Antrim Football League – Division 3
Naomh Comhghall 1-12 St Malachy’s 1-7
Naomh Comhghall entertained familiar foe Saint Malachy’s on Wednesday night at Dunsilly having taken maximum points from their opening four games. Despite the notable absence from the starting line-up of star performers Louis Higgins, James Mc Cabe and Josh Henry the Comgalls would begin the game as red hot favourites to overcome the challenge of the men from the Markets.
The Malachy’s men had different ideas however and, having spent the first half hour frustrating the men in white they got their reward with a penalty on the stroke of half time which was smartly dispatched past Antrim net-minder Anto Watson leaving the sides all square 1-03 to 0-06 at the short whistle.
Strong words and some sage advice from Comgalls manager Barry Burns helped drive the Antrim men on in the second half. The determination and work-rate of make-shift midfielders Eoin Lynott and Paddy O’Connor would see enough ball overturned to supply Comgalls sharp shooters Tom Patchet and Miles Devine with the required service they needed to punish the opposition and when Devine found himself one-on-one with his man on the 45th minute the Comgalls talisman found the necessary twists, turns and accuracy to stretch the deficit to 2 points, a lead that Saint Comgalls never looked like relinquishing. The introduction of experienced duo James Mc Cabe and Danaan O’Hara early in the second half would later prove to be the combination that sealed Saint Malachy’s fate.
An attempt at a point from Mc Cabe appeared to be dropping short but was soon turned into a speculative ball into the danger area when Ryan Clarke applied enough pressure on the Mal’s full back to break the ball down to Danaan O’Hara on the edge of the small rectangle. O’Hara, notoriously ruthless from this range was not to miss and the Antrim men finally had some breathing space. The Markets men did apply some pressure in the last 5 minutes of the game but tenacious defending from Michael Mc Cabe and Aaron Mc Gaw as well as some excellent goalkeeping from Anto Watson kept the Belfast men at bay. When pressure was relieved Saint Comgalls were able to break with the athleticism of Diarmad Hanna, Jack Moore and captain Ruairí Griffin.
Tom Patchet supplied the finishing touches to a game where Naomh Comhghall had to dig deep to carve out a win. Manager Barry Burns expressed his delight at taking maximum points from the first 5 games and believes his team showed great character to overcome such a tough, physical challenge.