Erne Gaels booked their place in the semi-finals of the Ulster Club Football Championship.
They needed extra time to overcome Kinscourt Stars 3-15 to 1-16 at Kingspan Breffni Park.
Kilcoo beat Loughmacory 16 points to 11 in Omagh.
Meanwhile in the Connacht Club quarter finals, Ballina Stephenites beat North London Shamrocks 1-15 to 10 points.
There’s a place in the semi-finals of the Connacht Senior Football Championships to be decided this afternoon.
Moycullen lock horns with Shamrock Gaels in Tubbercurry from 1:30PM.
While there’s quarter final action in the Ulster Club Football Championships.
At 1:30 Scotstown take on Naomh Conaill in Clones.
At 3:30, Madden Rapparees lock horns with Sean O’Leary Newbridge at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh.
St Fechin’s (Louth) 0-7
Balyna (Kildare) 0-5
(After extra-time)
By Daire Walsh
Player of the match Ava Briscoe struck six points at Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA on Saturday as St Fechin’s displayed admirable resolve to secure an extra-time triumph over Kildare’s Balyna in a tension-filled AIB Leinster LGFA intermediate club championship final.
Inseparable from their opponents at the end of normal time, County Louth outfit Fechin’s ultimately squeezed over the line with the help of two unanswered points from the reliable Briscoe.
A former Kildare footballer who won a TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship title with the Lilywhites in 2016, Rachel Cribbin captains Balyna from the half-forward line. She got the ball rolling in this second-tier decider with a third-minute point, but following much persistence, Fechin’s eventually responded with a successful free from Briscoe.
Like the provincial junior showpiece between Muckalee and St Colmcille’s that preceded it, scoring opportunities were often at a premium in this contest. Yet after Caoimhe Ni Bhuirceal kicked an outstanding score for Balyna off her left foot, Briscoe bagged her second of the day for Fechin’s.
Although Ni Bhuirceal was also on hand to double her personal account, Fechin’s attacker Molly Matthews kicked an exceptional point with the outside of her boot on 27 minutes to ensure the sides were tied at 0-3 apiece during the interval.
It was becoming increasingly clear that there was very little between these two teams and this continued to be the case on the restart. Despite falling behind to another Briscoe point in a third-quarter that featured a number of stoppages to treat injuries for both sides, Balyna restored parity with an excellent score from the impressive Ni Bhuirceal.
A Briscoe free moved Fechin’s back in front on 54 minutes, however, and they were subsequently presented with a numerical advantage as a consequence of opposition forward Aoibheann Birchall being sent to the sin-bin.
Yet Balyna – who interestingly are managed by current Louth boss Kevin Larkin – kept their cool and Julie Brannigan’s point meant the teams were level at 0-5 each when referee Sinead McHugh sounded her full-time whistle.
It was hard to tell at this juncture who were the more likely of the two teams to prevail in the end, but a point apiece from Briscoe in either half of extra-time made all the difference.
Louth county stars Ceire Nolan, Rachel Beirth and Moya Corrigan also played their part throughout as St Fechin’s claimed some provincial silverware to go along with their Louth senior football championship success earlier on this year.
Scorers – St Fechin’s: A Briscoe 0-6 (3f), M Matthews 0-1. Balyna: C Ni Bhuirceal 0-3, J Brannigan, R Cribbin 0-1 each.
ST FECHIN’S: M Savage; M Corrigan, A Redmond, O Brennan; L Devery, R Beirth, L Devine; O McEvoy, C Nolan; A Johnston, A Briscoe, H McDonnell; M Matthews, R Howell, C Hynes. Subs: S Moore for Johnston (44), R Savage for Howell (60), Howell for Nolan (start of e-t), E Flanagan for McEvoy (69), E McDonagh for McDonnell (70+2), Nolan for Devery (71), N Kearney for Beirth (78).
BALYNA: R Bergin; K Langley, S Cullinan, H O’Keefe; L Cullinan, E Morgan, M Cooney; J Brannigan, L Doran; R Cribbin, E Burke, C Ni Bhuirceal; L Dixon, G Gallagher, A Birchall. Subs: S Hurley for Dixon (42), C Farrell for O’Keefe (65), A Holton for Cullinan (72), R Hurley for Burke (75).
Referee: Sinead McHugh (Dublin).
