Douglas beat Passage to reach Junior A Football Championship decider where they will meet Mayfield

Douglas 0-12 (0-1-10)

Passage 1-7 (1-0-7).

Douglas have booked their place in the AOS Security Seandún Junior A Football Championship decider, where they will meet Mayfield, as they saw off the challenge of Passage in their semi-final at Ballinlough.

Douglas were on top for most of this game, which was relatively low-scoring, due to the greasy conditions. 

While Passage got the game’s only goal with four minutes remaining, they also missed a two-pointer in the closing stages.

Ryan O’Sullivan got the game’s opening point in the third minute for Douglas, before Darragh Murphy equalised for Passage.

Harry Quilligan and Adam Young each added points to give Douglas a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. Passage reduced the deficit to a single score, courtesy of a point by Sean Harrington.

Approaching the third quarter, Jamie O’Brien converted the game’s first free for Douglas, to extend their lead to 0-4 to 0-2.

Darragh Murphy’s second point followed by a point by Killian Murphy, tied the scores at four points apiece. 

Harry Quilligan put Douglas back in the lead with his second point from play. This left the scoreline reading 0-5 to 0-4 in favour of Douglas at the break.

Two points, including a free by Quilligan, were the only scores of the third quarter.

Entering the final quarter, persistent fouling was proving to be costly for Douglas. Killian Murphy converted two unanswered frees in a two minute spell, to leave one point between the sides.

Padraig McGrath landed the game’s only two-pointer for Douglas in the 51st minute. 

This was followed by Quilligan’s second pointed free.

In the 56th minute, Passage had Douglas pinned back as Sean Harrington set up James Kind for a goal, which reduced the margin to a point. Passage equalised with Killian Murphy’s third pointed free.

McGrath and Quilligan each got points for Douglas.

As the game entered stoppage time, Douglas net-minder Cian O’Leary prevented Passage from rescuing the game. 

Passage goalkeeper Callum Finnegan also pulled off some spectacular saves.

Scorers for Douglas: H Quilligan 0-6 (0-2f); P McGrath 0-3 (2pt); J O’Brien 0-1f; R O’Sullivan, A Young, 0-1 each.

Passage: K Murphy 0-4 (0-3f); J Kind 1-0; D Murphy 0-2; S Harrington 0-1.

Douglas: C O’Leary; K Hayes-Curtin, D O’Callaghan, N Lynch; J Cremin, D Reddington, A Young; G O’Sullivan, L Healy; R O’Sullivan, S O’Leary, H Quilligan; O Barry, C O’Keeffe, J O’Brien.

Subs: E Nash for Healy, E O’Flynn for G O’Sullivan (both 42), Ben Herlihy for R O’Sullivan (47), P McGrath for O’Brien (50), D O’Donoghue for Young (56).

Passage: C Finnegan; N O’Connor, T Harrington, E Murphy; F Williams, D McCarthy, D Barrett; L Harrington, T O’Neill; S Harrington, J Kind, K Murphy; Scott Couglan-Collins, J Blennerhasset, D Murphy.

Subs: S Burke for Blennerhasset, Sean Coughlan for Barrett (both 37), C Barry for O’Neill (46), J Barry for Scott Coughlan-Collins (52).

Referee: Mark Maher (St. Finbarr’s).