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Eoghan Rua see off Craigbane
GAME ON. PLayers from Eoghan Rua who lined up for our cameraman on Friday.CR33-107SC.GAME ON. PLayers from Eoghan Rua who lined up for our cameraman on Friday.CR33-107SC.
GAME ON. PLayers from Eoghan Rua who lined up for our cameraman on Friday.CR33-107SC.

Eoghan Rua maintained their challenge for a ‘top three’ play-off place in Division 1 with a comprehensive 3-18 to 1-8 home win over Craigbane last Sunday evening, their victory moving them into second place behind leaders Ballinderry.

The home side made their intentions clear from early on with five unanswered points from five different players, four from open play, in the opening seven minutes.

Craigbane enjoyed a decent spell and had reduced the gap to three, 0-6 to 0-3, before the end of the first quarter but failed to score for the remainder of the first half.

Meanwhile Eoghan Rua went on to hit 1-6, their goal coming in the 24th minute from Colm McGoldrick, as they took a commanding 1-11 to 0-3 lead into the break.

There was going to be no let-up from the home side as they set the tone early on with Declan Mullan bursting through from the throw-in to add a point after 20 seconds on the restart.

Three more Eoghan Rua points were added before Craigbane scored again with a Cathal O’Kane point from a free fully 25 minutes after their third. Eoghan Rua’s response was ruthless as a superb Colm McGoldrick cross field pass fell invitingly to substitute Gregory Bradley who gathered to drill a low left foot shot across the goalkeeper to the far corner of the net, the result now beyond doubt just nine minutes into the second half.

Craigbane then had another good spell when they hit a couple of points with a well taken Shane McMenamin goal sandwiched between those scores. Despite that good spell from the visitors who had battled gamely throughout there was never any real doubt where the points were going.

Eoghan Rua’s movement was simply too sharp, they were moving the ball forward much quicker than in recent games, taking a lot less out of the ball putting the Craigbane defence constantly on the back foot.

Their third goal in the 58th minute came after a series of quick passes with Colm McGoldrick found unmarked inside, once in that position there was never anything else on the centre forward’s mind as he drilled an unstoppable shot into the roof of the Craigbane net.

The scoring was completed with a Sean Leo McGoldrick point a minute from time as Eoghan Rua ran out comfortable sixteen point winners.

Eoghan Rua team: Ryan McGeough; Eamon Conneely, Sean McWilliams, Barry McTaggart; Ciaran Lagan, Ciaran Lenehan; Declan Mullan, Richard Carey; A Mullan, Colm McGoldrick, Liam Frizelle; Conor Carey, Ciaran McGoldrick, Leo Sweeney.

Substitutes used: Liam McGoldrick for L Frizelle (ht), Gregory Bradley for Ciaran McGoldrick (35), Sean Leo McGoldrick for R Carey (48), Paddy Douglas for Leo Sweeney (54).

Eoghan Rua scorers: Colm McGoldrick (2-3), Conor Carey (0-4), Gregory Bradley (1-0), Aidan Mullan (0-3), Ciaran McGoldrick (0-2, 0-1 free), Declan Mullan (0-2), Ciaran Lagan (0-1), Barry McGoldrick (0-1), Sean Leo McGoldrick (0-1).

Craigbane: Paul Sharkey; Thomas Patrick McLaughlin, Aaron McLaughlin, Daryl Sharkey; Martin McGinty, Ruari Gormley, Ryan Mortimor; Bliain Gormley, David lowry, Adrian devine, Cathal O’Kane, Brian Rainey; Shane McMenamin, Ryan Moore, Noel Reilly.

Craigbane scorers: Shane McMenamin (1-0), Cathal O’Kane (0-3, 0-1 free), Ruari Gormley (0-2), Ryan Moore (0-1), Adrian devine (0-1), Bliaine Gormley (0-1).

Under-16s secure their place in next round

Eoghan Rua’s Under-16 footballers eased into the next round of the championship with a fine 5-6 to 1-6 away win over Banagher last week.

The game was played in dry but windy conditions with Eoghan Rua having the of the stiffish breeze in the first half.

They uncharacteristically took a long time to settle and shot six wides before registering their first point through Niall Brown.

The Coleraine side really only started to settle after Jack O Doherty scored a brace of goals and by half time were well in command on a scoreline leading 4-3 to no score, their goals coming from Ruairi Devine (2) and Paddy Mullin (2) with Jack and Hal McGonigle also chipping over two excellent scores.

The second half was a more keenly contested affair and it took a Hal McGonigle goal to calm any lingering doubts about an Eoghan Rua victory. Banagher themselves scored 1-6 in this half but the Coleraine lads were able to disrupt the home attacks to prevent them building up a head of steam.

There were good performances from Connor Boyle, Justin Donnelly and Simon Purvis in defence while Jack O’Doherty and Paddy Mullin kept the engine room ticking over for Coleraine.

However despite this good win the Eoghan Rua boys cannot afford to take so long to get their rhythm in future games.

There were too many simple mistakes and turnovers for Coleraine to take too much out of this four goal win.

Their next round opponents in the quarter finals will surely pose a bigger threat than Banagher who were severely depleted for this tie.

Eoghan Rua team: Cillian Butler; Conor Boyle, James Maguire, Justin Donnelly, Simon Purvis, James Breslin, Shea McLaughlin, Paddy Mullin, Jack O’Doherty, Niall Brown, Barry Daly, Hal McGonigle, Ruari Devine. Substitutes used: S Eastwood for B Daly, R Kane for J Maguire, M Weir for S Eastwood. A Doherty, M McQuillan, D Roantree

Eoghan Rua scorers: Jack O’Doherty (2-1), Hal McGonigle (1-2), Paddy Mullin (1-1), Ruari Devine (1-0), Niall Brown (0-2).

Ladies teams reveal fixtures

The Eoghan Rua ladies football teams are planning for the forthcoming championship fixtures in Under-14 and Under-16 grades in the coming weeks.

The Under 14’s can look forward to playing the winners of Desertmartin and Limavady in their first match while the Under 16’s have a tough draw against Claudy.

In preparation for these matches the Under 16’s are planning a challenge game with Moneyglass – this should be a good test for then as they ran the Antrim girls to three points in a challenge game at the start of the year and with everyone available it should be an entertaining and close game.

It has been a stuttered league campaign for the Under 16’s with only four league matches played, but they can look forward to a series of competitive games now with challenge games and remaining league fixtures followed by a championship clash with Claudy.

Meanwhile The Under 14 girls have a league fixture with Craigbane to look forward to and this will be useful as a gauge to how they will get on.

To date the Under 14 girls have won three of their seven league games against Faughan Vale, Ballerin and Ardmore, while finding Limavady, Stelstown, Claudy and Dungiven too strong.

It would be great for the girls to finish the league with another win and leave themselves finishing the league in a mid table position. They also hope to get a couple of competitive challenge games arranged in preparation for the Championship.

All at the Club wish Brenda Grant well as she prepares for the All Ireland Under 16 Ladies Football Championship semi final as Derry take on Westmeath this Saturday at Bailieborough in Cavan.

Senior Camogs all set for the big kick-off

Eoghan Rua’s senior camogs set out on the championship trail this week when they take on Swatragh in a tough first round tie at Slaughtneil this Friday evening with a 7.45pm start.

The Coleraine side have been going well in the league while their preparations for the championship included a trip to Dublin for a challenge game last weekend.

They wil be hoping to regain the form that took them to back to back titles in 2010 and 2011 with Slaughtneil taking the title last year.

Swatragh will provide a stern test of Eoghan Rua’s championship credentials in the first round this weekend.

Meanwhile, three of the club’s young players are making their mark at inter-county level as they were selected for the Derry Under 14 camogie panel for an Inter County blitz this coming weekend.

The undoubted talents of Aoife Kelly, Sarah Moore and dual star Anna Frizelle have been recognised at this level and all will represent Derry in the forthcoming blitz. Everyone at the Club is delighted to see their hard work paying off.

Cul Camp in Coleraine

Senior Derry Camogie star Karen Kielt was the coach at the Cul Camp held in Eoghan Rua last week.

Young hurlers and camogs turned up throughout the week to receive the coaching as the annual Cúl Camp got underway at Pairc Eoghain Rua.

In the region of a hundred and fifty children aged from 6 to 14 signed up for a week’s coaching and games with coaches provided by the Derry Co Board coaching team.

A good time was certainly had by everyone who attended as they received lots of great coaching to help them progress.

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