Dungannon hurlers suffer disappointing defeat in Ulster Club IHC opener to Lisbellaw

Flashback: Matthew Mulgrew of Eoghan Ruadh tries to make a break past Setanta's Josh Cronnolly McGee and Oisin Marley. PHOTOS: GERALDINE DIVER

placeholder image — Flashback: Matthew Mulgrew of Eoghan Ruadh tries to make a break past Setanta's Josh Cronnolly McGee and Oisin Marley. PHOTOS: GERALDINE DIVER

The Dungannon hurlers suffered a disappointing defeat in their Ulster Club IHC opener at Brewster Park, where they went down by a narrow two points margin at the hands of Lisbellaw

THE Dungannon hurlers suffered a disappointing defeat in their Ulster Club IHC opener at Brewster Park, where they went down by a narrow two points margin at the hands of Lisbellaw.

After claiming their first Tyrone title in six years, Eoghan Ruadh had high hopes of winning a provincial title, but they were edged out in a tight contest by the Fermanagh men.

Lisbellaw stepped up the tempo in the closing stages to get the vital scores that secured that precious semi-final spot.

Cain Ferguson struck accurately from frees to give the Tyrone champions a 0-4 to 0-1 lead by the end of the opening quarter, and they were looking good when Fergal Donaghy split the posts.

But Lisbellaw rallied in the closing stages of the first half, and scores from

Caolan and John Duffy had them two ahead.

Two Cormac McErlean scores had Eoghan Ruadh two clear going into the final quarter, but Caolan Duffy’s late goal swung the momentum in favour of the Erne champions, and they held on to win by two.

And Tyrone’s other representatives in the Ulster series, Omagh, also made their exit, losing by 2-16 to 1-13 to Castlewellan in the junior championship.

Meanwhile, Augher suffered relegation to Division 3A of the Tyrone ACL, losing out in a play-off nu 1-15 to 1-13 to Castlederg, who make the step up to Division 3.

And there’s a crucial play-off this weekend when Dungannon and Moortown put their Division One status on the line.

Moortown have been preparing for this must-win tie since the end of the league several weeks ago, but Dungannon’s involvement was confirmed only when Edendork triumphed in the senior championship.

Edendork had been due to face the lough shore men in the play-off, but winning the O’Neill Cup secured their top flight status, and drew parish neighbours Dungannon into the relegation scrap.

The Clarke’s have home advantage at O’Neill Park for an encounter which will see the winners remain as a Division One side, and the losers make the drop to Division Two.