“A lovely evening for football” was the general consensus among spectators in Cloone for this Leitrim Junior A championship round 4 clash.
Cloone emerged victorious after a hard-fought battle with neighbours Carrigallen under lights in Cloone on Saturday evening.
Both teams were very evenly matched in terms of stats in the first half. The only differing statistic was one extra wide, to make a tally of 4 for Cloone and 3 for Carrigallen.
The scoreline reflected this as the teams entered the dressing rooms with 0-6 apiece.
The boys in blue and yellow came out with strength and speed in the opening stages of the second half. Donal Brennan, Eoghan Keegan (free) and Michael Bohan raised the white flag and Ronan Mulvey’s daisy-cutting strike hit the back of the net. Creating a gap of 1-3 in the third quarter.
Carrigallen’s Aaron Skelly slowed Cloone’s momentum with a free in the 46th minute, starting a back and forth on the scoreboard.
Carrigallen’s purple patch came in the latter 15, but Cloone did well to force 4 Carrigallen attempts wide and a number short into Niall Farrell’s hands.
Aaron Skelly’s shooting kept Carrigallen in the game. The number 10 kicked all 7 of his points from frees.
Tough tackling and a resilient work rate from Cloone resulted in the home side seeing out a physical battle in the final stage of the game, securing the 2 points and topping the table in Group 2.
