Thomas Morgan (15) fires past Francis Neeson for Rossa’s opening goal to give the Shaw’s Road side an early lead
O’Neill’s ACFL Division 1
St. Mary’s Ahoghill 0-15 Rossa 2-7
St. Mary’s Ahoghill turned in a strong second half performance to overcome the challenge of O’Donovan Rossa at a sun kissed Clooney tonight. The home side came from four down at half time to outscore their opponents ten to three in the second half and record a totally deserved victory.
It looked oh so different during the opening exchanges as Rossa, with a slight breeze advantage took the game to their opponents early on and Tommy Morgan raced through unchallenged to fire past Francis Neeson in the home goals.
Ahoghill tried to respond and a strong run from deep by Eamon Brady might have produced an equaliser but his initial shot rebounded of the crossbar and in the follow up his second effort was blocked for a ‘45’ which came to nothing.
Donal Graham responded with a point for the home side but at this stage of the game their marking was poor and they looked in deep trouble when Christopher McGuinness soloed through for a second goal for the Shaw’s Road men with nine minutes gone.
St. Mary’s were certainly enjoying their fair share of possession at this stage but poor choices and even poorer shooting saw them miss several chances before PJ O’Connell placed Owen Neeson for a point.
Rossa continued to threaten at the other end and replied immediately with a good point from Colm Fleming but Boris O’Connell responded for the Clooney side after collecting a short free from his brother PJ to close the gap to four at the end of the opening quarter.
The momentum was very much with Rossa at this stage and Colm Fleming pointed a 20 meter free to edge them further ahead but the home defence had tightened considerably after a slack start and scorers were much harder to come by as Donal Graham pointed at the other end to keep his side in touch.
Rossa continued to enjoy plenty of possession but the Clooney side were now pulling men behind the ball in numbers to frustrate their opponents and at the other end PJ O’Connell robbed Stephen Shannon and set up Donal Graham but the full-forward fired wide with the goal at his mercy.
As the home side continued to press Eamon Brady shot wide before Colm Fleming showed how it should be done with a superb long range effort at the other end. Things were certainly starting to liven up and Thomas McGlone responded with a good point to keep the gap at four with four minutes remaining to the break.
The visitors finished the half strongly with a couple of fine points from mid-fielder Darren Grego and looked to be in a good position when they headed to the dressing room leading by 2-5 to 0-5 and they were fully deserving of that lead.
Neil ‘Boris’ O’Connell (9) and Thomas McGlone (8) drove Ahoghill forward from mid-field to inspire a second half come-back.
CHANGED SIDE
After the break it was a different story however as Ahoghill emerged from the dressing room to up their game considerably and after PJ O’Connell fired wide from a long range effort it was Thomas McGlone who steadied things with an excellent score.
Patrick Graham was wide of the target again as Ahoghill continued to press but Donal Graham fired over from a 30 meter free to leave just four between the sides with 11 minutes gone. Rossa tried to respond but Conor McGowan shot wide after a promising build up before Thomas Morgan wasted another scoreable chance.
The momentum was very much now with the home side who were managing possession much better and were more methodical in their build up as Donal Graham pointed another free to leave just three between the sides after 14 minutes play.
Neil O’Connell and Thomas McGlone were now dominating at midfield for Ahoghill as Owen Neeson closed the gap to two as Michael McGreevey and Adam Devlin entered the fray for the city men in an effort to turn the tide.
The home side were now pressing up on the kick-out and turning over ball and Owen Graham closed the gap to the minimum with a 16th minute point. Graham followed with another to tie the contest with 11 minutes remaining and the momentum was very much with the Red & Blacks at this stage with their opponents struggling.
When they did manage to attack Colm Fleming, who had been excellent in the opening half, fired wide before Donal Graham put the home side ahead for the first time from another pointed free and Dan O’Neill followed with a splendid effort from play to put his side two in front with eight minutes remaining.
Rossa were still battling hard but with little reward but Tommy Morgan pointed for only their second score of the half to again close the gap to the minimum. Owen Graham replied with a confident effort after 24 minutes and Paddy Graham for Ahoghill and Colm Fleming for the visitors exchanged late scores to leave the home side victorious by two points.
This was only Ahoghill’s second win of the season but moves them up to four points ahead of Rossa on score difference with St. Joseph’s Glenavy on two and St. Teresa’s on one occupying the bottom places.
They were excellent tonight in the second half and on this form look capable of climbing up the table. Their opponents Rossa were missing a few players on this occasion but after winning their opening two games they have hit a poor run of results and will be hoping for better in the coming weeks.
St. Mary’s Ahoghill: Francis Neeson, James Magee, Stephen O’Connell, Bernard Graham, Eamon Brady, Patrick Graham, BJ Hamill, Niall O’Connell, Thomas McGlone, Sean McMahon, James O’Connell. Dan O’Neill, PJ O’Connell, Donal Graham, Owen Neeson.Subs: Owen Graham and Justin Downey.
Rossa: Michael Byrne, Conor McGowan, Stephen Shannon, Ciaran Orchin, Richard Gowdy, Eoghan O’Neill, Sean Finch, Oisin McVicker, Darren Grego, Niall Crossan, Christopher McGuinness, J McDonnell, Dominic McEnhill, Colm Fleming, Thomas Morgan. James Kinney for Ciaran Orchin. Michael McGreevey for Dominic McEnhill and Adam Devlin for Darren Grego.
Referee: Paul Hanna (Glenavy)