Castlerea ease relegation fears as Elphin qualify for last eight
Adam McDermott led Castlerea St. Kevin's comeback against Western Gaels, which preserved their senior football championship status for 2025. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Castlerea St. Kevin’s moving away from the relegation trapdoor alongside Elphin qualifying for the last eight were the two main talking points from Sunday’s Senior Football Championship action in County Roscommon.
Dara Bruen’s side dug deep to pull a famous result out of the bag against Western Gaels in their relegation semi-final in Enfield.
It looked like survival experts, Western Gaels, were about to stage their Houdini act once more when a red card for John Curran was followed by a goal from Cathal Cregg to leave Gerard Nolan’s charges 1-8 to 0-6 ahead, and a man up, after 40 minutes.
Step forward Adam McDermott who launched a terrific Castlerea St. Kevin’s comeback, reeling off 0-7, including a couple of two-point frees, to drag his side back from the cliff-edge.
Rory Hester did leave his side within striking distance with a Western Gaels point in injury time to end his side’s scoring famine, but Castlerea held on for a 0-14 to 1-9 victory, even though a two-point free from Western Gaels goalkeeper, Patrick Gaynor, drifted wide with the last kick of the game.
Western Gaels will have one last chance to save their senior status when they meet St. Dominic’s in the relegation final on Friday evening, September 19th, in Kilbride.
Meanwhile, Elphin are in the hat for Wednesday evening’s quarter-final draw following their comfortable 2-20 to 1-14 victory against North Roscommon in Abbey Park, Boyle.
John Finnerty led the winners’ scoring charge with 2-5, but there were a couple of impressive North Roscommon performances too, most notably St. Barry’s duo Cillian Campbell and Eoghan Diffley alongside Ballinameen full-forward Adam Dwyer and Evan Corcoran from Shannon Gaels, who kicked five delightful points from play in the second half.
Finnerty combined with Gerry Cregg to score his first goal in the 17th minute, and his second followed eight minutes into the second half to put the game out of North Roscommon’s reach.
