E CIARAN III....................................1-08

OWEN ROES.....................................1-10

Not too many people gave Owen Roes a chance of finally breaking their duck for the season when they matched up to Errigal Ciaran Thirds in the junior championship at Carrickmore on Friday evening but the Leckpatrick men produced a battling display to pull of a shock result.

Owen Roes had the better of things in the first half and they deservedly led 1-4 to 0-2 but when Errigal Ciaran Thirds fought back to get on level terms they looked the likely winners.

The crucial moment in the game arrived in the 53rd minute when the favourites were awarded a penalty but Dara Tierney's spot kick was saved by Owen Roes keeper Dylan Early and that gave them the impetus to come from a point down to win by two.

Kevin Doherty, Gerard Devine, Chris Kelly, Marcus McGinley and Declan McCrossan were among the Owen Roes heroes as they put eleven straight defeats in the league firmly behind them.

Errigal Ciaran Thirds will be bitterly disappointed with this defeat and they know themselves they had ample opportunities to win the game as apart from the penalty miss they also spurned two good goal chances in injury time that would have pulled the game out of the fire and broke Owen Roes' hearts.

The Leckpatrick man bravely hung on however to pick up a morale boosting victory which keeps alive their season.

It was Owen Roes who were out of the traps quickly with Marcus McGinley and Stephen Dooher both on target in the opening few minutes although the sign of Errigal's attacking threat were there to see with Owen Roes' keeper Early twice having to punch dangerous situations clear while defender Gerard Devine did well to clear a Declan Quinn shot off the line.

Rory McCann got the Dunmoyle men's challenge up and running with a fine effort that went over via the bar but a Michael Harte point was all that they had to show for the rest of their first half endeavours as Owen Roes stuck to the task in hand.

In the twenty first minutes, Owen Roes had something to hold onto when Stephen Boyle finished to the net past Errigal Ciaran keeper Niall Quinn and when Stephen Dooher and Declan McCrossan tagged on points the possibility of an upset was on the cards and it was Errigal Ciaran who were relieved to hear the half time whistle.

At the start of the second period it was Errigal Ciaran who were looking the more sharper and focussed of the teams and within five minutes they had their opponents' advantage wiped out thanks to a Declan Quinn goal and points from Tierney and McCann. McCrossan and McCann exchanged points before Errigal should have had a second goal but Tierney pointed when clean through. Errigal Ciaran held a narrow one point lead when Niall McCartan was fouled in the act of shooting but Tierney failed to convert the spot kick. Owen Roes made good their escape with Chris Kelly equalising immediately but back came Errigal Ciaran with McCann knocking over his fourth point of the game.

Errigal Ciaran were to score only one more time though as Owen Roes came up with the crucial scores with Kieran Kelly levelling before Conor McCay put them in front. Owen Roes had their tails up and two points in a minute from Aidan McCrossan and Barry Porter edged them into a winning position. McCann narrowed the deficit and right at the end Quinn had a chance to snatch it but his low shot went narrowly wide of the target.