Graham Tarmac Antrim Junior Football Championship, quarter-final
Éire Óg 4-12 Wolfe Tone's 2-8
A BLISTERING start set the tone for Éire Óg at Woodlands on Friday as they powered into the Antrim Junior Football Championship semi-final at the expense of 13-man Wolfe Tone's.
The Ogs had the ball in the net twice in the opening minutes to put the Greencastle side immediately on the back foot and this was the platform they could build on to keep daylight between the teams.
Two red cards for Wolfe Tone's just before the half-time whistle removed any prospect of them overturning the deficit despite a spirited second-half effort, but the task was too great with Éire Óg having some excellent performances on the night with P James Toal in fine form with six points, while midfielder Caomhin Daykin netted in either half.
Éire Óg couldn't have wished for a better start as they were awarded a penalty after just 12 seconds when Conor Erskine was hauled down when getting onto a long ball.
Although Danny McIvor was equal to Toal's effort, Conor McKenna buried the rebound.
Then, from the kick-out, Erskine intercepted and was through one-on-one, making no mistake with his low finish.
A hat-trick of points followed from Toal, his third a great effort from play out on the left as it was already looking ominous for the Greencastle outfit.
Kevin Clarke looks for a way past Phil Walsh 
Yet they briefly rallied with Jack Parke getting them on the board from a free nine minutes in and then moments later, Aodhán Moloney cut in from the left and thumped low to the net.
They were unable to build on this, however, as Éire Óg responded with points from Toal, Gavin Donnelly and Niall Ward before their third major arrived on 21 minutes as good work from Donnelly on the left saw him play a teasing ball inside for Caomhin Daykin to read and palm home.
Tomas Austin and Conor Burrows did hit back with points for Wolfe Tone's, but their evening would go from bad to worse just before the break as Gerard McDonnell, who was booked earlier, was shown a straight red for striking out and then less than a minute later, Stephen McKee followed in identical fashion after referee Paddy Tumelty consulted with his assistant.
At 3-6 to 1-3 ahead and a two-man advantage, it was certainly looking good for Éire Óg and they pushed on early in the second period with scores from Toal (two) and Ward.
Chris Dawson kicked an excellent point at the other end, but the Éire Óg response was their fourth goal on 41 minutes as Dermott Murray passed into Daykin who slipped a couple of challenges and thumped home.
It would have been easy for the 13-men of Wolfe Tone's to just accept their lot, but to their credit, they kept going with Dawson and Parke kicking frees and on 50 minutes, Parke availed of space on the right to thump low to the net.
There was no real prospect of a comeback with he gap at 10 and that's how it remained at the end as the sides swapped a pair of scores down the stretch and perhaps fittingly, it was the man who got things going for Éire Óg, Conor McKenna, who would have the final say with a point in stoppage time to seal their place in the last four where they will meet O'Donnell's.
ÉIRE ÓG: M Hamill; K Ryan, A McKnight, J Devlin; C Rice, R Clarke, D Murray; C McKenna (1-1), C Daykin (2-0); G Donnelly (0-2), N Ward (0-2), C Erskine (1-0); S Erskine (0-1), J Toal (0-6, 3 frees), K Clarke.
Subs: E McNulty for K Ryan (HT), A McKenna for C Erskine (45), P Loughran for A McKnight (45), S McNamee for N Ward (53), O McMenamin for J Devlin (59).
WOLFE TONE'S: D McIvor; A McAllister, S McKee, N Brannagan; J Parke (1-4, 0-4 frees), D McGovern, C McDonnell; K Moloney, E McKee; M McCann, C Burrows (0-1), D Moloney; C Dawson (0-2, 1 free), A Moloney (1-0), T Austin (0-1).
Subs: P Walsh for N Brannigan (9), J Carberry for T Austin (54), M Smyth for E McKee (60)
REFEREE: Paddy Tumelty (Lámh Dhearg)
