Slaughtneil dominate yet again on the way to big victory over Banagher

Slaughtneil 3-22

Banagher 0-7

Slaughtneil’s hunger to make it 12-in-a-row this year is not providing their opponents with any encouragement as they dominated once again on their way to anther facile victory.

While Lavey and Ballinascreen couldn’t be separated in the first of Saturday’s double header at Owenbeg, there was no such scenario in game two as the reigning champions dominated from start to finish against a game but outclassed Banagher.

Cormac O’Doherty top scored with 11 points overall, nine of which came from frees, but even without that accuracy, Slaughtneil had players all over the pitch capable of winning games on their own, Gerald Bradley a first-class example with two goals, which could well have been a hat trick only for his second half substitution.

Darragh Cartin did his best to keep respect on the scoreline for Banagher, but it was a losing battle from very early on and even by half time, with 11 points separating the teams, it was clear where the points were headed long before referee Ciaran O’Kane blew the full-time whistle.

Slaughtneil were already well on their way when they scored the game’s first goal on 13 minutes. O’Doherty had three and Se McGuigan had two when Banagher lost possession and the champions were ruthless. Bradley was screaming for the sliotar as he was completely free in front of goal, and the pass, a superb pick out from O’Doherty, eventually came and the Slaughtneil man produced an emphatic finish, one touch control, one touch power to give Conor Campbell in the Banagher goal no chance. That made it 1-5, 0-1 and already the gap was opening up.

Another goal chance came on 22 minutes, and by this time, despite Cartin hitting his second, Slaughtneil had stretched further clear thanks to one apiece from O’Doherty and Brendan Rogers. It took a brilliant stop from Campbell to keep the ball out of the net on this occasion, denying Shea Cassidy who had a free run on goal. The rebound should have been finished by O’Doherty, but he found the side-netting under pressure. Cassidy shook his head and berated himself, knowing his was the chance which should have been buried.

It was one-way traffic with chance after chance coming due to the movement, accuracy and skill of the Slaughtneil attack, and although Cartin and then Darragh McCloskey split the posts at the other end, this was very much a procession. By half time it was 1-12, 0-4 with Bradley, Rogers, Cassidy, McEldowney and O’Doherty all firing over points.

There was really very little that the Banagher players could do to stop them.

Half Time 1-12, 0-4

Despite a raft of substitutions from both sides in the second half, the story remained the same, with Slaughtneil in complete control.

It didn’t take long for Bradley to score his second goal, and it was again a powerful finish, as he found space again to give Campbell no chance just five minutes after the restart.

Five Slaughtneil points followed – three from O’Doherty frees – before Banagher found a rare score, with Shane Farren scoring a free, only their second score in 18 second half minutes.

Ominously for Banagher, and any opponent looking on, Slaughtneil didn’t take the foot off the gas despite their superiority, and the third goal arrived on 51 minutes, Rogers setting up Cassidy to finally get his goal.

It was just a matter of time running out after that, and although Farren was able to add a second free to his tally, the last say unsurprisingly went to Slaughtneil. O’Doherty hit his 10th and 11th scores of the game in the dying embers, either side of a score from Peter McCullagh.

As of now, it doesn’t look as if anyone can stop them making it number 12 this year. That hunger for success remains and there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the county capable of reaching Slaughtneil’s levels just yet.

Scorers

Slaughtneil: C O’Doherty 0-11, 9 frees, Gerald Bradley 2-1, Shea Cassidy 1-2, Se McGuigan 0-2, Brendan Rogers 0-2, Fionn McEldowney 0-2, Eamon Cassidy 0-1, Peter McCullagh 0-1.

Banagher: Darragh Cartin 0-4, 3 frees 1 ’65, Shane Farren 0-2frees, Darragh McCloskey 0-1.

Teams

Slaughtneil: Oisin O’Doherty, Sean Cassidy, Rory McCartney, Fionn McEldowney (0-2), Ruairi O’Mainian, Conor Coyle, Shane McGuigan, Jack Cassidy, Cathal McKaigue, Mark McGuigan, Se McGuigan (0-2), Gerald Bradley (2-1), Brendan Rogers (0-2), Cormac O’Doherty (0-11, 9f), Shea Cassidy (1-2).

Subs: Liam Cassidy for R O’Mianain HT, Eamon Cassidy (0-1) for Mark McGuigan 37’, Peter McCullagh (0-1) for Gerald Bradley 43’, Sean O’Doherty for Jack Cassidy 47’, Prosias Burke for Cathal McKaigue 47’.

Banagher: Conor Campbell, Jack Lynch, Ruairi McCloskey, Cathair McGilligan, Cathal O’Kane, Brian Og McGilligan, Gabriel Farren, Steafan McCloskey, Shane Murphy, Liam Eoin Campbell, Callum O’Kane, Darragh McCloskey (0-1), Shane Farren (0-2, 2f), Tiarnan McCloskey, Darragh Cartin (0-4, 3f, 1 65’).

Subs: Fiontan McGilligan for Liam Eoin Campbell 33’, Sean McCullagh for Cathal O’Kane 35’, Keelan O’Kane for Callum O’Kane 37’, Oisin McCloskey for Tiarnan McCloskey 40’, Niall Biggs for Darragh McCloskey 40’.

Yellow: Shane Murphy 47’

Referee: Ciaran O’Kane.