Augher..........0-12
Glenelly..........0-9
AUGHER reached their first adult championship final since the high-flying days of the 1980s after getting the better of Glenelly at Dromore yesterday.
Switched to an early Sunday slot after Friday night's floodlit fixture was rained off, the two sides served up a tight junior last four contest at the sunny St Dmypna's venue. Both teams came into the game with decent league records under their belts and some encouraging signs en route to this stage of the championship. The formbook thus suggested it would be a close-run affair and that's how it panned out.
Semi-final nerves played their part as errors crept in on both sides, although there could be no faulting the endeavour and drive shown by the respective St Joseph's and St Macartan's team units.
After a lively opening 30 minutes, it was 0-8 to 0-4 for Augher at half-time, this after Glenelly had broken out of the blocks best and hit two early points.
It was a leeway that Glenelly never quite managed to bridge despite some sustained spells in the second half ascendancy.
A few more scores for the North Tyrone men during these spells and the outcome could have been a different one.
As it turned out, Augher did enough to keep their noses in front and secure a local junior derby final meeting with neighbours Aghaloo.
Conal McCullagh and Seamus Harkin fired over a pair of points to get Glenelly off the mark inside five minutes, Aidan Cassidy and Jamie Donnelly replying in kind for Augher.
Glenelly missed a couple of chances that let down useful approach work on their behalf, Augher taking advantage to register subsequent scores via Paul McKenna and Jamie Donnelly (free).
A second Donnelly free propelled his team into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead moving inside the second quarter but a forceful run by Glenelly centre-half back Conal McCullagh yielded a converted free from Kevin McCullagh.
Donnelly drove over a side-line free and Stephen McCaffrey lofted over a super score to push Augher 0-7 to 0-3 ahead on 22 minutes.
Another probing run forward from McCullagh saw the same player point at the end of it. Full-back Cathal Sheerin moved to midfield at this juncture for the St Joseph's where he got through plenty of productive work.
The half ended with the accurate Donnelly on target from a place kick to send the St Macartan's in with a cushion of four points.
Glenelly picked up the tempo after the restart with Kevin McCullagh landing a brace of frees to halve their interval deficit inside four minutes.
Tensions were getting a little bit heated now and a few yellow cards were handed out by referee Shane Dorrity.
Donnelly's first free of the second 30 minutes steadied Augher's ship but the momentum was with Glenelly at this time and they counter-attacked for Kevin McAnena to blast over.
A further Donnelly free restored Augher's three-point gap but an excellent Conal McCullagh point, his third of the day, kept Glenelly close on Augher's heels with 15 minutes to go.
Barry McKenna pointed to put three in it again as the imposing Aidan Cassidy won some good possession; Glenelly voicing their frustration after the latter received yellow and black card cautions for challenges in quick succession.
Finbarr McQuaid and the Augher defence made some vital clearances before Kevin McCullagh cut the gap to two moving into injury time. A Donnelly free at the opposite end, though, completed the scoring as Augher celebrated booking their final ticket.
