Ross McQuillan's goal takes Cullyhanna past Allenwood and onto Croke Park

St Patrick’s Cullyhanna booked their place in the final of the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship with a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Allenwood on Saturday afternoon.

The key moment came just seconds after the beginning of the second half, when Ross McQuillan stormed clear of the defence and blasted the ball home into the roof of the net. That score put Cullyhanna four ahead, and they defended their lead valiantly against their Leinster opponents over the remainder of the game, despite some late pressure.

Allenwood settled quickly and had the better of the early exchanges, leading 0-4 to 0-1 after 20 minutes.

However, Cullyhanna were sparked into life when Pearse Casey drove at the Kildare side’s defence and fed the ball through for McQuillan, in one on one with the goalkeeper. McQuillan was denied by Luke Anderson, but the chance chance got the Cullyhanna fans on their feet, and their team drove on over the next 10 minutes.

The Armagh men rattled off four straight points beginning with Caolán Reavey and Barry McConville – who showed great physicality to outmuscle his marker before splitting the posts – before two Aidan Nugent scores had them leading 0-5 to 0-4 at the short whistle.

St Pat’s took their momentum with them through half-time, as they stormed out of the blocks with a goal from their number 12, just 12 seconds after the restart. Casey fetched the throw-in and once again sent McQuillan racing through on goal. This time he made no mistake, taking the roof off of the net with an emphatic finish.

The next six points were divided evenly – with a booming Gavan Duffy score the pick of the bunch – before Sean Connell put Cullyhanna five ahead after a nice chipped assist from Jason Duffy, whilst the wide count began to stack up at the other end.

Allenwood fought until the end and grabbed four scores to Cullyhanna’s one – including a second of the game for Kildare football legend John Doyle – but they could never find the goal they required, as Mickey Murray got a crucial interception for his side just metres out from his own goal when Allenwood were at their most dangerous.

After a hard fought contest, Nugent tagged on one more point from a free and referee James Molloy’s full-time whistle brought scenes of jubilation from the Cullyhanna support, who are dreaming of their club becoming All-Ireland champions in a week’s time.

At the time of writing, Cullyhanna are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the other semi-final between Connacht’s Castlerea St Kevin’s and Munster’s Cill na Marta, which will determine who they meet in HQ.

See this week’s Newry Reporter for full match report and reaction – in shops January 10!