Aghagallon’s Oisin Lenehan negotiates a path through a crowded mid-field as his side defeated neighbours Glenavy to collect their first points of the season

O’Neill’s ACFL Division 1

Aghagallon 2-14  Glenavy 1-12

The big crowd that made the trip to Pairc Na Gael for this local derby between St Mary’s Aghagallon and Glenavy were treated to an open and entertaining game of football in glorious conditions. Going into this game both sides had failed to win in their three outings to date so the points were extremely important and on this occasion the bragging rights go to Aghagallon. Credit must go to both sets of players for putting on a spirited display and to referee Cathal McDermott for always keeping a tight control on the game without spoiling it as a spectacle.

Aghagallon were quickly out of the blocks and capitalised on a nervy start by the visitors hitting 1-3 in the first six minutes. The goal coming from a good strike by full forward Shane Russell in the 4th minute which was then followed up by  points from Pat Brannigan, Ruairi McCann & Ruairi Loughran. Glenavy were struggling to get out of their own half for the opening period and it wasn’t until the 10th minute when a well taken point by their centre half forward got them off the mark.

This seemed to settle the men from Chapel Hill and they dominated the next 10minutes of the game hitting 1-3 from play without reply, to go one point in front after 20minutes. This included a great point from midfielder Patrick Gallagher followed by a goal from brother James, who’s shot managed to sneak into the bottom right hand corner of the net despite the best efforts of Gavin O’Neill in the St Mary’s goals.

A second point from Pat Brannigan after a driving run at the Glenavy defence seemed to lift the St Marys men again and they went on to create a number of scoring opportunities including a couple of goal chances, which the Glenavy goalkeeper was equal to. The teams exchanged a point each in the closing minutes of the half to leave the half time score at 1-5 apiece.

The men in green made a good start to the second half with points from Shane Russell and Eunan Walsh but Glenavy bounced back again and the sides were back level by the 40th minute. The turning point of the game came midway through the second half when a great through ball by Oisin Lenehan played in Shane Russell, who was under a lot of pressure from the Glenavy defender but still managed to palm the ball past the advancing keeper and into the net to put some breathing space between the two teams. This seemed to unsettle the men in orange and the St Mary’s men followed it up with another four unanswered points with Eunan Walsh 0-1 and gareth magee 0-3 the marksmen, to move seven clear going into the final ten minutes.

Glenavy managed to stem the tide through a pointed free, but Aghagallon were able to respond to each Glenavy score through Gareth Magee and a collector’s item from substitute Mark McStravick who showed great composure in front of the posts after just entering the field of play.

This response showed great character from the men in green as the game entered injury time, as they were determined to avoid conceding any late goals and restricted the visitors to just a couple of late frees. Oisin Lenehan who worked tirelessly throughout, rounded of a great display with the final point of the day to leave the final score 2-14 to 1-12 to the St Marys men and leave the home support the happier of the two.

This was an important win for the home side, and gets them off and running in what is a very competitive and uncompromising league. The difference between the two teams in the end was probably the efficiency of the Aghagallon attack coupled with the hard working defence led by Pat Brannigan, Ryan O’Neill and Aiden Mulholland. The Aghagallon management also utilised the bench to good effect given the warm playing conditions, with all substitutions making important contributions in the final quarter to ensure the visitors would not find a way back into the game.

Best for Glenavy were Patrick Gallagher who worked hard all afternoon and drove his team forward, along with Matthew and Oisin Hamill who had great duals with their opponents over the course of the hour.

Photographs: Bert Trowlen