Referee escorted off as Pádraig Pearses progress amid late drama 

Pádraig Pearses edged a controversial Connacht club semi-final against Mountbellew-Moylough to reach the club’s second provincial final.

Mountbellew-Moylough's players argue with with referee Jerome Henry

Connacht Club SFC semi-final: Pádraig Pearses 1-8 Mountbellew-Moylough 1-7 

Referee Jerome Henry needed to be escorted from the Hyde Park pitch as Pádraig Pearses edged a controversial Connacht club semi-final against Mountbellew-Moylough to reach the provincial final for the second time.

Substitute Tom Butler hit the winning point for the Roscommon champions, but the game was marred by ugly scenes as the end as Henry was surrounded by irate Mountbellew-Moylough players who felt that a number of key decisions went against them during the game’s dying embers.

The match also featured five black cards and one red card as the contest threatened to boil over late on.

Barry McHugh and Paul Carey swapped first-half goals, but the Galway champions enjoyed a 1-3 to 1-2 interval advantage, thanks to superb points from Eoin Finnerty and Colin Ryan.

Mountbellew-Moylough surged three points clear on the resumption — the pick of them being an exquisite effort from midfielder Michael Daly with the outside of his right boot. However, points from Carey and a brace from Ronan Daly left the sides level at 1-6 apiece by the three-quarter stage.

The final quarter was laden with drama and controversy as John Daly and Niall Carty joined Shane Moran, Barry McHugh and Mark Richardson on the black card list. Mountbellew-Moylough midfielder Matthew Barrett also saw red after picking up a second yellow card.

But the drama was only beginning. Gary Sweeney and Emmett Kelly swapped points as extra time loomed. Hubert Darcy had the chance to win it for Pearses but he dropped his 40-metre free from straight in front of the posts short.

Then a number of decisions appeared to go against Mountbellew-Moylough. Barry McHugh felt he should have won a mark after been earlier denied what he felt was a free.

Then to rub further salt into their wounds, Butler popped up with the winner. When the final whistle blew, the Galway champions’ players surrounded Henry to make their feelings known, leading to the Mayo official being led away by stewards.

But Pearses’ thoughts were turning to a first Connacht senior club final appearance where they will play Mayo champions Knockmore in Ballina on Sunday, January 9th, 2022.

Scorers for Pádraig Pearses: P Carey 1-1, R Daly 0-3, H Darcy 0-2, E Kelly, T Butler 0-1 each.

Scorers for Mountbellew-Moylough: B McHugh (1f) 1-2, L Donnellan, E Finnerty, C Ryan, M Daly, G Sweeney 0-1 each.

PÁDRAIG PEARSES: P Whelan; G Downey, M Richardson, A Butler; C Lohan, R Daly, D Murray; N Daly, C Daly; S Carty, N Carty, L Daly; C Payne, H Darcy, P Carey. 

Subs: C Keogh for Downey (h-t), T Butler for Payne (40), E Kelly for S Carty (51), J Tumulty for L Daly (54), S Ryan for Carey (60) 

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH: D Boyle; J Foley, B Mannion, C Murray; C Ryan, J Daly, G Sweeney; M Daly, M Barrett; S Moran, P Donnellan, L Donnellan; P Kelly, B McHugh, E Finnerty. 

Subs: G Donohue for P Donnellan (51) 

Referee: J Henry (Mayo).