Cumann Pheadair Naofa Senior Footballers were defeated in the Morgan Fuels Down Senior Football Championship by Loughinisland on Monday 28th August and hence bow out of this year’s championship. The game, played on a showery evening in Kilcoo, started with nip-and-tuck early exchanges with the match finely-balanced at two points each eight minutes into the game. Loughinisland then edged into the lead before Niall McGovern and Donagh McAleenan responded for the Seasiders’ to leave Warrenpoint with a slender lead.
Loughinisland reeled off two consecutive points of their own, however, it was Cumann Pheadair Naofa who finished the half stronger with an unanswered 1-02 which saw Ryan Boyle punch a rebounded effort to the net. The half-time score read; Cumann Pheadair Naofa 1-06; Loughinisland 0-05.
Niall McGovern sent a curling effort over the bar to stretch the Blues’ advantage to five with the first score of the second period. Loughinisland then seized control of the game with five unanswered points from play to square the match. Ruairi Cowan struck a much-needed point for the Warrenpoint side to re-establish a narrow lead, which was swiftly cancelled out by a Loughinisland equaliser, setting up a nervy last five minutes of the game. A nerveless Donagh McAleenan free in the last minute of ordinary time left the Blues’ with a narrow advantage.
The match-winning score came in injury time when a brisk Loughinisland counter-attack resulted in a goal to give them a two-point lead with just a minute remaining. Donagh McAleenan slotted over another free before the referee called a halt to proceedings. The full time score was; Cumann Pheadair Naofa 1-10; Loughinisland 1-11.
