Knockmore's future stars lead the way
When Belmullet asked the questions, Knockmore had the answers as the saffron and blue produced an excellent second half display to book their spot in the senior quarter-finals last Sunday afternoon.
With much improved weather from the previous day, a bumper crowd descended to Crossmolina for what was to be an intriguing battle. The Erris men were the better side in the first half as they suffocated their opponents and denied them precious time and space but as the second half opened up and Belmullet bodies began to tire, Knockmore found a second wind and roared to victory, with Aidan Orme, Caolan Hopkins, Conor Flynn and Pearse Ruttledge impressing.
Belmullet were boosted by the return of talismanic Ryan O’Donoghue and he opened the scoring from a free, followed by Eamon McAndrew’s first point. Knockmore had to be patient and Hopkins got the 2020 and 2021 champions up and running before Colin Barrett and Darren McHale traded quick scores.
McAndrew and Evan Ivers extended Belmullet’s lead when Knockmore got their first back-to-back scores through a Hopkins free and an Orme mark, only for Ronan Murray to bring the gap back to two before half-time, 0-6 to 0-4 in Belmullet’s favour.
Substitute Peter Naughton was next in the act on the act before Orme intercepted a Belmullet kickout and raced through to slide it under Shane Nallen and into the net, followed up by a Pearse Ruttledge point that was eventually awarded after it was initially waived wide by the umpires.
Ryan O’Donoghue, a free, stopped the rot for Belmullet but it was all Knockmore at this point, winning nearly every 50/50 and breaking ball, as substitute Charlie Bourke kept Knockmore rolling. This contest would swing once more on 49 minutes however, as Evan Ivers and Marty Boylan started the move before Ronan Murray finished into the net in emphatic fashion.
Yet Belmullet would score only one more point, a Shane Nallen 45’, as Knockmore raced towards the finish line through Darragh Staunton, Keith Ruttledge, a fisted score by Pearse Ruttledge and injury time points by Charlie Bourke and Caolan Hopkins to see them advance at the expense of Claremorris, who failed to defeat to Ballaghaderreen in the other game in the group. Belmullet, meanwhile, head for the relegation playoff but appear to have enough to survive.
