16 January 2011
Two goals from left-half-forward Mark Jordan and one from corner-forward Ryan Murray steered Lamh Dhearg to victory of Donegal champions Kilcar in the semi-final of the Northern Bank Ulster Minor Club Football championship at St Paul’s.
Facing a stiff breeze in the opening half the Antrim champions appeared to be in a spot of bother when Kilcar opened up a 0-3 to 0-0, lead and with the excellent Patrick McBrearty orchestrating things from the ‘40’ for the Donegal lads it was clear Lamh Dhearg had a fight on their hands.
However they began to gain a bit of control and hit back with two points to cut the gap to the minimum. Kilcar regained the upper-hand and pulled four ahead with just five minute of the opening half remaining, but vital late points saw Lamh Dhearg close the first-half just two in arrears (0-7 to 0-5) it was clear they were now in a strong position.
The opening exchanges of the second-half saw the teams exchange early points but when Mark Jordan finished a fine move with a beautiful goal six minutes after the restart Lamh Dhearg began to hit their stride. Three minutes later and the boys from ‘up the hill’ were celebrating again after another sweeping move which saw Ryan Murray fire a left foot shot to the Kilcar net, and when Jordan grabbed the third goal in the forty-fourth minute the victory was sealed.
In truth their play did get a bit scrappy in the final quarter when they knew the game was won and Kilcar had plenty of possession, but in truth the Antrim champions never really looked in any danger and they cruised through to a final meeting with Derry champions Magherafelt on Saturday next.
