Medtronic (Galway ) 1-11
Prison Officers (Castlerea ) 0-07
Medtronic AVE have qualified for the 2010 Connaught Junior Inter-firms final after victory over a strong Prison Officers outfit in the recent semi final at St Brendans GAA grounds.
Leading by seven points at the interval, Medtronic withstood a determined fightback from the Castlerea men in the second half before finishing the match deserving winners.
Medtronic started the match the brighter, dominating the early exchanges with the centre third of the team particularly impressive. Two David Morris points and an effort from Kevin Kilroy had the Galway men three up after only six minutes. The only goal of the match arrived in the 10th minute. A fine ball from John Clifford found Vincent McGrath who turned and fired home from close range.
Converted frees from Mark Gavin and Derek Ryan brought the Prison Officers back into contention as the match entered the second quarter. However Medtronic finished the half with points from Conal Greally, Kevin Kilroy, and an excellent score from near the sideline by David Morris, giving Medtronic a 1- 06 to 0 - 2 lead.
The Prison Officers came back into the match after both sides exchanged early scores. Michael Moyles produced the score of the contest for the Prison Officers while David Morris replied for the winners. However four unanswered points from Michael Moyles (3 ) and Mark Gavin brought the margin down to three with 10 minutes remaining. In the end, however, a fitter Medtronic side dominated the remaining stages and points from Conal Greally (2 ), John Clifford and Ronan Rogers were sufficient to set up a final encounter with the winners of the Ballina Beverages/Sligo Garda.
Medtronic: C Clarke, D McHugh, K Dooher, R McDermott, T Crowe, R Rogers (0-1 ), T Shaughnessy, M McNamara. J Clifford (0-1 ), V McGrath(1-0 ), D Hogan, K Kilroy (0-2 ), D Fee, D Morris (0-4, 1 free ), C Greally (0-3, 1 free ). Subs: M Grimes, C Trautt, D Mullen, L O Finn
Prison Officers: M Jordan, J Cassidy, K. McLaughlin, M Brennan, J Higgins, R Cox, F Fannon, N McDermott, P Durcan, M Moyles (0-4, 3frees ), T Reddington, J Murtagh, D Ryan (0-1, free ), E Gormally, M Gavin (0-2, frees ). Subs: T Gallagher, P Maguire, R Rafferty.
Referee: Noel Larkin (St Brendan’s ).
