Antrim’s Conor Murray takes on the London full back Marcus Mangan during Sunday’s NFL Division 4 game at Ruislip – Pic by Sheilapics.
Antrim stayed in touch in the promotion battle and claimed a third win from four at McGovern Park in Ruislip, London on Sunday.
Points from the Exiles Ryan Elliot and Adrian Moyles pushed London into an early lead, and after a quarter hour of playing into the wind, Antrim trailed 0-4 to 0-1. Lenny Harbinson’s side had closed that gap to 0-6 to 0-4 after half an hour. Antrim got back on terms with two Paddy McBride frees but Fearghal McMahon put the home side back in front with the last kick of the first half and they went in at the break with a 0-8 to 0-7 lead.
Antrim drew level after the break with a point from Ryan Murray, the man who was to do most to steer the Saffrons to the win. With Murray causing the London defence no end of problems the Saffrons hit five points in a row and also held the home side scoreless for all of twenty minutes as they went 0-15 to 0-11 ahead. London ended a barren scoring spell to close the gap back to three but late points from Ryan Murray and CJ McGourty sealed the win, which means they only trail the leaders by one point ahead of consecutive top of the table battles with Laois and Carlow.
Next up for the Saffrons is an away trip to Laois next Sunday. The Leinster men sit top of the table with eight points from their four games and will prove formidable opposition for Lenny Harbinson’s men.
Scorers – Antrim: R Murray 0-8 (2f), CJ McGourty (2f), P McBride (2f) 0-3 each, P McAleer, J Laverty, C Duffin 0-1 each.
London: A Moyles (2f), L Gavaghan (2f) 0-3 each, F McMahon, M Gottsche (2f) 0-2 each, R Elliott, R Jones, C Doran 0-1 each.
Antrim – C Kerr 7 ; P Healy 6 , P Gallagher 6, N Delargy 7 ; K O’Boyle 6, M Sweeney 6, J Laverty 7; S Burke 7, P McAleer 7; M Fitzpatrick 6, C Murray 7, P McBride 7; CJ McGourty 7, C Duffin 6, R Murray 8. Subs: K Healy 7 for Sweeney (ht), R Johnston 6 for Burke (51), P Branagan 6 for Healy (53), R McCann 6 for Gallagher (58), S McVeigh (on too late for rating) for Laverty (64), S Beatty (on too late for rating) for Duffin (69).
London – G McEvoy 7; Colin Dunne 7, M Mangan 7, C O’Neill 6; M Walsh 6, R Jones 7, A Moyles 7; A McDermott 6, J Moran 6; E Murray 6, L Gavaghan 7, S McManus 6; R Elliott 7, M Gottsche 7, F McMahon 7. Subs: C Doran 6 for Murray (51), Ciaran Dunne 6 for McManus (54), G Byrne 6 for Mangan (60), J Daly 7 for Elliott (60), M Carroll (on too late for rating) for Moyles (64).
Ref – E O’Grady (Leitrim)
Pics by Shielapics, London.