Glenn book their place in the semis once again

For the second year in a row, Glenn made it to the Senior Championship semi-finals after seeing off Bryansford in Mayobridge on Sunday evening.

Glenn battled their way back from a seven-point deficit to knock out Clonduff in the previous round but they didn't need to do that on Sunday. They were worthy winners, beating the Ford by five points 0-16 to 0-11 and they await the draw tonight (Monday) to find out who they meet in the last four.

It was a close contest in the first half, but a brilliant start to the second sent Stephen Clarke's men on their way.

Glenn led by two points at the half-time whistle in a tight first 30 minutes that saw the sides level three times. They got off to a bright start, applying all of the early pressure and were rewarded with the opening point off the boot of Shay Millar in the first minute and Glenn doubled their lead with a converted free by Joe Sands in the fourth. Before that though, they almost scored a maximum as Millar tried to bundle the ball into the net. Bryansford goalkeeper Thomas Burns made an excellent save however and while the ball did go in as he was bundled to the ground, a free out was awarded.

Danny Savage got the scoreboard moving for the Ford from a free in the sixth minute and Daniel McKibben levelled proceedings for the first time following a nice one-two.

Ryan O'Higgins then put Bryansford in front, swinging the ball over the bar but wides started to creep into their game and while Glenn may have been wasteful with a couple of missed goal opportunities, Bryansford kicked four points off-target in the second quarter.

Oran Byrne made no mistake at the other end to square proceedings at 0-3 apiece and after Declan Carville got on the end of a ball launched into the square, with another goal chance for Glenn, Sean Donegan had him covered and cleared the danger.

Paddy Brooks nudged Glenn in front again on 15 minutes, but after Niall McParland squandered another Glenn goal chance by opting to pass across the face of goal where the ball was intercepted and cleared, O'Higgins converted a free to make it 0-4 each.

Brooks and Jack McCartan (free) gave Glenn their first two-point advantage since the start of the game as the clock ticked on and with traded scores between McKibben following a steal in midfield and Millar with a point off the post the half-time scoreline read 0-7 to 0-5 in favour of Glenn.

While Bryansford hit another wide at the start of the second half, Glenn turned up the heat. They had five more points on the board within five minutes and really began to stamp their authority on the game.

Byrne set the tone with a good score and the same player won the kick-out laying off to Millar who fired over the bar. Joe Sands put Glenn into double digits and a brace from McCartan made it 0-12 to 0-5.

Savage stopped the momentum with a converted free for Bryansford, but Glenn were on the attack again from kick-out and they won a free at the other end that Sands sent over the bar cancelling out Bryansford's only score of the half thus far.

The Ford weren't ready to give up yet however as Conor Maginn pointed and Savage converted a brace of frees, as the wind gusted, to narrow the deficit to four 0-13 to 0-9 midway through the half making for a potentially tense last quarter, but McCartan popped a couple of frees over the bar for Glenn to increase the advantage to six again and ease the pressure.

Bryansford lost their discipline committing quite a few fouls that earned them yellow cards and didn't help their cause, as another superb McCartan free from a difficult angle made it 0-16 to 0-9. A free from Savage made it a six-point game again with six minutes left on the clock and while only gaols would do for Bryansford at that stage, a ball dropped into the square by Conor Maginn was plucked out of the sky by Glenn keeper John O'Hare.

Bryansford continued to lump balls forward when the opportunity arose but there were a lot of tired legs on the Mayobridge field and it looked unlikely that they could conjure up two goals.

Savage did get one more point in stoppage time with the ball dropping over the bar when it was intended to drop short but Glenn had done more than enough to warrant the win.

SCORERS

Glenn: Jack McCartan (0-7,5f), Joe Sands (0-3,2f), Paddy Brooks (0-2), Oran Byrne (0-2), Shay Millar (0-2)

Bryansford: Danny Savage (0-6,5f), Daniel McKibben (0-2), Ryan O'Higgins (0-2,1f), Conor Maginn (0-1)