Belfry Senior Club Championship – Group 2
Coolera/Strandhill 2-8 Drumcliffe/Rosses Point 0-7
A dominant second-half display from Coolera/Strandhill on Saturday evening at Kent Park gave them their second win in Group 2 to assure themselves of a place in the quarter-finals of this year’s Belfry SFC.
They were full value for their win. Two second-half goals from Peter Laffey and corner back Mark Comerford proved to be the decisive scores against a Drumcliffe/Rosses Point side which began the game well, but faded in the second half hour.
In wet conditions, DRP established a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after the opening quarter, thanks to a fine point from play from team captain Neil Ewing and a couple of excellent long range frees from Paul Logan. But in truth, Coolera/Strandhill created the bulk of the scoring opportunities over the course of the hour – and they might have won this match by more but for some wayward shooting. The exception to that was team captain Niall Murphy. He scored all of Coolera’s first half points to leave just the minimum between the sides by the interval with Drumcliffe/Rosses Point leading by 0-5 to 0-4.
The second-half belonged to Coolera/Strandhill as they dominated in most sectors. Keelan Cawley’s introduction as a sub against St Molaise Gaels last weekend had helped turn that particular contest. Here, he was in from the start, and his point from play on 44 minutes gave Coolera/Strandhill the lead for the first time in this game.
Once in front, John McPartland’s side never looked back and with 11 minutes remaining, Peter Laffey’s goal put real daylight between the teams as they established a 1-7 to 0-6 advantage.
DRP had had a goal chance of their own earlier in the second-half with John Harvey’s shot, following good approach play, flashing wide of Kevin Kelly’s goal. But those opportunities were fleeting for the North Sligo side and the fact that they managed to add just two second-half points to their final tally tells its own story.
Coolera continued to amass the wides in the second half but they never really looked to be in danger. In the closing moments, up popped corner-back Mark Comerford, who soccer-style chipped DRP goalkeeper Ronan McCormack with aplomb to find the net, a finish which produced the biggest cheer of the evening from the winners’ supporters.
There was a black card late on for Coolera full forward Barry O’Mahony but it mattered little.
The win ensures that Coolera/Strandhill will finish top of Group 2 and they can now start planning for the knockout stages.
For us, there is still a route to the quarter-finals. We now face a winner-takes-all contest with neighbours St Molaise Gaels, again at Kent Park, in two weeks time (Sat, Aug 25th, 7pm).
View the Group 2 standings here.
