Darren McCurry stars as Edendork convincingly beat Clonduff

Edendork will face Antrim champions St Brigid’s in Omagh next weekend after a convincing victory over an out-of-sorts Clonduff.

The Tyrone men were worthy winners and will go into next weekend’s contest with confidence after keeping a frustrated Clonduff at arms-length.

Stephen McConville stroked over a two-point free to leave his side trailing by only four points in a first half that Edendork dictated.

It was a gift of an opportunity too, because the Tyrone champions were on the attack, looking to stretch their lead to eight, when they were caught out.

Played in Newry’s Pairc Esler, Edendork controlled the tempo, had time to pick their passes and they unsettled Clonduff, who, while playing second fiddle, still managed to create 15 first-half scoring chances, but only executed them on five occasions.

Edendork did not look like a team had been celebrating all last weekend, nor was there even a hint of nerves. But when you have Conn Kilpatrick, who picked up an All-Star on Friday night, leading the midfield and county duo goalkeeper Niall Morgan and razor sharp attacker Darren McCurry, it should not come as a surprise.

It took the Tyrone men only six minutes to go in front with points from McCurry and young John McLernon, who replied to Arthur McConville’s converted free.

McCurry’s two-pointer was a stunning effort, and while Barry O’Hagan and Stephen McConville hit back with scores, it was the unmarked Niall Morgan who launched over a two-pointer to put some distance between the sides with only 14 minutes gone.

The Yellas were wearing white, so not to clash with the green and yellow striped Edendork, and they grew frustrated as they seemed to squander chance after chance, although Eamon Brown did buck the trend with a point. Clonduff struggled to get their kickouts away with Kilpatrick lording the middle momentum was with Edendork but the breach gave the Yellas a lifeline.

Edendork had increased their lead to seven points by the time the game had crept into the last quarter.

Kickouts were the main reason, Clonduff could not get theirs away, largely down to the impressive high press of Edendork and poor shooting from the Yellas. It looked more promising for the Down champions when Arthur McConville grabbed his second point, only a minute into the restart, but that proved to be false dawn.

Because they were at sixes and sevens in attack, with loose play whereas Edendork were playing smart with McCurry, Luke Ferguson and the brilliant John McLernon pulling the strings. McCurry fired over his second two-pointer and McLernon sold a clever dummy before tapping over his second of the evening.

Stephen McConville fired over to make it six-point game, but his team-mates fluffed their chances as Clonduff went short with two 45s and came away with nothing and they also had opportunities in front of goal but failed to pull the trigger.

Still, they kept plugging away and two points in a row from Senan Carr and another from Barry O’Hagan gave the Yellas hope, but Edendork had answers with McCurry bagging his eighth point and Patrick McLernon nailing the insurance point.

CLONDUFF: Aaron Sherry; Jamie O’Hagan, Shane Close, Ben McConville; Jayme Gribben, Darren O’Hagan, Dan Rafferty; Ross Carr, Senan Carr (0-0-2); Tom Close, Charlie Carr, Stephen McConville (0-1-2, 1tpf); Barry O’Hagan (0-0-3, 1f), Arthur McConville (0-0-2, 1f), Eamon Brown (0-0-1). Subs: Peter McEvoy for Gribben (49), Patrick O’Hagan for A McConville (56).

EDENDORK: Niall Morgan (0-2-0, 1tpf), Donal Maneely, Fionn Devlin, Padraig Donnelly, Fiachra Nelis (0-0-1), Ben Cullen, Correy Bell (0-0-1), Conn Kilpatrick, Luke Ferguson, Patrick McLernon (0-0-1), Conor Mallon, Daire Conway, Darren McCurry (0-2-4, 1tpf), Daire Conway, John McLernon (0-0-2). Subs: James Fearon for Conway (HT), Rian Nelis for Cullen (41), Conor Mallon for J Fearon (54).