Emmets strike late to send JFC semi-final with Lann Léire to a replay

Junior Football Championship Semi-Final

Glen Emmets 0-14 Lann Léire 2-8

A thrilling Junior Football Championship semi-final between Glen Emmets and Lann Léire ended in a draw on Sunday afternoon.

Neither team deserved to lose after swapping wind assisted halves of domination into the Drogheda United end of the Gaelic Grounds.

For Dunleer, the underdogs going into game, Briain McGuinness snuck forward to goal and Niall Lennon was impressive with 1-3 from play in helping them to a warranted eight-point lead at half-time; 2-6 to four-points.

Though, the Tullyallen men dug deep after the break with James Butler their saviour. The wing-forward reeled in the fourteen-men Dunleer, after Colin Murphy received his second yellow card, with the last three-points of the game, adding the flourish to a momentous comeback. 

In the year of the replay, a place in the final versus Glyde Rangers looms for the winner.

Lann Léire: John King; Paul McGeough, Paul Doyle (0-1, '45), Jason Torris; Brendan McEvoy, Briain McGuinness (1-0), Garry Monaghan; Andrew Dowd; Paul Callan; Colin Murphy (0-2), Ian Mulroy (0-1), Liam Callan; Niall Lennon (1-3), Bob Murphy, Alan Murphy (0-1)

Subs: Conall Maher for Liam Callan (54)

Glen Emmets: Fergus Barnett; Joseph Farrelly (0-1), Keith Boylan, Evan English; Andrew Mooney, Tom Grimes, Stephen Healy; Mark Garvey (0-1), Ronan Grufferty (0-4, three frees); David Bracken (0-2), Derrick Johnson, James Butler (0-4, one free); Damien Grimes, Seán Byrne (0-2), Ian Cusack

Subs: Keelan O’Neill for Johnson (HT), Shane Noone for Healy (49), Robert Byrne for Garvey (52)

Referee: Des McDonald (St. Nicholas)