Glack into Junior semi-finals as Doire Trasna fail to fire in Celtic Park

Glack 2-06, Doire Trasna 0-05

Glack became the first semi-finalists of the 2023 Premier Electrics Derry Junior Championship with a thoroughly deserved victory over an out of sorts Doire Trasna at Celtic Park.

As a spectacle, the game was as damp as the weather with only three scores from play on the night but that was no fault of the O'Connor's who controlled a low key match from throw-in. Even the late double dismissal of Ciaran O'Brien and manager Terence King with six minutes remaining failed to derail Glack's charge. There were the rumblings of a late Trasna rally but Glack responded with Eoin Mackey lobbying a game clinching second goal as the clock hit the hour mark and that was that.

That clincher was set up by opening goal scorer, Finbar O'Brien, doing his best to ensure no one else would have a look in when it came to handing out the 'Man of the Match' honours. He needn't have worried. His goal, a penalty, laid the foundation for the victory but his performance, and that of the remarkable Jimmy O'Connor, brought it home.

For Trasna, one point from play across 64 championship minutes tells its own story. The night started badly with playmaker Colin Murray injuring his finger in the warm-up and got decidedly worse from there. They struggled with Glack's counter-attacking game but played into their opponents' hands by constantly kicking ball away and slowing their build up when in possession. It was as poor as it was uncharacteristic from a Pearses team with plenty of pace and trickery.

The first half was all Glack. With what wind there was behind them, Terence King's men owned the opening 30 minutes without ever really translating that supremacy to the scoreboard until O'Brien's 28th minute penalty following a foul on the impressive Ciaran O'Brien, who had been played in by attacking focal point, Cormac O'Boyle. O'Brien's spot-kick, low to Gavin Bradley's left hand, was as assured as the O'Connor's display.

It was the highlight of a forgettable half in which Trasna never got going. Glack deployed Derry Masters' captain O'Connor as an attacking sweeper and his reading of the game and incisive forays forward caused Pearses all manner of bother.

Boyle was the tip of the spear but he rotated inside with Shane Toner and Glack's ability to lie deep, soak up Trasna possession and then break at speed worked a treat. The question was how long they could maintain that lung bursting pace, though Trasna's insistence on slow recycling meant they never needed to find out.

Early scores from Ciaran O'Brien and Ryan Morgan (free) were no more than Glack deserved but when an Eoghan Quigg free halved the deficit we waited for Trasna to kick into gear. It never came.

Instead it would be 20 minutes before Quigg - Trasna's sole scorer on the night - added another by which time two more Morgan frees had Glack three up. The penalty then gave Glack the cushion they needed, and deserved as the sides turned around at 1-04 to 0-3.

Finbar O'Brien extended the lead on the restart and while Quigg responded with two more frees to leave it 1-05 to 0-5, there never seem an imminent threat from James McQuillan's team who played with the 'handbrake' on.

The most drama of the evening arrived with that double dismissal after an incident which started with Trasna's Tomas McCrossan picking up a booking for a late challenge. With altogether too many players in attendance as referee Gavin Dixon was booking McCrossan, tempers flared and after the melee that followed it was Ciaran O'Brien who was picked out for ultimate punishment. The decision incensed his manager who made his own feelings on the matter clear and a second red card was shown.

It made no one iota of difference to the game. If anything It helped Glack in a second half littered with needless breaks of play.

When play finally resumed, Glack manned the barricades but the Pearses bombardment never happened. Instead it was Finbar O'Brien's second free which extended the O'Connor's lead out to four points with five minutes left.

Better still, as Trasna threw the last of their men forward in a vain attempt to get back into the quarter-final, Glack again won a good turnover, got the ball to O'Brien and he released Mackey charging down the left hand side. A point was all they needed, and maybe that was the unlikely scorer's initial target, but a lob a beautiful as Mackey's deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Game over for Pearses; semi-final for Glack, who will take plenty of confidence from this win..

Doire Trasna scorers: Eoghan Quigg (0-5, 4f)

Glack scorers: Finbar O'Brien (1-2, 2f, 1pen), Eoin Mackey (1-0), Ciaran O'Brien (0-1), Ryan Morgan (0-3, 3f)

Doire Trasna: Gavin Bradley, David Officer, Tomas McCrossan, Connell Guile, Sean Fleming, Daniel Doherty, Shane Lyttle, Caolan Doyle, Cormac Kelly, Eoghan Devlin, Adam McGuinness, Tom Casey, Michael Philson, Eoghan Quigg, Caelan O'Connell. (Subs) Colin Murray for E Devlin, 38mins; NIall Gallagher for D Officer, 47mins; Dee McGee for S Fleming, 47mins;

Glack: Niall McGowan, Liam Moore, Ryan O'Kane, Adam O'Kane, Eoin Mackey, Ciaran Carmichael, Padraig Morgan, Ciaran O'Brien, Marty McGonigle, Ryan Morgan, Finbar O'Brien, Adam O'Kane, Jimmy O'Connor, Cormac Boyle, Shane Toner. (Subs) Liam O'Brien for C Carmichael, HT; Ryan O'Kane for C Boyle, 37mins; Tony Gallagher for S Toner, 40mins; Eddie McLaughlin for L Moore, 44mins;

Referee: Gavin Dixon