Dundalk IT's Trench Cup dream ended up Cork at semi-final stage

Trench Cup semi-final

DkIT 4-10 CIT 6-13

DkIT’s Trench Cup venture was ended by CIT in Portlaoise on Wednesday night.

Oisín McConville’s side were always second best in a 10-goal thriller that saw Daniel Dineen and Damien Gore combine for 5-6 of the Cork outfit’s total.

The first half was competitive, even if CIT always looked the stronger, racing into an early five-point advantage.

But, helped by a goal from the ever-impressive Cathal Finnegan, along with a glut of points, the Dundalk men had the gap down to just one at the interval, 2-6 to 2-5.

The winners extended the lead in the early stages of the second half before launching a scoring blitz, bolting for home with a series of goals in quick succession.

Finnegan found the net again as DkIT never relented in their efforts, but a turnaround similar to the one they managed against CIT in the league semi-final was never likely to materialise, with nine the closing deficit.

DkIT: Chris McDermott (Monaghan); Mark Byrne (Meath), Hugh Osborne (Naomh Fionnbarra/Louth), Conor Magennis (Armagh); Shane Hamilton (Cavan), Eoghan Callaghan (Naomh Máirtín/Louth), Kealan O’Neill (Glen Emmets/Louth); Eunan Walsh (Antrim), Niall Kearns (Monaghan); Sam Mulroy (Naomh Máirtín/Louth), Rian O’Neill (Armagh), Lorcan Smyth (Monaghan); Cathal Finnegan (Meath), Gary Mohan (Monaghan), James Wilson (Monaghan)

Subs: Paudie McMahon (Monaghan) for Mohan, Ciarán McGlynn (Kilkerley Emmets/Louth) for Osborne, Darren Luckie (Armagh) for Smyth, Cormac Boylan (Monaghan) for O’Neill

CIT: J O’Keefe (Cork); A McAuliffe (Kerry), A Browne (Cork), S Daly (Cork); B Hodnett (Cork), E Lavers (Cork), P Ring (Cork); K Murphy (Kerry), D O’Connell (Cork), M Buckley (Cork), B Murphy (Cork), G O’Brien (Kerry); D Gore (Cork), J Crean (Kerry), D Dineen (Cork)

Subs: E McGreevey for Buckley, C O’Donoghue for O’Connell, R Maguire for Murphy, K O’Donovan for Buckley, B Hyland for O’Brien

Referee: J Hickey (Carlow)