St Mary’s Aghagallon held their annual club challenge match today – the Kevin Nelson Parish Cup. Traditionally played between a team from the Gawley’s Gate end of the Parish against one from the Village end. In recent years Gawley’s Gate have had the upper hand and there were fears that the cup had started to rust in the Lough air, however that fear has been laid to rest as the trophy made its way back over the Crannagh Bridge as the Villagers (and guests) clinched an unlikely victory today. Controversially The Gate manager Brian “The Tinkerman” Mulholland changed his winning formula and added a youthful look to his team this year bringing in a lot of the minor team, as a result a lot of former Gate players were available for selection and the Villagers manager Dessie Marshall snapped them up. The Villagers got off to a good start and the first real chance came from a defensive slip, a first time strike from Shanks was thwarted by Brian Mulholland with an acrobatic save. The pattern of the first half saw plenty of running by the Gate but their attacks were well marshalled by the resolute, experienced Village defence and when the Villagers gained possession they were able to use the empty spaces and create chances and began to pick off some good scores and got the ultimate reward when Damien O Hagan raised the green flag with a thunderous strike after McStay did well to retrieve the ball and deliver a defence splitting pass. A late rally by the Gate sent the teams into the break with two scores between the sides with the Villagers leading 1:05 to 0:04.
The interval came at the right time for the Villagers and they regrouped with Marshall setting out a game plan to ensure that the tiring legs could see out the second period. Obviously The Gate’s half time team talk challenged the team to focus more on attack and they came out all guns blazing with Walsh, A Mulholland and Devereux all looking hungrier but again the Villagers defence of Tallon, Kelly and Douglas held strong and protected their young inexperienced keeper. After this initial flurry the game again settled into a similar pattern as the first half and some great link up play as Mc Alinden, S Brannagan and Mallon created chances for the forward line despite playing against a strong breeze. Points were exchanged and with some good fortune the Villagers again found the net when a high ball in was not collected and Campbell was on hand to guide it home. The Gate did pull back a goal when Ryan Mulholland scored a fantastic goal but just when they thought they were getting back into it further goals from O Hagan and McKavanagh put the game beyond doubt. The Gate did miss a golden opportunity to close the gap when Mulholland hit a free wide and this proved costly especially when they did manage another goal when a Walsh shot which was going well wide hit off Tallon and wrong footed the Villagers’ defence. On a cold day there were some fantastic individual performances, ironically McAlernon, Kelly, O Hagan and McKavanagh all overlooked for selection by The Gate put in inspired performances for the Villagers along with guest player Paddy Campbell from Aldergrove. For the Gate the young guns showed a lot of energy and movement but at the end of the day the experience of the Villagers allowed them to manage the game to a successful conclusion. Final Score Villagers 4:08 The Gate 2:10, a high scoring, entertaining encounter played out for a reasonable crowd given the cold weather. A big word of thanks to the Nelson Family for their support today. And final thanks to Brendan Mc Cartan who refereed the game which was played in a very sporting manner – well done everyone who turned up to support this event today.
