Carrickmore scrape home

Carrickmore scraped past Augher to avoid a shock in the Hunky Dorys Tyrone SFC at Dunmoyle (0-10 to 0-8).

Martin Penrose fired over a volley of late scores to send last year’s beaten finalists through to a semi-final with Ardboe.

In the closing stages, Carmen displayed their battling spirit to turn over possession, going in front for the first time in the 59th minute.

Aidan Cassidy produced a magnificent display of high fielding to take the St Macartan’s to within touching distance of a major upset. Carrickmore scored just once in the opening quarter, as Augher moved two points clear with scores from Jamie Donnelly (2) and Aidan McElroy.

Penrose scored both of Carrickmore’s points in the opening half, with Donnelly’s third nudging the Valley men into a 0-4 to 0-2 interval lead. They were still two points clear going into the final quarter, after McElroy had shot a superb score to make it 0-7 to 0-5.

But Cassidy was forced by injury to go to full-forward and Carrickmore, chiefly through the efforts of Conor Gormley, took control at midfield.

They staged their traditional strong finish, outscoring their opponents by five points to one in the closing 10 minutes.

It was Penrose who scored the final three to kill off Augher’s brave challenge and set up a clash with Ardboe on Saturday.