All County Football League Division 2
by Ursula Bradley
Having been beaten in the home fixture in Chapel Hill the Glenavy men were out for revenge on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Moneyglass and from the start tensions were running high as both teams hit wides apiece in the first five minutes. Moneyglass full back Jimmy McMeel’s afternoon was over only a couple of minutes into the half after being injured in a flurry of action around the home goalmouth before Alex Gallagher got the visitors their first score from play, but a free on the 45 metre line at the other end of the pitch by Liam Brady brought the home side level.
It was a quiet 10 minutes for the boys in blue as Glenavy took control to score four on the trot through the Gallagher boys which included a goal from Patrick and points for Owen, Dominic and Alex.
Moneyglass hit back as Liam Brady got back on the score sheet from play followed by one from a tight angle from corner forward Conaill Prenter.
Glenavy hopes received a setback twenty minutes into the half when Johnston received a black card and having seen yellow only 5 minutes previously it was an early bath for the Glenavy midfielder. However being a man down didn’t seem to hamper the travelling teams scoring ability and a point from Owen Gallagher followed by a goal from Alex kept them five points clear of the home side. A poor Glenavy kick out was punished when Seanchan Duffin passed a quick ball to Ryan Boyd who popped it effortlessly over the bar.
But the seemingly unstoppable Gallaghers had Mark Carey picking the ball out of the net for the second time with Patrick hitting the target. However Moneyglass got back into contention before the break when a high ball by Seanchan Duffin deceived the Glenavy keeper and ended up in the back of the net to give the home team some hope and when half-back Patrick McCormick pointed in the first half injury time his team were just 2-06 to 1-05 behind at the break.
The second half started as ferociously as the first half ended and when Glenavy were awarded a free on the 45 metre line, the ball was delivered to Tiernan Duffin and on the counter attack he passed to Sean Kelly who he placed Dermot McErlain for a brilliant Moneyglass goal to cut the gap to a point.
Michael McCourty (Glenavy) and Liam Brady (Moneyglass) exchanged points but Glenavy who were soon back on the attack and when Sean Kelly was shown a black card following an illegal tackle the disorganisation of the home side was punished with 2 goals in quick succession by Owen and Dominic Gallagher. With a two goal cushion Glenavy decided what we have we hold and a defensive reshuffle saw them drop deep into defence. As a result Moneyglass found it hard to penetrate beyond the 21 yard line and only scored 3 from play for the remainder of the half. The visiting team broke down the boys in blue attacks and were admirable on the counter attack scoring a further 5 points from play to end the game the victors 4-12 to 2-11 to strengthen their grip at the top of the table..
Moneyglass:
- Mark Carey 2. Miren Neeson 3. Jimmy McMeel 4. Sean Kelly 5. Patrick McCormick 6. Tiernan Duffin 7. Seamus Devlin 8. Ryan Boyd 9. Seanchan Duffin 10. Gavin Murray 11. Paul Tohill 12. Dermot McErlain 13. Conaill Prenter 14. Liam Brady 15. Padraig Mackle
Glenavy:
- Gerard Hamilton 2. Martin Nelson 3. Chris Scullion 4. Matthew Hamill 5. Ryan Phillips 6. Conor Hamill 7. Johnathan Phillips 8.Michael Johnston 9. Ciaran Loney 10.Patrick Gallagher 11. Owen Gallagher 12. Michael McCourt 13. Neil Scullion 14. Dominic Gallagher 15. Alex Gallagher
Referee: Karol Doherty