LOCC Solicitors
Intermediate Football Championship
Preliminary Round
Tír na nÓg 0-13 Rasharkin 1-4
Brendan McTaggart reports from Páirc Uí Cheallaigh, Portglenone
Comfortable progression with minimum fuss. It was exactly what Tír na nÓg would have hoped for and after 20 minutes of this preliminary round tie on Saturday afternoon, they would have been forgiven for thinking on the quarter-finals.
The Whitehill men saw off the challenge of Rasharkin with six points to spare in the end but it was ‘carpet slippers and pipe’ mode for the second half with the hard work and graft put in during the first half. Rasharkin didn’t trouble the scoreboard operative until the 23rd minute on Saturday afternoon while Tír na nÓg had run into a nine point lead and were well worthy of that advantage.
Rasharkin couldn’t get their hands on leather during that opening 20 minutes while Tír na nÓg went about their business with controlled, methodical precision with Leigh Martin and Aaron McNeilly the chief tormentors. Martin finished the hour with seven points with three from open play and while all four of the Randalstown men’s scores came from Martin in the second half, it was enough to keep Rasharkin at bay.
The midfield duo of Malachy Duffin and Christy Sheerin were peerless in the first half while the Tír na nÓg half back line swept anything their midfield might have missed and that was very little. With the choice of playing a long ball into Kevin Sheerin on the edge of the square or use the trickery of Martin and the pace of McNeilly, Tír na nÓg varied their attacks and didn’t let Rasharkin settle.
The men from Dreen were given a glimmer of hope on the stroke of half time when Conor McFerran laid down a marker for goal of the championship and while they showed more determination, grit and hunger in the second half, they were behind the eight ball after Tír na nÓg’s showing in those opening 20 minutes.
Eamon McNeill cast a frustrated figure for long periods of this match. A man who on his day can light up any pitch in the country yet he lived off scraps and wasn’t doing a good job of hiding his frustrations. Ryan Lynch was prominent in the second half as Rasharkin looked for the scores to bring their championship hopes to life but they never materialised. They showed more endeavour, heart and a willingness to fight for their shirt in the second period but Tír na nÓg had their number.
Rasharkin finished the match with 14 men when they had a man send off in the last minute of normal time that saw some ugly scenes develop but it had little baring on the contest. Job done for the Whitehill men who have their sights set on a quarter-final meeting with their neighbours Moneyglass.
Rasharkin actually made a decent start to the match but a couple of efforts from McNeill went to the wrong side of the posts in the opening minutes. Such was Tír na nÓg’s dominance though, they wouldn’t have another effort at goal for close to 20 minutes. McNeilly, Martin and Darragh Fagan giving the Randalstown side a three point advantage after 10 minutes.
With a mix of patience, long ball and counterattack, Tír na nÓg were leaving Rasharkin in their shadows as they went about building what was effectively a match winning lead. Ciaran McKeown, McNeilly (free), Martin and Fagan taking the Tír na nÓg lead to nine points after 19 minutes. Martin’s point the pick of their scores in the first half, showing one way before shimmying past the Rasharkin challenge and sending the ball over with precision.
Eamon McNeill finally got the St Mary’s men off and running in the 23rd minute and while they had more attacking intent in the closing stages of the first half, Rasharkin already looked a beleaguered team at that stage.
Both sides lost their way in front of goal before Conor McFerran lit up this tie in first half injury time. Collecting a long ball from Lynch and wide on the right, McFerran spotted Sean Paul McAtamney just off his line. With one swing of his right foot and with all the precision of 45-degree pitching wedge, McFerran managed to find the bottom corner while lobbing the Tír na nÓg ‘keeper. Audacious, sublime and an outstanding score that gave Rasharkin a glimmer of hope for the second half.
If there was ever a bad time for a team to score a goal however, Rasharkin and McFerran found it. The goal reduced the lead to five points and it gave them a glimmer of hope but the half time break took any momentum they may have gained from it and gave Tír na nÓg a chance to recuperate, rehash and build a plan to ensure they had safe passage to the next round. And that they did.
Rasharkin were always going to come out a different animal after the break and when Lynch pointed barely 30 second after the restart, they looked like they could do Mission Impossible. That was as close as they would get to the Whitehill side as they controlled the second half, always keeping Rasharkin at arm’s length. They shored up their defence and nullified any attacking threat the Dreen side carried while being methodical and meticulous while going forward.
Martin fired over his first of four second half frees in the 35th minute, Tír na nÓg’s first point for 15 minutes and while they strung together a trio of wides before Martin repeated the feat in the 45th minute, Rasharkin didn’t record a score either.
Lynch and substitute Brian Og O’Neill raised white flags in response to a brace of frees from Martin in the time that remained. Rasharkin tenacious defender Kelly saw red for violent conduct in the last minute of normal time but Tír na nÓg’s progression to the next round was all but sealed at that stage.
The Randalstown men progress with a mouth-watering tie in prospect in the quarters against their south west neighbours, Moneyglass.
TEAMS
Tír na nÓg: Sean Paul McAtamney; Sean Redmond, Niall Cassidy, Ciaran Logan; Barry McCormick, Caoimhin Duffin, Darren McCormick; Christy Sheerin, Malachy Duffin; Ryan O’Neill, Ciaran McKeown, Darragh Fagan; Aaron McNeilly, Kevin Sheerin, Leigh Martin.
Subs: Ronan O’Neill for K Sheerin (42); Ciaran O’Neill for C McKeown (48); Peter Cullen for C Sheerin (54).
Scorers: Leigh Martin 0-7 (4 f’s); Aaron McNeilly 0-2 (2 f’s); Darragh Fagan 0-2; Kevin Sheerin 0-1; Ciaran McKeown 0-1.
Rasharkin: Tiarnan O’Boyle; Pearse Kelly, Conor Hasson, Donagh Quigg; Fearghal Kennedy, Emmet McFerran, Fergus Quigg; Shane Hasson, Thomas McMullan; Jack Quinn, Ryan Lynch, Thomas Doherty; Conor McFerran, Brendan Etherson, Eamon McNeill.
Subs: Brian Og O’Neill for B Etherson (23); Colm Kennedy for F Kennedy (44)
Scorers: Ryan Lynch 0-3 (1 f); Conor McFerran 1-00; Brian Og O’Neill 0-1
Referee: Darren McKeown (St Galls)
