ACHL Division 2
Kickham’s Creggan 1-20 Glen Rover’s Armoy 2-8
A bright start and a storming finish was enough to see Kickham’s Creggan win convincingly in the end in this keenly contested ACHL Division 2 encounter on The Staffordstown Road today. The home side looked to be coasting when they led 1-5 to 0-1 after nine minutes with their goal coming from Conor McCann.
The visitors had been struggling to gain a foothold up to this point but goals from John ‘Rocky’ Dillon in the 11th and 29th minutes saw them finish the half strongly and at half time they were right back in contention when they trailed by just a single point.
Despite drawing level, three minutes into the second half and matching their opponents score for score in the third quarter Armoy were unable to push on and it was Kickham’s Creggan who found another gear with the free taking and points from play by Oran McCann a vital ingredient as they hit 12 second half points to run out winners by 9 points.
It was Oran McCann who got the show on the road he pointed the first two of 11 points he was to score over the hour and one from Conor Small had the Kickham’s 0-3 ahead with only five minutes on the clock.
Creggan’s Ethan Carey is illegaly stopped in his tracks by Armoy’s Cha McCormick
Oran McCann from a free and another from play extended that lead to five as Creggan threatened to over run their opponents before Emmet O’Hara finally opened the visitors account with a point in the 8th minute.
It brought another response from Creggan as Conor McCann raced through to place his shot out of reach of Conor Devlin for the game’s opening goal in the 9th minute but Armoy were busting a gut to get their own game going and a goal from John Dillon in the 11th minute seemed to lift them.
Oran McCann and Eamon McCaughan exchanged points as the men from the Glen started to enjoy a bit of success as McCann and McCaughan exchanged further minors but a point from Emmet O’Hara and a second goal from Rocky Dillon had the Glen Rovers right back in contention at the short whistle with McCann finishing with 0-6 for the home side.
The Kickham’s defence have to take the blame for Dillon’s second major as they had several opportunities to clear the ball and in the half time post-mortem that followed Creggan made a couple of switches in an attempt to address the problem.
Creggan’s Conor Mccann comes under pressure from Arthur Devlin, Armoy
James Dougan, who had started at full-forward replaced Emmet Long in the Creggan goals for the second half with Kevin Rice and Rory McCann coming into the side but it was Armoy who were first to register a score as Eamon McCaughan levelled the contest with only two minutes on the clock.
Rice announced his arrival as he pointed the home side ahead but a PJ McBride point at the other end tied the contest again and at this stage it looked anyone’s game. Oran McCann for Creggan and Jonathan McErlain for the visitors left it all square again with 11 minutes of the new half gone as the exchanges intensified and it was still very much in the balance.
Oran McCann was the man carrying the greatest scoring threat and he struck from a free and followed with a ‘65’ but Armoy again found a response from Conor Christie and Jonathan McErlain to keep in touch with 14 minutes of normal time remaining.
It was to be the visitors final score however as Creggan finished the second half as they had started the first with a flourish. The alarm bells began to ring as Oran McCann’s attempt at goal rebounded of an upright in the 50th minute but this time Armoy were unable to find a response.
Armoy’s Emmet O’Hara leads an attack on the Creggan goal
Conor McCann sent over a long range point in the 53d minute and Sam Maguire, Kealan McCann, Conor Small, Maguire again and a final point from Small saw the home side pull away to win comfortably in the end.
This win sees Creggan climb to second place in the table, a point behind Sarsfield’s and leaves Armoy rooted at the foot of the table but for three quarters of this game they showed enough to suggest that they are capable of putting a first win together soon.
Conor Devlin in goals, Daniel McPreake, Eamon McCaughan, Emmet O’Hara and the excellent John ‘Rocky’ Dillon were their best players on the day while Liam McCann, Kevin Small, Sam Maguire, Conor McCann, Conor Small and the sweet striking Oran McCann were the men who led the Creggan charge.
Creggan: Emmet Long, Jake McAteer, Liam McCann, Jake McAteer, Kevin Small, Thomas McCann, Aidan McKeown, Kealan McCann, Sam Maguire, Conor McCann, Conor Small, Oran McCann, Ethan Carey, James Dougan, Morgan Nelson. Subs: Kevin Rice, Rory McCann, Enda Maguire, Dermot Mulholland.
Armoy: Conor Devlin, Charles McCormick, Daniel McPeake, Shane Devlin, Ciaran McErlain, Arthur Devlin, Joe McBride, Conor Christie, Eamon McCaughan, Emmet O’Hara, Thomas Burns, John Dillon, Liam Dillon, Jonathan McErlain, PJ McBride. Subs: Joseph McFetridge, Eoin O’Boyle,
Referee: Brendan Toland (Lamh Dhearg)
