JFC - Semi-Final
St Agnes' 1-18
Éire Óg 1-11

A controlled and professional performance saw St Agnes' clinch a seven point victory over rivals Éire Óg on Saturday afternoon in the Junior Championship at Woodlands on Saturday evening.

The black and whites competed for the first time in the knock-out phase after an unbeaten group stage which saw them clinch victory in all three games to earn top spot and automatically enter the semi-final stage.

Éire Óg battled with O'Donnell's just a fortnight ago at the quarter-final stage and squeezed through in a rather lacklustre performance, but on any given Sunday (or Saturday in this case) you just never know.

It was the Derriaghy men who would spurn an early goal chance when Lorcan McIlroy found space and drove past his marker but planted his effort with limited power making it a routine stop for Colum Carrol in St Agnes' net.

James Campbell got the first score of the game after he flashed a good effort up and over the black spot after five minutes of play.

Conall Smyth hit two points for the Ógs to swing the early momentum back in favour of the designated away side with the second being a truly fantastic point as he clipped an effort just kissing the inside upright to put his side in front for the first time in the tie.

It did not take long for Aggies to take the early major and give themselves a foundation to build on from the 15th minute as they kick-started their route to victory when James Campbell found the net.

Aggies wing-back Kevin Floyd attempted a long winded effort which struck the upright before falling into the box where Campbell was lurking and plucked the ball before dispatching his effort low and into the bottom corner.

Campbell followed up his major with a point instantaneously to pile on the pressure as the Aggies looked to assert dominance in the opening period.

David McGaharan found his first score of the evening when he shot from the far right wing and saw white flags raised much to the jubilation of the St Agnes' bench.

James Connell would reduce the deficit before the half but with a six point lead at the break it truly was an uphill task for Éire Óg but certainly not a foregone conclusion.

The second half began with Éire Óg on the front foot with their attacking play looking far more potent when Lorcan McIlroy struck just after the break to reduce the deficit to five.

The forward was allowed to hit a brace of dead balls to split the posts and a superb effort from Conor McKenna encouraged roars from the hill bank as the Derriaghy men looked to be in the ascendancy. 

The Ógs were awarded a free just moments after McKenna's score and the hopes of reducing the score to within two lay on the shoulders of McIlroy who had proved to be a sharpshooter all season long for the white and red men.

In what proved to be the momentum killer the forward's effort lifted just slightly off to the right and landed on the outside of the upright with a wide signalled much to the relief of the Aggies who were on the backfoot on the resumption of the half.

From then St Agnes' regained control of the semi-final and Conall Turley looked hell bent on putting his side firmly in the final when he struck six second half scores with his free taking proving flawless when required.

Turley fired his side in front by seven with just nine minutes remaining with hope all but lost for their rivals Éire Óg.  A long ball was whipped in with just six minutes to play and Mark Graham took his chance burying his effort beyond the St Agnes' shot-stopper.

Time was not on the side of the underdogs and that proved to be a mere consolation when David McGaharan struck two points in quick succession which allowed early celebrations from the home bench.

Turley sealed victory when he popped over another free in added time and daylight was put between the sides as the referee blew his whistle for the final time on the evening with St Agnes' blowing away their rivals in the end.

A huge opportunity now awaits for the Aggies as they can clinch an unprecedented league and championship double when they face Pearse's in the final in a fortnight's time, as they hope they can go one further than last year's disappointing defeat at the same stage.

St Agnes': C Carroll; C Flannery, K McCormick, P Carroll; R Gilligan 0-1, R Reilly, K Floyd 0-1; D Turley 0-1, P Mulgrew; C McBride 0-1, S Madden, J Campbell 1-2; D McGarahan 0-5, C Turley 0-7 (0-5f), C Clarke.

Subs: C Gregory, C McKee, P McClenagahn, O McKenna, D Quigley, C Kennedy, C Gilligan

Éire Óg: J King; B McDaid, B O'Malley, J Devlin 0-1; C Rice, C McKenna 0-1, K Clark; P McNeils B O'Malley; S Erskine, R Donnelly 0-1, G Donnelly; C Smyth 0-3, L McIlroy 0-4 (0-2f), M Graham 1-0

Subs: R Clarke, J Connell 0-1, K Vesall, E Sheehy, J George