Banagher stroll past Na Magha into Junior final despite first half red card

Banagher 1-22, Na Magha 0-02

Banagher will contest the Derry Junior hurling final against either Eoghan Rua or Lavey when they can expect a tougher test than this one sided semi-final victory over a vastly under strength Na Magha at St Colm's Park, Drum.

St. Mary's duo Jonathan O'Dwyer and Darragh Cartin ran riot, hitting 16 points between them, despite Banagher playing the entirety of the second half with 14 players following the first half dismissal of Tiarnan McCloskey after a clash with Na Magha's Michael Lynch right in front of the city side's dug-out.

That flash point arrived in the closing minutes of the opening half, McCloskey reacting to a push from Lynch with an over zealous use of the hurl, prompting Armagh referee, Niall Clifford, to produce a straight red card which could rule the talented St. Mary's player out of the final.

It wasn't the only sour note of a routine afternoon's work for Banagher but the sense of injustice that followed that red card only served to fire up the favourites who were too physically strong and experienced for a young Na Magha side fortunate to escape a red card themselves when Paul Doherty's clumsy late challenge on half-time substitute Darrell McDermott was punished with only a yellow.

Doherty's challenge ended McDermott's afternoon only 60 seconds after his introduction, the keeper forced off with a shoulder injury that had him on his way to hospital following the game and which must make him a major doubt for the final.

For Dee Doherty's side, the result ended the season and probably over shadowed the progress made in meetings against Lavey, Ballinscreen and Slaughtneil. From the 15 that started their opening match against Lavey, this Na Magha were missing Deaglan Foley, Robbie Hegarty, Mark McShane, Connor Shiels and Daryl Connolly while Alan Grant has had to watch from the sidelines throughout this truncated championship season.

The city youngsters will have gained plenty from facing such experienced sides but the problem throughout this season has been a consistent one, simply not enough scores, and shorn of Deaglan Foley, it was a similar story in Drum on Saturday.

The city's side's opening point came on three minutes, their final on seven and they lacked the power to hurt their experienced opponents despite the first half being relatively close for long periods.

Playing with the strong breeze at their backs in the opening half, Na Magha positioned Breandan Quigley as sweeper with Brendan Douban also dropping deep despite wearing 15. It looked to be working too as Quigley, from a free, and Padhraig Neils with a lovely solo point cancelled out efforts from Darragh Cartin and Oisin McCloskey.

That was seven minutes in and the remainder of the half was tight, though Banagher were beginning to pull away slightly at 0-5 to 0-2 by the time the McCloskey red card arrived on 29 minutes.

Points from Jonathan O'Dwyer (2) and Cartin (free) had edged St. Mary's in front but after the dismissal there was only one winner and, ironically, it was not the side with the extra man. Lynch was booked for his part in the red card incident and when he was on the floor again moments later following a seperate clash, Banagher were incensed at what they saw as an over reaction, prompting the referee to speak to the Na Magha player.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of a pivotal episode, it only served to fire up Banagher and Na Magha couldn't match them physically, Cartin tagging on a further two points for a healthy looking 0-7 to 0-2 lead as St. Mary's prepared to play with the breeze.

Banagher introduced three half-time substitutions but one of them, McDermott, was back on the bench less than a minute after his introduction and Na Magha's Doherty should have been joining him for the walk off. It may have been more clumsy than malicious, but Doherty's challenge on the Banagher keeper was very late and in light of the McCloskey red, he was extremely fortunate to escape with only a booking.

Not that it mattered. Another Banagher sub, Steafan McCloskey fired the game's only goal on 42 minutes with a crisp low finish after his team had claimed a Na Magha puck out and either side of the major, St Mary's enjoyed what amounted to little more than shooting practise with O'Dwyer and Cartin superb throughout.

It was a harsh end to the season for the city side who had shown real progress in the groups but while the reinforcements look to be coming in the shape of some promising young players, not enough are ready to step into the shoes of the likes of Grant or Foley just yet.

For Banagher, there is the final to look forward to and they will be favourites given so many of the St. Mary's players are too good for junior hurling but it is unlikely to be as straightforward as this.

Banagher scorers: Steafan McCloskey (1-0), Jonathan O'Dwyer (0-6), Darragh Cartin (0-10, 7f), Oisin McCloskey (0-1), Liam Eoin Campbell (0-1), Sean McCullagh (0-2), Brian Og McGilligan (0-2),

Na Magha scorers: Breandan Quigley (0-1,lf), Padhraig Nelis (0-1)

Banagher: Conor Campbell, Cathair McGilligan, Ruairi McCloskey, Dara Simpson, Darragh McCloskey, Brian Og McGilligan, Shane Murphy, Fintan McGilligan, Niall Farren, Oisin McCloskey, Tiarnan McCloskey, Niall Biggs, Jonathan O'Dwyer, Sean McCullagh, Darragh Cartin. (Subs) Liam Eoin Campbell for N Biggs, HT; Sgteafan McCloskey for F McGilligan, HT; Darrel McDermott for C Campbell, HT; Jack Lynch for S Murphy, 37mins; Conor Campbell for D McDermott (inj), 31mins.

Yellow cards: S Murphy, 10mins; D McCloskey, 40mins;

Red Card: T McCloskey, 28mins.

Wides: 5/3

Na Magha: Barry Robinson, Aaron Campbell, Diarmuid Shiels, James McQuillan, Fearghal McAnaney, Breandan Quigley, Tomas Lally, Aidan Cutliffe, Bliadhan Glass, Timothy Rankin, Michael Lynch, Padhraig Nelis, Mark McCloskey, Paul Doherty, Brendan Douban. (Subs) Matthew Temple for J McQuillan, 45mins; James McAdans for A Campbell, 58mins.

Yellow cards: B Quigley, 21mins; M Lynch, 28mins; P Nelis, 29mins; P Doherty, 32mins, T Lally, 39mins;

Wides: 6/0

Referee: Niall Clifford (Armagh).