Magherafelt make it eight in a row

Slaughtneil had defeated Glen in mid week easily and they won this one at Dungiven thanks to a good start.

They laid the foundation for this narrow win in the opening twelve minutes, with points from a Jim Kelly free and one from play and then a Chris Bradley goal to put them 1-02 to no score ahead

The losers shot fourteen wides and that included three missed ‘45’s and as many frees from scoreable positions. Three minutes from half time Cathal Grieve got on the end of a Ryan McElhinney cross to fist the ball to the net for 1-03 to 1-02, Jim Kelly converting another free just before the half time whistle.

In an ill-tempered second half Jim Kelly scored a delightful point from an acute angle, Paul Bradley and Darrell O’Kane each converting two frees as Slaughtneil held on for victory against an utterly wasteful Emmett’s.

The Dungiven scorers were Cathal Grieve 1-00m Darrell O’Kane 0-02 frees and Ryan McElhinney 0-02

The Slaughtneil scorers were Chris Bradley 1-00, Jim Kelly 0-03, 0-02 frees, Paul Bradley 0-02 frees and Se McGuigan 0-01 free,

Glen 1-03 Ballinascreen 2-17

A second thumping in four days keeps Glen at the bottom of the table, they were beaten 1-16 to 1-3 by neighbours Slaughtneil on Wednesday and another neighbour Ballinascreen did not do them any favours in this one sided game.

Glen were completely outplayed in the first half and found themselves 0-12 to 0-01 behind at half time, with Phillip Bradley, Benny Heron and Gavin Bradley prominent in the scoring department.

Whatever chance they had of making a fist of the match disappeared when Gavin Bradley scored the first of the two Screen goals for 1-12 to 0-01.

From that to the end Ballinascreen scored freely and there was also a welcome return to competitive football for Seamus Bradley after injury and he scored 1-01 for a seventeen point win.

The Ballinascreen scorers were Gavin Bradley 1-03, Seamus Bradley 1-01, Phillip Bradley 0-05, 0-03 frees, Benny Heron 0-03, 0-02 frees, Eunan Murray 0-02, Sean Woods, Kieran Conway and Emmett McKillion 0-01 each

Kilrea 0-05 Glenullin 2-08

Kilrea had won their first five games but lost two in the space of four days. Ballinascreen put the first dent in their record and Glenullin followed up with a surprisingly easy nine points win at Drumagarner.

At the end of a low scoring first half Lee Kennedy from a free and from play, Benny Quigg and Kieran Og O’Kane scored to give Kilrea a slender 0-04 to 0-03 lead at Pearse Park.

However the home side could only muster a Lee Kennedy point in the second half as they turned in their poorest display of the season. James Kielt came off the bench in the second period but Glenullin put the result beyond doubt with two goals inside a five minute burst.

Paddy Bradley scored the first when he followed up when an Eoin Bradley shot was parried. The latter completed the turnaround when he converted a penalty.

However, Glenullin’s joy at winning was tempered by a hamstring injury to Gerard O’Kane that makes him a doubt for Derry’s upcoming championship game with Donegal.

The Kilrea scorers were Lee Kennedy 0-03, 0-01 free, Benny Quigg and Ciaran Og O’Kane 0-01

The Glenullin scorers were Paddy Bradley 1-01, Eoin Bradley 1-01, 1-0 pen, Rory Boylan 0-02 frees, Dermot O’Kane, Gerard O’Kane, Rory Bradley, Terry Mullan 0-01 each

Magherafelt 2-15 Steelstown 2-11

Magherafelt made it eight wins on the trot but the Margins are getting closer. After beating Lavey by two points in mid week they had to pull out all the stops to get the better of newly promoted Steelstown.

Magherafelt led by a point at half time, 1-07 to 1-06, and had to battle hard in the second half to maintain their unbeaten record.

Emmett McGuckin and Chrissy Spiers from a free gave Rossas an early lead but a 7th minute goal from the returning Mark Foley gave Steelstown the lead. Foley added a point but Rossas soon got into their stride and a Shane Heavern goal put them back in front. After Stephen Cleary responded with a point Magherafelt had scores from John Young and Phillip McCusker but a determined city side came back with scores from Ryan Devine and Michael Moore. In the final minutes of the half Gary Cunningham had a goal chance on a Niall Murray cross but somehow he palmed the ball over the bar. Phillip McCabe, Emmett McGuckin and John Young completed Rossas first half scoring, Mark Foley pointing a ‘45’ to close the gap to the minimum.

By the midpoint of the second half Rossas had stretched the lead to 1-11 to 1-08, Shane Heavern and Emmett McGuckin (3) on target, Stephen Cleary getting his only point from play along with one from a free.

Steelstown keeper Marty Dunne made a series of outstanding saves throughout the game to fend off the Rossas attack but he could do nothing about the 60th minute goal from Emmett McGuckin that brought his tally to 1-08, Steelstown’s Mark Foley scoring the fourth goal of the game four minutes into added time.

In form Emmett McGuckin was the Magherafelt hero with 1-8

Banagher 1-10 Lavey 0-13

Lavbey ran Magherafelt close four days earlier and they should have won this game away to Banagher.

They will reflect ruefully on this draw at Fr McNally Park as they seemed to have this game wrapped up when Cailean O’Boyle pointed in the 57th minute to put Lavey 0-13 to 0-08 ahead.

However Banagher refused to accept defeat and, after points from Gavan O’Neill and Shane Campbell to leave three between the sides, Shane Farren took the ball from Gavan O’Neill and rattled the net to tie the scores.

Lavey had started brightly with points from Anthony McGurk, Chris Henry and Caolan McGurk but Brian O’Kane and Mark Lynch cut the lead to 0-03 to 0-02. Liam Murphy and Chris Guy exchanged points before Gary Cushnehan and Liam Murphy made the score 0-06 to 0-03 ten minutes from half time.

In the last five minutes of the half Brian O’Kane, Mark Lynch from a free, Michael Drumm, Paul Carton and Padhraic Murphy had points to leave the sides locked at 0-07 each.

Caolan O’Boyle came on at midfield for Lavey in the second half and, after points from Chris Henry (2), Anthony McGurk and a three from O’Boyle to one from Mark Lynch, Banagher found themselves five adrift. However they staged a remarkable comeback that earned them a draw.

The Lavey scorers were Chris Henry 0-03, 0-01 free, Cailean O’Boyle 0-03, Liam Murphy 0-02, Anthony McGurk 0-02, Michael Drumm, Gary Cushnehan, Caolan McGurk 0-01 each

The Banagher scorers were Shane Farren 1-00, Mark Lynch 0-03, 0-01 free, Brian O’Kane 0-02, Gavan O’Neill, Paul Carton, Padhraic Murphy, Chris Guy and Shane Campbell 0-01 each