Loughmore Castleiney ---------------------5-11
Arravale Rovers ------------------------------ -- 2-8
Loughmore Castleiney cruised to victory in a one sided county football quarter final against Arravale Rovers in Cashel on Saturday.
The victory was just as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests, Arravale Rovers were obliterated in a devastating goal blitz from the opening whistle.
Although Arravale Rovers did enjoy a good spell in the second half the game was over as a contest from very early on and Arravale Rovers never recov ered from a dreadful start.
Loughmore were just imperious.It was a powerhouse display from Loughmore in the first half and if they continue to perform with such rich form they will be very hard to stop this year.
Arravale Rovers had no hope of stopping the Loughmore machine when it was in such a mood to destroy and finish off the game as quickly as they could.
With their direct football, and with the magnificent Noel McGrath effortlessly linking defence with attack, they just simply blew Arravale away.
The ball was in the back of the Arravale net as early as the second minute as Loughmore opened them up with an excellent move that saw Brian McGrath release a clever pass across the face of the goal to the in rushing John McGrath who finished to the net.
Darrren Lowry pointed for Arravale Rovers but Loughmore struck again after five minutes with Liam McGrath setting up Joseph Nyland who applied a clinical finish in front of goal.
It was the w orst possible start for Arravale who could do little to stop the onslaught.Liam Treacy added a point for Loughmore after thirteen minutes but it was a three goal blitz from Loughmore in a five minutes spell that finished this quarter final as a contest.
Goals from Joseph Nyland,Evan Sweeney and Liam Treacy, each goal as good as the other , came in a devastating spell starting after fifteen minutes.
Arravale had no answer to the relentless pressure applied by a an inform Loughmore as they cruised to victory.
Arravale managed two points from James Hogan in the closing minutes of the first half giving them a total of just three scores for the half the same number of points as their opponents but Loughmore also had five goals to show for their efforts.
In fairness to Arravale they did put in a much improved performance in the second half.Brian Jones,James Hogan and the two Leahy’s,Donough and Shane , all continued to work very hard and their efforts were rewarded when Darren Lowry converted a penalty eight minutes into the second half and they went to take four of the next five points scored in the game in their best spell.
It was never going to be enough however as Loughmore continued to pick off the points to protect their lead.
In the dying seconds of the game Johnny Lowry added Arravale’s second goal to put a reasonably respectable look on the final score 5-11 to 2-8
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.