back when awarded a penalty but Siobhan McKeague’s low drive was saved and cleared to safety. Eoghan Rua were stillsix ahead after the sides exchanged points but the lead was down to three when McKeague’s long range free sailed all the way to the Coleraine net after a wicked bounce. Just three between the side going into the last ten it was till all to play for.

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Grainne McGoldrick found Maureen Heneghan with the pass of the game and the influential midfielder made no mistake splitting the posts to put four between the sides. Back came the holders again, they forced free which Claire Doherty converted, a goal, a puck of the ball between the sides again going into the last five minutes, the good sized crowd now really getting behind each side.

Eoghan Rua were then awarded a free some 40m out but Grainne McGoldrick’s effort for a point went too low and was blocked out but Katie Mullan reacted quickest to fire to the net. That proved the end of Slaughtneil’s brave bid to defend theuir title as grace McMullan topped off Eoghan Rua’s win with a neat point. Back at the top for the first time since 2011 it was a narrow but deserved win for Eoghan Rua.

Hurlers through in Ulster

A powerful second half performance that seen Eoghan Rua Coleraine outscore Setanta (Donegal) 2-7 to 0-2 was enough to see them through to the first round of the Ulster Junior Hurling championship with a 4-13 to 1-9 victory at Celtic Park last Sunday afternoon. The first half was a much closer affair with the sides very evenly matched.

The Donegal men took an early two points lead before Ciaran Gaile opened the winner’s account with a goal nearely ten minutes in. Setanta levelled matters with a Kevin Campbell point from a free but two Colm McGoldrick points, also frees, had Eoghan Rua ahead again by the end of the first quarter. Eoghan Rua’s second goal came in the 20th minute as Sean Leo McGoldrick’s hand pass found his brother Colm inside to smash to the net.

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Setanta responded well to that setback with a point then they got a well worked goal, Danny Cullen raced through the middle unchallenged to send in a high ball that was superbly flicked to the net by Kevin Campbell. The same player then added a point from a free to leave the minimum between the sides going into the last ten minutes of the half. It was end to end stuff over the closing minutes of the half as Eoghan Rua twice stretched their lead to three with points from Ruari Mooney and Ciaran Gaile (2) before Danny Cullen and then Kevin Campbell left two in it at the break, Eoghan Rua just edging the first half 2-6 to 1-7.

Within a minute of the restart Setanta had reduced the gap to one again with a Kevin Campbell point from a free but they would not score again until a minute from the end by which time Eoghan Rua had racked a series of winning scores. Just eight minutes into the half a well worked move got the reward it deserved with Ciaran Gaile finishing to the Setanta net, Eoghan Rua now 3-9 to 1-9 ahead.

Midway through the half Eoghan Rua effectively sealed the tie with their fourth goal, Colm McGoldrick bundling the sliothar to the net after a handling error by the Setanta goalkeeper. Now nine clear it was a case of seeing this one out and with Anton Rafferty and Sean Leo McGoldrick sealing off the central channel to the Eoghan Rua goals there was no real chance of Setanta getting the three pointers they needed and they didn’t. Setanta did hurl to the end in a a very sporting contest but they found the Eoghan Rua defence a little too difficult to break down while the Coleraine men made the most of their chances Ciaran Gaile and Colm McGoldrick in fine scoring form.

Eoghan Rua girls at Kilmacud 7s

The Eoghan Rua Under 14 girls made the journey to Dublin last weekend to take part in the acclaimed Kilmacud Crokes Under 14 sevens tournament. This is indeed another historic first for the Club and the girls thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of sevens football against Clubs from all over Ireland.

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During the course of the day, the president of the LGFA, Pat Quill introduced himself to the girls and expressed his delight with their participation in such a prestigious event.

This was the first time that they ER girls had played a sevens competition and they were clearly nervous going  into their first game settling down as the tournament progressed racking up some good scores and some great goals

The girls played Shelmaliers from Wexford, Bailieborough Shamrocks from Cavan and Monasterevin from Kildare after which they qualified for the last 16 of the Plate competition.

Unfortunately at this stage Mayo side Kilmoremoy proved too strong for the local girls as they went down to a seven point defeat.

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This turned out to be a wonderful experience for the girls and they got the opportunity to pit their skills against players from different Clubs. One of the highlights of the day was also meeting up with their Feile visitors from last June as Parnells from London had made the journey also.

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